I’m very excited and proud to show off the 360º virtual walk through tour and commercial photography I created of B&A Warehouse in downtown Birmingham, Alabama!
I’ve been to several events at B&A and I’ve known Susan Mason, the owner, from my days as a wedding photographer. I knew what an amazing space it was and I wanted to show it off in my portfolio. B&A is in an amazing location. They are right across the street from Railroad Park and right next to Regions Field. They are really in the heart of Birmingham’s downtown revitalization. I felt that they could really benefit from the Google tour, especially as a sales aid. Often people are planning events from afar. Weddings, rehearsal dinners, parties, corporate events, etc. come with different needs. It can be hard to know if a venue is going to be a good fit or not. By having the 360º tour, event venues can help people save time. They can avoid going to places that will never be a good fit or allow them to secure the needed space without physically going in first.
However, I did have a bit of a challenge convincing Susan! They had already had a 360º tour done by a competitor and they weren’t getting the results they expected. I can definitely understand this but there are some major differences between that product and the Google one!
As compared to the competition here are some advantages Google offers:
- It’s on Google. Instead of being limited to the tour providers website, the Google tour comes up everywhere your business appears on Google. Google Maps, Google StreetView, Google Local, and Google search results.
- You can embed it live directly on your website and Facebook pages. The other tour is a link to the provider’s website. When potential customers view the tour they actually leave the businesses website. With the Google tour it can be embedded seamlessly!
- It’s mobile friendly. The other tours are Adobe Flash based. This means that they’re incompatible with most mobile phones and tablets. The Google tour not only works on those devices it also recognizes and optimizes the tour for the best user experience.
- There’s a n SEO (search engine optimization) benefit. I verify the businesses information to Google and the tour is embedded right on the Google + Local or Google My Business Page for the business. This helps with the search result rankings.
- Much higher quality. The Google tour looks great at full screen on a 27” monitor or a smart phone screen. Other tours are much smaller and pixilated by comparison.
- Commercial still images are included. Along with the 360º virtual tour, up to ten conventional commercial still photos are created. The business has the rights to the images, allowing them to be used in print materials as well as digital media.
- One time cost. Other tour options have a monthly or annual cost. They must be renewed or they go away. Once created, the Google tour never expires.
- Money back guarantee. If you don’t like it, you get your money back. It’s as simple as that!
Once we were able to fully demonstrate the differences and how it looked Susan and her team could see the value. I’m so glad too because this is one unique and amazing venue!
Take a look at the still images and virtual tour below. You can learn more about B&A Warehouse on their website.
