14 Benefits of Virtual 360 Tours for Real Estate Sales and Marketing, Part 1

Did you know that, according to Zillow.com, listings with 360 virtual tours sold 10% faster and were 22% more likely to sell within 30 days than listings without.

Unless you have been living under a rock, you saw the whole industry change because of the global pandemic.

Here are the key benefits of virtual tours in sales and marketing according to some of the best agents in the industry.

1. Put your online presence on steroids

Ninety percent of buyers are looking for properties online first and virtual tours definitely help you improve your visual appeal and Google positioning. If you think your letter drops are doing the work and getting you leads, that's fine—but in the post-COVID era, being digitally present and having some sort of Google search position is now more important than ever before. Sellers and buyers both take advice from the internet. If your face or your brand is not there on top of the search, you may soon be hurting for business.

2. Online showings 24/7

Buyers simply don't have time to do open houses every weekend, so give them a chance to inspect a property from the comfort of their own home and from any device. Virtual tours are a win-win situation for agents, sellers and buyers according to Lora Bladow, REMAX Excel agency owner from Schofield, Wisconsin. For agents, they save time on driving multiple times to open the door to a property.

On the other hand, buyers don't have the time or even the opportunity to visit 35 homes in one weekend. A virtual 360° tour allows all to have a showing whenever they want to. And last but not least are the sellers that will not have to leave their house every weekend for a few hours to vacate the property for potential buyers. Virtual reality is a tool that allows you to have an outstanding marketing package.

3. Stand out from the crowd

All listings look the same—they have photos, videos or even drone videos. But that's not exactly what your customers want. According to research, more than 70% of buyers would love to see a virtual tour of the house they found online before making a decision to go to the open house.

4. Reduce time of property on the market

Agents using virtual 360° tours can reduce the time a property spends on the market because they can efficiently present the property to a much wider audience of not only local but interstate and international buyers. In rural areas, our customers managed to get DOM down from 160 days to two to three weeks. According to Lora Bladow, REMAX Excel, her listings not only sold faster but also at higher prices as there was more competition amongst buyers.

5. Win more listings

Win listings by blowing sellers' minds away. Only 3-5% of agents worldwide are able to make their own virtual tours, so if you want to stand out from the crowd, follow the advice of Edgar Natolo, Nat Group owner, Gold Coast, Australia and beat your competition hands-down by offering virtual 360° tours in your marketing package. Some sellers are desperately waiting for you to come in and save them from other agents who can't present their property in the most efficient way.

6. Create your own brand

Create your own unique, personal brand that stands out from the crowd and makes people take notice. If you improve your marketing and services with the latest and greatest solutions that are available on the market, like virtual 360 tours, you will undoubtedly be noticed and talked about in your local area. Using such technology can easily get you access to the local news and will definitely build up your image in the local community. And this, my friends, is GOLD !

7. Never lose a listing again

Win sellers by impressing them with your immersive technology and impressive marketing mix. Agents using DIY 360° technology say that many times they have been able to secure listings as they did the virtual 360° tour on the spot during the listing presentation. It's not what you normally do, as you should have the house prepared and staged for the photos. But if the owner wants to test you, you can take out your camera or your iPhone and do a demo virtual tour for them on the spot on your mobile device. This will knock them off their feet, make you the best person for selling their house, and win you their trust.

Read more in Part 2...

To view the original article, visit the Virtual Tours Creator blog.