Trick #1: Pump your 3D tour full of photos
Adding photos to the gallery within the iGUIDE makes them more accessible and therefore gives people better and faster access. It sounds too simple to be true but there’s good reasoning behind it. Although photos are typically available elsewhere (ie. on the listing page), they are most valuable where potential buyers spend the majority of their time... exploring the 3D tour.
BONUS trick: Grab buyer attention when they’re exploring key areas of the 3D tour by using photos to identify key features with iGUIDE tags. If you’re already taking beautiful close-up photos of fixtures, appliances, and structural details, then adding them as tags in the tour is the best way to get them seen and maximize their impact.
Did you know that photos have been ranked the most desirable type of media that potential buyers want to see when shopping for homes online? Leveraging your photos in the 3D tour is the only sensible choice—give the people what they want.
Trick #2: Integrate videos to get both the steak and the sizzle
Combining video with a 3D tour and floor plans can be a magical recipe for the perfect listing. A polished video grabs your attention and accurate property data helps build desire and attachment. Video and the iGUIDE 3D tour pair so well because the former is a curated experience, while the latter is more about exploration. Buyers may have a preference for one over the other, but they can have both if the video is included within the tour.
BONUS trick: You can have the tour start by playing a video. It can even be configured to play one of two different versions to avoid branding if your MLS has a problem with that. This is a great way to ensure the video “sets the stage” for the 3D tour.
2nd BONUS trick: You can add as many videos as you like to a tour using iGUIDE tags. This also means you can place video content anywhere in 3D space. So, for example, you could:
- Place a video about a space in that very space
- Hide fun easter egg videos to encourage exploration
- Add more video content over time to encourage return visits
Did you know that 44% of people are more likely to purchase a product after seeing a video about it? Neither did I, but I’ll bet (like me) you’re not surprised.
Trick #3: Banners make for a strong brand and drive leads
Every iGUIDE can and should have a dropdown banner that features the listing agent’s information. Honestly, I’ve never met anyone in real estate who would pass on an opportunity to get their face on a listing and that’s good enough reasoning right there for branding every iGUIDE. However, there’s an additional benefit to having the branding directly accessible within the 3D tour instead of relying on a listing page or property website. If someone is looking at the tour discreetly, they’ll have to hunt to find the agent’s contact information, and this could stymie their search. Easily connecting an agent with potential leads is the whole point of listing a property online, right?
BONUS trick: You can customize the dropdown banner to be almost any type of image. Get really creative yourself or in many cases, leverage your clients' existing graphics.
2nd BONUS trick: When your tours are branded, you can search for them by agent name on the iGUIDE Portal. This makes it much easier to manage your tours when making tweaks and updates.
Did you know that online shoppers are notorious for abandoning a potential online purchase if there is even the slightest hint of difficulty? Let’s make it as easy as possible for them.
Trick #4: Hold a little back to drive more leads
iGUIDE Lead Magnet is a powerful tool that is intended to foster more connections for the listing agent. It uses a pop-up contact form that appears in the iGUIDE 3D tour for prospects to complete. Why would anyone fill out a pop-up form you ask? As an added incentive, by reaching out, they can access a different version of the tour with different visuals. Lead generation is universally understood by real estate professionals to be a “good thing”, so this feature is hardly a tough sell.
Did you know there are 1,554,604 realtors (members of the National Association of Realtors) in the United States? They all care deeply about leads.
Trick #5: Fancy up your floor plans for fun and profit
iGUIDE floor plans, whether they be in PDF or interactive forms can be jazzed up to look more visually appealing. There are five color schemes to choose from to make your floor plans suit your mood. Warm, cool, balanced, gray and there’s always the traditional black & white if you’re aiming for classy.
Furniture is also available on Premium floor plans to help with understanding flow, scale, and purpose. There are more than 120 available objects including vehicles, appliances and fixtures to help with visualization.
FUN FACT (No bonus trick?): The room colors on iGUIDE floor plans have meaning! For example, white rooms/spaces are not included in area totals (except for purely black-and-white plans).
Did you know that more than 4 in 10 homebuyers lost sleep due to homebuying stress? Help them get a good night's sleep.
Conclusion
iGUIDE is already an amazing tool for communicating property data, but with a tiny bit of extra love you can increase its effectiveness by leveraging different types of media and using the built-in features tailor-made for real estate marketing. A more effective tour will get better results for your clients and that will keep them coming back for more.
