If a photo is worth a thousand words, how many words is a 360 degree photo worth?
Media is in the middle of a paradigm shift. What was once the radio is now TV and what is now TV has become the smartphone.
Not keeping up with new technology can have a detrimental impact on your business and life.
You might’ve seen your friends on Facebook post some interesting panoramic photos. Welcome to the first day of the rest of your life!
360 degree media content is here to stay. This isn’t some fad like the 3D TV.
360 degree videos (VR) are on the fringe of mainstream consumer awareness. Entering a market early can ensure your success as an authority in the industry.
Although it might seem clunky to watch 360° media on your phone, I assure you, mainstream headset adoption is coming.
Here are the advantages for 360 degree photos/ videos for your business or personal use.
1. Gateway to new marketing platform
As a general marketing rule, you should continue testing new platforms daily. If you use Facebook for your business you will grow while Facebook itself is growing. Join social networks early and when they grow you will too like a tidal wave.
70% of marketers who have used 360 videos say it has increased engagement for them.
If you publish 360 images and videos on platforms like VeeR and Facebook you are entering another stream of attention.
Utilizing 360 degree content on all platforms that accept it will almost assure more eyes on your posts.
Instead of writing blog posts, and creating infographics we’ll be creating interactive 360 videos.
Observe this use case of immersive VR marketing. Try before you FLY by Thomas Cook is a program that uses virtual reality to let potential customers explore their dream destinations. Overall the travel agency saw an increase in their ROI by 40% and a 190% increase in bookings in New York City.
What’s the best 360 degree / VR platform to publish on? Check out this article of the Top 5 VR/360 Content Websites.
2. Unlimited possibilities for viewers
10 years from now we are going to think “remember when the internet was 2-D”?
Instead of taking 15 photos you could take 1 360 photo to encapsulate all the information you want to show.
Nothing compares a video to a 360 video that shows everything in the scene everywhere.
More information means more empathy and consumer awareness.
Why look at a picture or video of your favorite artist performing when you can immerse yourself in 360 degrees of the concert?
Hundreds of different industries can use the unique media form of immersion.
Potential use cases for 360 degree media content:
- Watch events like concerts and keynotes.
- Attend the Super Bowl from any Seat in the Stadium.
- Utilize 360 video for security purposes.
- Hotels can allow potential customers to view rooms before booking.
3. Consumer Loyalty
When companies make a noticeable effort to post new forms of media and content, they beg for consumers’ attention; on that note, putting in a little bit of effort goes in a long way.
Posting new content lets your audience know you are always innovating. Generally speaking, always innovating means you’re going to be here and not disappear tomorrow. It’s a good indicator of a spectacular brand that has my attention.
New research suggests investing in VR (360 degree media) will pay off in brand equity and increase purchases over 2–3 years.
Research by Greenlight VR surveyed over 1,300 adults, among whom 71 percent feel that VR makes brands seem “forward-thinking and modern”, and 53 percent said they’d be more likely to purchase from a brand that uses VR than from one that doesn’t.
4. Worthy of an investment (not a fad)
How do I know 360 video is going to be a worthwhile investment, you ask?We’re on the decline of traditional media. Radio’s, TV’s and soon in the future photos and videos.
360 degree content is the next generation of consumer media.
“Greenlight VR has been researching consumer sentiment toward virtual reality since 2014, and this is our most conclusive study yet, tying together attitudes and intended action with branded experience exposure. If the recent success of Pokemon Go isn’t enough, this data provides concrete evidence to experience marketers who are currently designing for the new experience economy.”
- Clifton Dawson, Greenlight VR CEO
5. 360 Degree Media Advertising
Running an advertising campaign?
Did you know that 360 degree video ad banners have:
- 3x Higher Conversion (CTR, view -> click)
- 30% higher repeated view rate
- 70–300% increase in user engagement
Google Recently ran an advertising campaign where they pinned a normal video to a 360 virtual reality video, and found that 360 videos motivate viewers to watch more and interact.
Google implemented a new metric called the interaction rate, which measures if users tilt, scroll their phones around was higher than the view-through rates for the 60-second 360 ad. In conclusion, the 360 ad drove engagement via interactions, even if people didn’t watch 30 seconds or more!
Google’s 360 ad drove 41% more earned actions than the standard ad. Messaging apps like WhatsApp and iOS messenger listed among the traffic sources for the 360 version — but not for the normal version.
The full-length 360 video had a 46% higher view count at the end of our experiment than the standard full-length piece. As a result, the 360 ad was a more efficient buy since its cost-per-view was lower when organic and paid views were combined.
