We all want more views for our 360° content, right? From our observations since launch, we’ve noticed some patterns in the views of virtual tours and the practices behind them.
1. Follow more people on Spinattic. This is probably one of the best ways to get more views on your virtual tours. It’s not really a new concept. The more people you follow, the more likely people are to follow you. The more people that follow you, the more people your tours will get in front of. This is a concept you’ll hear a lot about when marketers talk about getting Twitter followers. We’ve found that the same is true when it comes to Spinattic as well. Be social and present and you’ll get more views.
2. Share your virtual tour in groups and use Twitter hashtags. Much of the traffic Spinattic sees comes from referring sites, especially Facebook. You may also want to find panoramic communities around the web that will appreciate your 360° content beyond your own fan page or personal accounts. You may have heard of some of these hot spots, but I’ll mention them anyways. There is a Facebook group called the “Panoramic Photographers on Facebook” It has around 4,200 members and you’ll get great feedback from experienced photographers. Another place is on Twitter with the hastag #VR There must be some other good places where pano photographers hangout that I’m missing. Leave me a comment if you have any suggestions.
3. Share your tour on reddit, stumbleupon and digg. I really like to share on these places because they will give your virtual tour a chance to go viral. Reddit and Digg give you a decent chance for that, especially if your tour is unique or touches upon a hot subject in worldly culture. Aram Pan’s virtual tours really struck a cord with Redittors in June 2015 and his virtual tours of North Korea ended up being linked to from the washingtonpost.com The best thing about this method is it really only takes a few seconds to do and can accomplish huge results.
4. Comment and Like other’s tours. This is much like the first in that the more social and active you are, the more attention your work will receive. Virtual tours that hit certain milestones in likes and comments get pushed to the top, which gives the tour another chance to get more views. We notice that one is more likely to get a comment on their own tour if they leave a comment on someone else’s first. Just be sure your comment is helpful or constructive. No one likes a grumpy photographer. 🙂
5. Create better or unique tours. This suggestion should probably have been listed first, but it’ll take the most work. Let’s not forget that the better your photography is, the more views it’ll receive naturally. In my opinion, aerial virtual tours, vehicle virtual tours, night time scenes and exotic tropical scenes seem to get a lot of attention. With the many various 360 cameras that are soon to be released, there should be some very creative 360 virtual tours made. The opportunity will be great to discover unique places a traditional DSLR rig can’t easily go or do. These cameras include the Panono, Bubl, Ricoh Theta, iris 360 and a few more.
So go out and adopt a few of these methods and let us know how they work for you.