360° Virtual Tours
Digital marketing to effectively to engage with customers it is incredibly difficult to quantify results. Especially when trying to determine the resources to be spent on them. While it can be hard to keep up with Google’s SEO polices and listing practices, one service you can – and definitely should – take advantage of is creating a Google Business View Virtual Tour. The one thing you can be sure to count on in the ever shifting landscape of online customer engagement and social media marketing is that most of your potential customers are going to “Google” you. Before they get to review sites such as Yelp or Trip Advisor they’re going to find you by searching – that’s where you get to engage with them first and make the best first impression.
Why Virtual Tours?
Google’s Virtual tours allow businesses to “show off” their locations
– and they’re particularly effective for restaurants. The Virtual
Tours are viewable from any device (desktop, tablet, mobile, etc), and
are housed on Google’s servers (Search, Maps, Google My Business.) for
free. It’s a one-time photography service, and you own all the rights
to the images. The tours can also be embedded into all your
digital marketing media – including your website and Facebook page.
They show up directly in Google Search and Maps, so that a potential
customer can actually take a virtual walk around your dining room or
bar, while getting hours, directions, phone numbers and checking out the
menu. The “See Inside” link to your tour is prominently displayed in
your search results and invites potential diners to dive right in and
take a look around. In fact Facebook has just introduced a feature that
allows you to post a panorama shot directly to your business page.Case Study
To drive a higher level of engagement with participating restaurants, NYC & Company embedded Google Maps Street View and Business View on its website at NYCgo.com. They also offered tours as a marketing tool to new York City restaurants participating in their very popular Restaurant Week promotion.
Results
55% of all participating restaurants had Business View and results showed that diners were more likely to reserve a table at those restaurants. In New York City’s competitive food scene, this compelling visual imagery offered these restaurants a valuable edge.
- On average, restaurant listings that included Business View had a 30% higher click through to reservations
- Visitors who viewed Business View for a given business clicked through to make a reservation 50% of the time (20% more than visitors who didn’t view Business View)
- 84% of 1,300 surveyed customers said Business View played a factor in their restaurant choice
- The magical 18-34 age group picked the restaurant that had a virtual tour available over a competitor that did not by over 3 to 1.
Related Article: http://panoramicearth.blogspot.com/2014/07/google-maps-goes-all-3d-on-london.html
