How to blow your guests' mind and increase booking with 360 imaging

To increase direct bookings, you need the edge. You need something that delivers the unexpected and delights the digitally inclined guest.

When travellers search for a hotel, they’re looking for more than the location, price and features of your property. This is of course important basic information, but what sets you apart is how you use technology to shape the guest experience from the very beginning.

How you present yourself online matters. It helps guests form an opinion of your hotel and influences their decision making.

Guests want immersive information before they book. They want to feel well informed before taking the plunge, so hotels need to think of new ways to present themselves.

And what better way to transport your guest straight to your hotel than with panoramic views of your rooms and spaces.

360 imaging allows guests to see your hotel from all angles, as if they’re standing there with you. It’s the perfect way to step up your game and invite guests into your world.

If you’re still not convinced to go 360, consider these stats.

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Why go 360

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According to Google, browsers are 130% more likely to make a booking based on a virtual tour.

As 360 photos are far more immersive and engaging than a flat image, guests are more likely to stay on your website for longer.

For your website’s SEO, the longer visitors stay the better your search ranking. This is because Google rewards sites when you offer relevant and valuable information to its users.

A study by Best Western found, hotel bookings increased over 45% when they used interior and exterior virtual tours.

When you make your content more interactive, visitors are engaged for longer. This presents more opportunities for guests to explore your site, and for you to convert browsers into bookings.

With panoramic photos being a relatively new advancement, businesses have been slow to use it.

This puts you at an obvious advantage.

For hotels the benefits are amplified as guests want to visualise where they’ll be staying. By adopting 360 you create the first-person experience for guests, you showcase your unique features, and separate yourself from the competition.

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Stand out with Facebook 360 photos

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With the release of Facebook 360, you can now use panoramic imagery to reach millions of potential guests and do something offbeat from many hotels.

But why use Facebook you ask?

Well, according to tnooz, 50% of travel companies said their direct bookings were generated by social media.

Stikky Media states, 87% of people younger than 34 use Facebook to solicit advice before making a booking, and 52% of travellers use social media to plan a trip.

This means you can now showcase your best features to the many travellers who use Facebook for hotel research. Do you have panoramic views of rolling hills, a bar and pizza oven in a tropical setting, or maybe a magical rooftop seating area?

Now’s the time to be where your guests are and show them something fun and different. When you appear in their newsfeed, you’ll catch their eye and make them feel they’re really there.

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How to create Facebook 360 photos with your phone

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Although you should look at creating professional panoramic images for your website, there’s no harm in creating a more casual feel for your social profiles.

It can give a great feeling of being behind the scenes and puts your guests right in the action.

This is a good option if your hotel is hosting an event such as a bbq or a live performance. You could even go further afield and share a few interesting landmarks in the area.

The idea is you’re giving potential guests another exciting reason to visit your hotel, besides the rooms you offer. Make it about the whole experience they are yet to enjoy. It’ll create a more compelling reason to book with you.

Creating 360 images for Facebook is simple.

These days, most smart phones have a panorama facility built into the camera settings. If your phone doesn’t support this feature, you can easily download a 360 photo app to help you.

Take the photo while turning 360 to capture your entire surroundings. You don’t need anything special to upload your photo to Facebook. Simply upload your panorama the same way you would any ordinary image.

Facebook will automatically transform it into an immersive 360 image. Viewers will recognise the 360 aspect with the compass icon that appears on your image. All guests need to do is swipe their finger left and right.

With guests becoming more technologically savvy, they like to consume content in unique and interactive ways. Hotels must synchronise with changing guest behaviours to attract guests. And as hotels are sluggish to catch on to 360 imaging, this gives your hotel full freedom to get ahead.

What do you think? Are virtual tours the way forwards?