Does your website and online marketing campaign do “conversation” with the visitors or just “talk”? With blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and other modern website technologies, it is easier to “communicate” online than ever before. However, does your 3D content “communicate”?
If the 3D online content doesn’t “communicate”, you miss a great opportunity! This is especially true for the companies whose core marketing information is graphic based.
“A picture is worth a thousand of words.” How about the “conversational picture”? It will be worth a thousand of dialogues!
The “conversational picture” will streamline entire online market campaigns, an ideal marketing strategy for companies involved in real-estate, appliances, rental and travel services, etc.
What is the “conversational picture or 3D”? The short answer is interactive 3D.
We are all familiar with 3D, which includes 3D rendering, animation/fly-through, pictures, etc. All of those belong to the category of traditional “talk” orientated 3D.
Interactive 3D is the virtual replica of real physical worlds which either already exist or will be built in the future. It also has the ability to accurately simulate structures that would be near impossible to build in the real world for the exploration of future technologies. Good interactive 3D has all the traditional 3D functions listed above but can also “communicate”. It can be either online or offline only. Here we will only concentrate on the online interactive 3D.
Interactive 3D not only shows the imaging, but more importantly shows the functions. Interactive 3D is used in two major areas:
- Real Estate Properties which include buildings, structures, room space and landscapes, etc
- Products which include household appliances and industry equipments.
The purposed can be for:
- Marketing and sales
- Evaluation and design improvements
- Training and simulation
For buildings and landscapes, the user has the luxury of being able to go inside and out of the property as if they are visiting the site in person. Every little detail, including possible floor plans, colors, textures, and all other options can be seen in real time from any viewpoint with the feature of on-the-fly picture capture. This eliminates the worry about huge costs associated with the number of rendering or animations that needs to be created in order to cover all viewpoints. Companies can initiate marketing campaigns, rental plans, and promotional services long before the building is even built. Additionally, the service can be used as a lifelong building management and sales tool, aiding in the city’s approval and fundraising opportunities.
An Interactive 3D property is like having a team of dedicated sales and a property manager for the customer 24 X 7. Also, features allow potential buyers/renters to pre-qualify themselves and prepare the documentation right from their fingertips!
For the product, users have a 720 degree (not just 360) view of every item and detail. A personal interactive experience is provided with features that allow customers to zoom in/out, push buttons, open boxes, move objects/appliances, exploring the full functions of items. Alternative options for colors, styles, and arrangements can even be changed on the spot to see how each may fit their particular environments. No longer will users have to struggle with abstract and hard to understand text descriptions.
This like having a dedicated engineer, consultant, or trainer available all times for customers.
Here are four additional examples:
Example one: cabinets. The customer can select virtual cabinets either online or in the showroom with every possible combination, colors, and textures. They can even open the cabinet door, cut the cabinet in any section to examine the joints, workmanship, etc. After proper adjustments and selections, they put the final cabinets into certain styled room to find the perfect fit.
Example two: the builder can show their potential client virtually just as if they are walking through the physical site. Insulation details, workmanship, different materials/textures/color options can all be seen by embedding related pictures, animations, video clips, and voice descriptions all in one place.
Examples three: meeting room and resort. The potential client can “walk through” the meeting spaces and virtual buildings, evaluate different room layouts, and plan activities ahead of time. When the client arrives at the destination, they are already comfortable with the environments and have an idea of where they want to spend their time/money, decreasing buyer’s remorse and increasing customer satisfaction.
Examples four: outdoor landscape. The potential client can “walk through” the virtual yard, view the countertops, grills, tables, chairs from any degree and any angle, from a detailed perspective or an overall layout. It is like having a 24 X 7 X 365 show room with availability at any time.
Interactive 3D allows for a transformation from “push” to “pull”, “explore” to “experience” for marketing, sales, and training. With the technology of virtual products, demonstrations can be done at much lower costs, passing on the savings to consumers and dramatically increasing revenue and customer satisfaction. Additionally, the immediate need for physical samples can also eliminated for logistical purposes.
Interactive online 3D doesn’t replace personal contacts but enhances it. The experience will encourage and allow prospective customers to prepare, prequalified themselves, ask more intelligent questions when they go to store, interact more comfortably with sales, and even continue their own exploration. Studies show that people are more likely to visit physical sites after viewing the good online, leading to an increase in the chance of purchase. This enable sales to handle more inquiries, reduce operation costs, and greatly increase the sales efficiency and customer satisfaction.
How expensive is Interactive Online 3D? It depends how and who you work with, just like any other technology. One thing is for sure, it is no longer a luxury. The cost is very comparable with traditional illustration and occasionally can be attained for less. This is especially true when comparing the total cost of 3D content creation for the different purposes. The 3D content is extremely flexible and can be implemented for multiple usages if done right, such as printing materials, CDs, emails, etc. with minimal or no content redevelopment.
What should you watch out when working with 3D illustration? What kind of questions should you ask when communicating with 3D content creation service providers? We will talk about those in separate articles.
great post, thanks for sharing