Surviving Covid19 with interactive virtual tours

“Should’ve bought more of these,” you think while digging deep in the pocket of a coat that’s kept you protected for many winters. It’s time to venture to work through the sea of masked strangers and fumes of sanitizer, outside of home’s safe pandemic cocoon. The thought of protection brings pause followed with a chuckle exclusive to those who have been through it. What is protection nowadays? And how, above keeping yourself safe, are you supposed to protect the business you’ve built to support your family? After some pondering, a cloth is shoved to your face as you hustle out of the door.

In the pre-Covid world people wanted instant results. In many ways that has not changed, but so much else has. It’s a unique phenomenon when our personal lives become slower yet somehow we need to be more accessible than ever before. How do you balance making a living with new regulations? Suddenly interactions that would happen face-to-face aren’t possible. The old way of doing things is gone. When it comes to an online presence in lieu of in-person contact, you need to be covered (and not by one of those PPE body suits). How do you cover and protect your business during these unprecedented times? Welcome to a more creative way to not only do marketing, but business plans altogether; interactive virtual tours.

After the usual parade of morning characters and weaving traffic, it’s as if the quiet of your desk is calling. Things have certainly slowed since the beginning of last year but as you look around the room, you realize how long it’s been since the public has been inside. 

Virtual tours allow you to interact with the public 24/7. A company (or brick & mortar) with limited hours is less likely to yield as many customers as one that is available around the clock. Folks can view tours at any time, from next door or five states away. Imagine retaining the area you already serve while simultaneously expanding to a broader audience. Realtors, venues, long-term care facilities, etc can schedule to meet virtually with clients to give them a guided tour. Or for museums and galleries, virtual tours can lead to more patrons and donors. Depending on your business model, those higher tour views can also mean higher profit margins with e-commerce features.

Virtual tours can be better for the viewer, too. Some people enjoy to stroll, or scroll, at their own pace and don’t want or need a guide to help take in all of the details. Leisurely viewing tours can definitely leave room for more than an in-person experience with the ability to display embedded info, pictures, and videos. Looking beyond advantages just to the viewer, tours can also be beneficial to communities as a whole with outreach programs and educational trainings. And as far as cultivating a warm repertoire, virtual tours can lead to building more trust than static photos and street views.

In the moments that follow, you decide to pick up the phone and schedule an interactive virtual tour. Before you know it, business is booming. Streamers and balloons fall from the sky wherever you go. Your skin is glowing and your in-laws call to give you the secret family recipe. Betty White names her upcoming 100th year after you. You solve world hunger in the time your virtual tour has saved.

Whew, we got a little carried away there. Can you blame us though? All in all, interactive virtual tours are an excellent (and customizable) option for businesses of many different models and backgrounds.

If you find the good Lysol, let us know, and until next time- stay safe and stay smiling.