One of the most common questions we receive from our clients after completing a Looking Glass 3D Virtual Tour property scan is “Now what?”. After only a few hours of processing and stitching, the 360 virtual tours are completed and ready for viewing. In this article we will feature the top 4 ways on how to market your completed Looking Glass 360 virtual tour. The HTML coding we will be demonstrating is color coded. Red is the code itself, green is a web address, and blue is the optional data for you to configure.
HTML Linking / Hyperlinking
Once your 360 virtual tour is completed you will receive and email from Looking Glass with the web address for your tour. Our 360 virtual tours are hosted through a partner company Matterport, and the web address will always start with : https://my.matterport.com/show/. The web address is able to be put into your website in the form of a HTML link, also called a hyperlink.
This is accomplished by entering :
<a href=”web address“>title of hyperlink you want displayed</a> into your website.
For example:
<a href=”https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=iZJ28YbZWYp“>Click here to view tour</a>
Embedding the iFrame Tour
The second way you can showcase your freshly completed Looking Glass 360 virtual tour is by embedding the tour itself into your website. This is done by utilizing the iFrame capability that is supported across all HTML and CSS websites. This is done by inputting the following:
<iframe width=”width” height=”height”
src=”web address” frameborder=”border size“
allowfullscreen></iframe>
The iFrame width and height is typically 853 pixels wide by 480 tall. You are more than welcome to edit or alter these numbers, but these are the sizing settings we recommend. The section called “frameborder” dictates if you would like a border surrounding your tour or not, we typically do not use borders. The section “allowfullscreen” gives the website instructions that your tour should be able to be expanded and viewed in a full-screen setting.
For example:
<iframe width=”853” height=”480“
src=”https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=iZJ28YbZWYp” frameborder=”0“
allowfullscreen></iframe>
Using Your Favorite MLS
Your freshly completed Looking Glass 360 virtual tour is able to be uploaded and input into most MLS, multiple listing service, websites. One of the MLS pioneers to feature virtual tour support was Zillow, but over the past year dozens of other top quality MLS providers have opened support for uploading and featuring your Looking Glass 360 virtual tour. To upload or embed your Looking Glass 360 virtual tour, you will have to check the upload procedure for the individual MLS provider.
Post Your Tours To Facebook
If you can press 4 keys, you can share your tour on Facebook. Simply copy the URL of your Looking Glass 360 virtual tour from the top of your address bar, then paste the URL into your “Post Status” box on Facebook. Click share, and you’re done! With just a few clicks of a mouse you can share your Looking Glass 360 virtual tour with friends, family, real estate groups, and local neighborhood Facebook groups.
QR Codes: Leverage Print Marketing
10 years ago real estate was handled much differently. If someone was interested in a specific area of town their best bet for house shopping was to contact a real estate agent, or drive endlessly around town. In the front of every house up for sale there was a box, envelope, or tube that contained paper printed details about the house or property. The appraisal value, square footage, when the roof was replaced, and a handful of images. Since the internet has become a more prevalent tool with selling real estate, those small info containers have practically disappeared. What has this lead to? Even though almost 84% of the United States is active online, there’s still a 16% that does not utilize online technology to market or purchase a house. How can you bring back print marketing? Easy. QR codes.
QR codes allow a person to scan the code on their phone and be directed to a specific destination. Whether it’s a website, image, or even a virtual tour; you can set up a custom QR code that directs viewers to it. For creating QR codes you can use free websites such as: http://www.qrstuff.com where you can select the target of the code. QRStuff.com also offers a subscription service where you can track the analytics of your QR code, such as how many people have scanned the code, how long they stayed active on your site etc.
Sample QR :
Scan this symbol below with your phone’s “QR Code Reader” – there are many free apps for all mobile devices now, some even come with them already installed. Visit this tutorial if you have any trouble.
In summary, the successful home seller has to use every marketing tool available in order to gain an edge over the competition and get the property seen by as many people as possible…FAST!!
A 3D Virtual Tour provides for an instant, rich and immersive experience that allows users to traverse a property on their computer, tablet, or phone anytime. Contact your local Looking Glass Representative today to learn more about our 3D Property Tours. Mention this article and receive special pricing on your next property scan.
