For owners of venues and event spaces, it can be a competitive market. No matter whether your space is for hosting exhibitions, corporate events, weddings, etc., there are lots of similar spaces trying to get the same business. With virtual events having become increasingly popular as a result of Covid, knowing how to run a virtual event can therefore be helpful in setting your space apart.
So how do you gain an edge over your competitors? With the effects of the pandemic still being felt globally by owners of event spaces and hotels, improving how you market your business is crucial. We look at how best to make or present a virtual tour that will grab your customers’ attention.
1. Go live!
While it’s useful to have a virtual tour embedded on your website, it also makes sense to offer an extra option: a live tour of your space. This can have several advantages and is easy to facilitate using any video conferencing software. A video tour can be part of your strategy of providing a great customer digital experience.
- You can show any area of the venue.
- You can answer any questions the customer may have.
- You can discuss other aspects of their event. (This saves separate discussions on messaging platforms similar to Slack.)
Think of your live tour as a business meeting. Not only can you show all the facilities on offer but you can discuss prices during the same call. You may already have the ability to use video if you have an existing free conference line.
2. Go professional
Image sourceWhile using your mobile device for a live tour is more than adequate, if you’re going to put a video tour on your website or use it in marketing emails or on social media, you want something that looks as professional as possible.
If it’s someone you have used before, you may have the opportunity to include footage of previous events in your video tour.
3. Go 360
Prospective customers want to see every inch of your venue, including each little nook and cranny. What better way to show them than with 360-degree footage? A very basic tour can be done on a low budget but a professional-looking one can cost thousands of dollars.
A 360-degree video tour not only helps you sell your space to potential clients but allows customers to plan their event down to the smallest detail. Having access to this sort of tour enables them to revisit the video and plan out how they will use the space for their event.
4. Go virtual
Another idea you can consider is to provide virtual floorplans. This could be included as part of your video tour or added as an extra resource to allow clients to plan out their event. There are various event diagram programs available that allow you to try out different configurations to see what setup works best.
Using event diagram software in conjunction with video tours can take your business to the next level. Clients can see what it looks like while getting an idea of how things could be set out for their event. This could be a deciding factor in encouraging them to book with you.
5. Go panoramic
Image sourceIf your tour is going to be a mix of video and still images, why not make the latter look better by making stills panoramic or 3D? These shots are easy to do; most cameras have a panoramic option and you can take 3D shots with Facebook. That makes this simple to achieve even if you’re on a tight budget.
A good tip if you decide to DIY this part is to try out different angles and positions. Making your venue or parts of it look great is the ultimate aim. For 3D pics, try taking multiple shots from different angles to achieve a 360-degree feel to them.
The takeaway
Owners of event spaces should constantly be looking for new ways to market their business or even learning how to monetize any virtual events they host.
Our businesses rely on technology more and more in every area. With greater reliance on things like marketing automation and manual testing, it can sometimes feel we have lost the human touch.
However, learning new techniques and connecting with potential clients through video tours is one way we can bring a little humanity back to our business model. Connecting with consumers using some of the tips we’ve suggested can be a great boost to your business.
About the author
Victorio iDuran III s the Associate SEO Director at RingCentral, a global leader in cloud-based communications and collaboration solutions. He has over 13 years of extensive involvement on web and digital operations with diverse experience as web engineer, product manager, and digital marketing strategist.
