Here Is How College Virtual Tours Can Be Beneficial For Colleges/Universities

As the pandemic has significantly reduced the number of college visits, the whole concept of virtual tours has taken a center stage. While these college virtual tours are not equivalent replacement to touring a college campus in person, they do offer valuable visuals and key information to help a student form an opinion. In fact, taking a virtual tour has become important to such as an extent that every student greatly considers it as a decision-making tool for choosing a college of their dreams. Not only the students, a college virtual tour has a lot to offer to the colleges and universities as well.

By offering an interactive experience and highlighting the unique features of the campus, the colleges get to distinguish themselves in the consideration set of the students. The 360-degree views, user-generated videos and guided voice tours allow the prospective students and their families to enjoy the feeling of standing in the middle of the campus, without making an actual visit. In other words, by incorporating a virtual campus tour on their official website, the colleges get to truly lead the highly competitive environment.

Few reasons why colleges should use virtual tours  

• Help build familiarity – The interactive tours allow the students living beyond 50 miles of the campus to become familiar with every nook and cranny of the campus, without leaving the comfort of their house. Especially, this is highly beneficial for those international students who do not have the time and resources to visit your campus. In addition, the engaging virtual tours assist in seeking the attention of the students, which further results in increasing the physical visits to the campus, and in boosting the conversion rates.

• Allow you to stand out – It is quite common for the websites to display the static pictures of their buildings and provide details regarding the infrastructure and facilities. However, not every institution offers interactive and immersive tours of the campus. So, by using them, you gain a competitive edge and are able to stand out among the other colleges that people come across while browsing through the internet. Moreover, it gives students a realistic idea of what they can expect from your college/university.

• Will present the institution in a professional manner – Using a virtual tour will help your college to come across as professional. It will give an impression that you embrace technological advancements, and aim to provide only the best to the students. In addition, a tour can include various safety features to deliver the much-needed assurance to the parents that their children will learn and grow in a safe environment.

• Easier to highlight distinctive features – A well-designed virtual tour allows every college to present the architectural developments and advanced facilities in the most appealing manner. Whether you have impressive playgrounds, swimming pools, laboratories, or a stunning façade, you can incorporate everything that can set your college apart from the rest of the competition. In fact, all these details when presented through high-end technology can influence the final call of the students in the favor of your institution.

• Encourage extra-curricular activities – A college can use the college virtual tours to display that it not only ensures academic excellence but also offers excellent opportunities to the students to excel in extra-curricular activities as well. This means that all the sports enthusiasts will get to present the college in all the state and national-level competitions, and this will definitely help them weave an amazing career path for themselves.

• Motivate donors to contribute – Along with the students, the colleges can also design tours specifically for alumni and other donors. By allowing alumni to relive some of the best moments they experienced at the campus, you can make it easier for them to form an emotional connect and motivate them to make a contribution. Also, you can talk about the improvements in the infrastructure you wish to execute or the technologies that you plan to welcome. This way, the donors will get proper clarity about where exactly their funds will be used.

• Act as long-term asset/investment – A noteworthy advantage of using a virtual tour is that the panoramic images remain completely with the college. Additionally, once uploaded, the tour stays on all the Google platforms for as long as you want. Besides this, the pictures can be shared and embedded on different social media platforms which will undoubtedly bring organic exposure.

Conclusion

To wrap up, with the points mentioned above, it is quite clear that all the colleges can consume a range of benefits from the virtual tours. These high-tech virtual tours allow the colleges to gain a competitive edge, attract more students, highlight unique features, and present the institution in the most engaging manner. Additionally, it assists the students in getting familiar with the campus, without spending any money for making an actual visit. Moreover, the more students and donors the tour will attract, the more growth the college will experience.