Enhancing Your Visitor Experience Through a Virtual Tour - A WKU Case Study

Enhancing Your Visitor Experience Through a Virtual Tour

A WKU Case Study

Kyle James@KyleJamesCEO @nuCloud

Corie Martin@CorieMartin

Manager of Creative Web Services @WKU

Approaching the Online Experience

• About WKU– 4-year public– 21,000 + Students on 4 campuses– 3rd largest university in Kentucky

• 2010/2011 Website Redesign / CMS adoption– Prospective student focused content strategy– Included new virtual tour

Something for all audiences

Alumni

Events on Campus

Developments to Campus

Current Students

Event and department locations, way-finding, Parent’s Weekend info and more

Athletic Fans

Direct fans to tailgating locations, venues, special events, parking and more

Community & Special Events

Conferences

Campers

Prospective Students

Vital to Recruitment

Milestone Cycle

The Prospective Decision Process

Lots of Choices

How to Narrow the List?

Visit Campuses!

You Can’t Visit Every School

Too Expensive & Too Much Time

• USA Today instructs prospective students to take virtual tours as the #1 step before actually visiting a college

• Fox Business instructs families to take a virtual tour to cut the cost of college visits

• The New York Times reports universities are turning to the internet for virtual tours

In The News

http://fxn.ws/GCTyEv

http://nyti.ms/RpfdI3

http://usat.ly/6VXzE0

Virtual Tour

• Creating a virtual experience without

actually being there

• Picture, video, audio

Interactive Map vs Virtual Tour

Interactive Map

• Interacting with a user

• Providing a means to give input and

get results

So an interactive map is always a virtual tour, but a virtual tour isn’t always an

interactive map.

How Are You Competing?

• Let’s talk about this….– How about examples of other interactive media

that colleges use• Email blasts• Print media/direct mail• Facebook• Custom Social Networks• Foursquare? Others?

• Dated 360 imagery

• Poorly branded

• Managed by Admissions

• Little interactivity

• No information or call-to-action

• Dated and BOOORING

Our Old Map

Our Old Campus Map

Our New Campus Map

Our Virtual Tour

http://www.wku.edu/tour/

Our Mobile Tour

http://www.wku.edu/tour/

Our Tour on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/WKUNews

The Data

Physical Campus Tour Is Critical

Data from Noel-Levitz – www.noellevitz.com

Most Important Web Features

Data from Noel-Levitz – www.noellevitz.com

Credible Sources in Decision Process

Data from Hobsons - www.hobsons.com

49% of Prospects are Influenced

Data from Noel-Levitz – www.noellevitz.com

Why Aren’t More Schools Doing It?

Data from Noel-Levitz – www.noellevitz.com

Building an ROI Case for this Project

Establishing ROI

If we can work backwards from the value of a student we can establish the value of

an Interactive Campus Map.

*All numbers are created as examples

What is the value of a Student?

• Average Years = 3• Cost Per Year = $20,000• Average Yearly Discount = $10,000

• Student Value = 3 * ($20,000 - $10,000)• So a Student is worth

$30,000!

What is the value of an Applicant?

• Student Value = $30,000• Conversion Rate in Applicant = 20%

• App Value = $30,000 * .2• So an Applicant is worth

$6,000!

Value Of Campus Tour

What is a Campus Visit Worth?

• Application Value = $6,000• Conversion Rate of Visits to Applicant = 20%

• Value of Visit = $6,000 * .2• So Each Student Visit is Worth

$1,200!

Drive More Campus Visitors

Interactive Campus Map

Visit Campus

Application

What is a Virtual Tour Visit Worth?

• Visit Value = $1,200• Conversion of Map to Visit = 5%

• Value of a Map View = $1,200 * .05• So Each Map View is Worth

$60!

Do You Think 1,000 People Would View Your

Map In A Month?

Then Having A Map Is Worth $60,000!

Per Month!

ROI Spreadsheet

http://bit.ly/map-roi

Things Not To Do

• Use Flash – it’s inaccessible and creates a maintenance nightmare

• Only images – Include more content than just a map with some photo galleries. Tours need context.

• Ignore updates – Keep building information and imagery fresh. You virtual tour needs the power to entice real visits.

Things Not To Do With A Map

Where Do I Start?

http://www.uky.edu/CampusGuide/

Too Many Options

http://map.emory.edu/

Slow Load Times

http://www.suffolk.edu/virtualtour/

Confusing

http://www.virtualtour.potsdam.edu/index.php

Don’t Fail!

Interactive Maps & Virtual Tours

No FlashEmbed AnywhereFacebook ReadyMobile Optimized508 ComplianceGoogle AnalyticsMap CMS BackendCustomizable Options

Questions?

Kyle James@KyleJames

kyle@nucloud.com

Corie Martin@CorieMartin

corie.martin@wku.edu