Photography offers so many possibilities in showcasing a business these days, but to take full advantage of the opportunities requires a professional with a wide range of skills and an eye for what works best.
Sharon Lewis is a professional commercial photographer who made significant changes to her business, 360 Visual Media, to meet the needs of today’s clients, clients who are looking for impressive images but also understand the power of 360 Virtual Tours on websites and on social media platforms.
Owner Sharon, who as well as being a professional commercial photographer, is also a qualified drone operator, a 360 virtual tour specialist, an accredited Google Trusted Photographer and a Google Business profile consultant, decided to make some significant changes to her existing photography business in 2019, and 360 Visual Media was born.
With the wealth of creativity, knowledge and experience Sharon had developed in some fairly new and growing areas of technology, the business has gone from strength to strength, providing visual content solutions to boost online presence, generate calls and grow sales.
Such has been the success of the Buckingham-based company that it won both the Southern Enterprise Awards 2020 for the Most Innovative Virtual Tour and Photography Company, as well as a joint award with Buckinghamshire County Council for services that were designed to help residents but actually became invaluable during the pandemic and its lockdowns.
Buckinghamshire County Council engaged 360 Visual Media in December 2019 to help maximise its presence on the world’s biggest search engine and online maps. In October 2020, LARAC, the leading voice for local authorities on recycling, waste and resource management, recognised the council’s innovative approach to improving customer experience at household recycling centres through Virtual Tours and Google optimisation with a special award.
The award for Best New Idea celebrated this work between Buckinghamshire County Council and 360 Visual Media in providing Google Street View and bespoke 360 virtual tours covering all nine of the county’s household recycling centres.
360 Visual Media further boosted their presence on Google by optimising and managing all nine Google Business profiles. The work has made it easier than ever for residents to come to the sites ready to recycle and have a safe and smooth visit. It also allows those with access or anxiety issues to view the sites and plan their visit, hopefully encouraging more visits.
The 360 virtual tours of each Buckinghamshire HRC were finished in May 2020, adding extra information and functionality to Google Street View just in time for the lifting of the first lockdown. Each bespoke virtual tour provides a side menu, with site opening times, useful tips about the site (including accessibility, parking spaces, and popular user times) pop-up information boxes and imagery with positive messages to boost recycling, acting as mini websites for each site.
In addition to this, each site’s Google Business profile (also known as local SEO) was optimised and managed similar to any other social media site. Features include live messaging, enabling customers to contact Buckinghamshire Council’s Recycling and Waste teams directly to ask questions about the site; and product and service listings, providing information on the chargeable waste service including a full price list, information about charges and how users can pay. Regular posts providing latest news and updates were added weekly. Each one ensured relevant keywords were used to boost local SEO.
Buckinghamshire Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change, Cllr Bill Chapple OBE, said:
“Lots of hard work from both Buckinghamshire Council and 360 Visual Media has enabled the 1.4 million annual visitors to our HRCs to stay safe, plan a visit around their own schedules and recycle as much as possible.”
Sharon Lewis added:
“Technology is giving businesses so many options when it comes to sharing what they have to offer with their potential customers and I wanted 360 Visual Media to be at the forefront of all these changes. So, we invested in equipment that allows us to provide aerial footage and 360-degree tours of a client’s premises, which opens up a whole world of possibilities.
“Achieving Google Trusted Photographer status allows us to work with companies who want to get the best results from their Google listing. 360 Virtual tours can be added to websites, social media platforms or Google Business Listings and are proven to improve SEO as well as productivity and sales.
“An internal, or external 360-degree virtual tour gives more of the atmosphere and dimension of a space or venue, which 2D images cannot achieve. It’s virtual reality, providing and immersive and interactive experience. Schools and colleges are starting to use them to give parents and students a feel for the place, while hotels and restaurants find people are more likely to be attracted to visit after they’ve engaged with a virtual tour.
“Drone footage provides a unique perspective for potential visitors, as well as being invaluable for things like roof inspections and site surveys.
“At the same time, of course, good-quality commercial photography still very much has a place in marketing via brochures, reports, websites and on social media – the beauty of 360 Visual Media is that we can do it all.”
For more information, or to discuss how 360 Visual Media can help your business, visit their website or give them a call on 07961 822336.
