Virtual tours have seen an increase in popularity during the Covid pandemic. In particular, for many real estate agencies, it was the only way to keep their business afloat. Not the same is valid for the tourism and hospitality industry. Virtual tours could not add value as most have been closed or moved to take away and delivery services.
Fundamentally, the future of Virtual Tours depends on the digital marketing strategy of the organisation. Selecting the most appropriate tool and the digital channel that creates customer proposition value is a strategic decision in itself.
For virtual tours to become a valuable marketing tool, one will need to see the benefits and the competitive advantage.
Real Estate Marketing
Obviously, during the COVID pandemic, precisely during lockdowns, the real estate agencies that have used 3D Virtual Tours had a competitive advantage over the competitors who did not. At the end of the lockdown, we saw a decline in the number of businesses that still use Virtual Tours to promote their properties. Some argue that producing a Virtual Tour is not worth the time and money invested in the current market conditions. In September 2021, according to Halifax, house prices were up 7.4% compared to last year. According to Zoopla, in July 2021, the average time from listing a home to sale agreed was 26 days.
In reality, capturing a 3 bedroom house takes 4-5 hours and requires another 4-5 hours for processing. Depending on the location, the price varies between £200 and £450. This is a small amount compared with the value-added to the business.
First of all, with Virtual Tours, any potential buyer visualises and takes a virtual tour of the house before arranging a viewing. In case a Virtual Tour is not available most of the potential buyers will arrange a viewing. Assuming some buyers are not interested after viewing, the business already spent money and time travelling to the property. Furthermore, it might mean lost business from other interested buyers.
Customers will appreciate as well the benefits of a Virtual Tour. It will save them money and time. For the business, it means a broader coverage of the market. Customers from other areas or even overseas would be more likely to book a viewing if they could have more information beforehand.
Tourism, Travel & Hospitality
In tourism and hospitality, several business owners are not considering Virtual Tours for promotional purposes. It might be because they fail to see the benefits of this marketing tool.
A hotel or a holiday house, for example, relies on the reviews available on travel websites, word of mouth and customers previous experiences for attracting clients. We are not referring to promotions or Facebook, and Google Paid Ads. They are another category of helpful marketing tools. This is about helping customers to choose your business over one of your competitors.
A hotel can present the facilities customers can benefit from while staying on their premises. Meeting rooms, swimming pools, fitness rooms and many others are essential aspects when, for example, a customer wants to organise a team-building event.
A guest house or a holiday home can show through a Virtual Tour the size of the rooms, the appliances and other facilities or even the views from the lounge. Those are advantages not easy to describe in words or show appropriately in a photo.
Restaurants, pubs, event venues can use Virtual Tours to promote and attract business for the festive season. We all know companies are busy with their day to day activities. Organising a Christmas party, for example, requires a significant amount of time. Giving the possibility to see the facilities from the comfort of their own office is a competitive advantage over the competitors.
In conclusion, we consider Virtual Tours to be a valuable marketing tool that integrated into the digital marketing strategy will provide a competitive advantage over competitors.
Do you want to find out more about our Virtual Tours? Visit our website www.3d-tour.co.uk.
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