If you are reading this, you are already aware that college campus virtual tours are the way to go if you want prospective students to apply at your institution post 2020. The pandemic has forced everyone to focus on safety above everything else, after all. Plus, virtual tours can be accessed from anywhere and don’t require students to shell out a lot of money to travel to different campuses. But now that almost every other college is churning out virtual tours, how do you make yours special or more engaging? This handy guide will help you.

Do something different

College virtual tours usually give viewers a holistic look of an entire campus, from its lawns and architecture to lecture halls, sports grounds and dormitories. So, what you can do for a more engaging virtual tour is focus on those aspects that make your college unique. It can be a massive library overlooking the pool, a stylish amphitheater, a state-of-the-art gym, or a chemistry laboratory fitted with the latest equipment. You can highlight interesting stats as well in case your placement rates are super high or if your students bag prestigious scholarships every year.

Ease viewing, navigation and decision-making

Your virtual tour should be easy to view across mobile devices, so that potential students or even their parents have maximum flexibility. Make it easy to zoom in and out, so that they can explore to their heart’s content. Check if any background music or text seems to disrupt the smooth flow of the tour and fix it. Provide a button to switch to VR mode, so that those with virtual reality headsets can have a more fun, realistic and interactive experience. This is one of the top tips to make engaging college virtual tours.

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Most importantly, remember that your college virtual tour is supposed to drive decision-making. So, incorporate call to action buttons that allow viewers to share the tour, find out more about your institution, talk to someone from the admission team or faculty, sign up for a physical tour, or apply online.

Lend credibility

Telling a story is the best way to show prospective students that you are much more than a college. Share your history, culture, mission and vision, so that they understand what your brand stands for. Show them what you do for the community or why your current students enjoy their campus life. Embedding short videos where past and present students talk about what they love about your institution can earn the trust of viewers. Use humor wherever you can to forge an instant bond.

Another great idea is to get alumni members to share their success stories, whether they landed awesome jobs or became entrepreneurs. You can also request faculty members to share their inputs in the form of videos, where they can talk about why they enjoy teaching at your college and what is different here.  

If you organize charity events like community cleanup drives or blood donation camps, plug them in for an engaging college virtual tour. It will shine a light on the human side of your institution.

Promote smartly

To make virtual campus tours more engaging, feature it on your website and share it via social media channels, since your potential students are likely to use Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn generously. You can also develop different tours based on different target audiences, to address unique concerns. For instance, those checking you out on Instagram might be looking for something different than those following you on LinkedIn. So, while you might try focusing on the aesthetics of your campus on Instagram, highlighting more serious aspects like job fairs, special lectures, laboratories and workshops will make sense for LinkedIn.

Provide a link to your virtual tour when you are sending marketing emails or texts as well. This can be especially helpful for busy parents who can quickly take a look or share the same with their kids, even on the go.

Seek expert help    

Creating effective, immersive and attractive virtual tours is not a piece of cake. Even if you have the best smartphone in town, shooting a tour is not as simple as it might seem. So, hiring professionals makes sense, especially if you want that competitive edge. Expert virtual tour providers will know how to use different tools, lights, angles, lenses and filters, to shoot your campus in the best way. They will also have the right software solutions for editing images and “weaving” them together to build a story that is exclusive to you. 

So, what are you waiting for? Get ready to make a more engaging virtual tour without spending a ton of money or breaking a sweat! Get in touch with us at info@massinteract.com and we will get back to you for a detailed discussion.

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