How To Create An Email Template To Share Your Virtual Tour
We love it when our clients find new ways to utilize the virtual tours we create for them. Recently, one of our clients shared an email template that they use when someone reaches out to them to get information about booking their venue. We thought that it was such a good idea that we decided to create a quick tutorial.
Email Template Example
Instead of simply generating virtual tour links and pasting them into an email, we should invest a little time in crafting a personalized and informative email that benefits both potential renters and the leasing agent. This will not only save time for leasing agents, but also give the apartment community a competitive advantage. To demonstrate this, let’s create an email that a leasing agent can use to respond to a potential renter’s interest in their apartment community.
Subject: Re: Apartment Inquiry
Dear [Potential Renter Name],
Thank you for your interest in our apartment at [Property Address]. I am excited to tell you more about this property and answer any questions you may have.
The apartment is a [number] bedroom, [number] bathroom unit with [square footage]. It is located in a [neighborhood] and is close to [amenities]. The rent is $[rent amount] per month.
We’re excited to show you our apartments! If you would like to schedule a time to view them in person, please don’t hesitate to reach out. You can call me at [phone number] or email me at [email address]. In the meantime, feel free to take a virtual tour of our apartments by checking out the following links…
Rooftop Terrace with Lounge Seating
I look forward to hearing from you soon!
Sincerely, [Your Name]
Basic Instructions
- Open Google Maps on your desktop computer.
- Search for your business or location in Google Maps.
- Select the virtual tour from the image gallery.
- Navigate through the tour and choose the view you wish to share.
- Click on the three dots in the upper left-hand corner of the page to open the menu.
- Click on “Share or embed image”.
- Click, “COPY LINK”, to copy the link to your clipboard.
- Open your email client and start composing a new email.
- Write the text you want to hyperlink. and then select/highlight it.
- Click on the “Insert link” button in the formatting toolbar (it looks like a chain link).
- In the pop-up window, paste the URL you copied to your clipboard earlier in Step 7.
- Click the “Apply” button to create the hyperlink.
- Repeat Step 4 – Step 12 to add as many areas of you tour that you want to share.
- Send the email and sit back and think to yourself, “I am an email expert who has just given my potential client everything that they need to make a purchasing decision. I think I may need a raise, or at least a bonus. I think I’m going to reach out to my employer now and remind them how lucky they are to have me.”
Or just send the email and get back to work. 👍
Detailed Step-by-Step Instructions With Images
In the following tutorial we will go over how to capture multiple viewpoints from a virtual tour and hyperlink each view to some descriptive text so that you can easily navigate to each point of interest. It’s going to be a lot of fun! Let’s get started.
Step 1.
Open Google Maps on your desktop computer.
Step 2.
Search for your business or location in Google Maps.
Step 3.
Select the virtual tour from the image gallery.
The virtual tour can be found in the image gallery by selecting the Street View & 360° category in your Google Business Profile or by selecting a photo in your gallery with the 360° symbol in the bottom left hand corner of the image.
Step 4.
Navigate through the tour and choose the view you wish to share.
Use the arrow buttons on your keyboard or click and drag with your mouse to change your viewpoint. As you move through the virtual tour, you can also use the navigation controls in the lower right corner of the screen to zoom in and out, rotate the view.
Bonus Tip:
The view you choose in (Step 4.) will be represented exactly as it was chosen when you add the virtual tour to your website. Here are a few bonus tips to make your tour look amazing on your website.
- Center the most important content in the center of the view.
- When possible, drag the viewpoint to allow all of your vertical lines to appear straight up and down.
- Keep an eye on the navigation arrows. It is a best practice to share a view in the tour that allows the viewer to step forward, when possible.
Good
Not so good
Step 5.
Click on the three dots in the upper left-hand corner of the page to open the menu.
Step 6.
Click on “Share or embed image”.
Step 7.
Click, “COPY LINK”, to copy the link to your clipboard.
Step 8.
Open your email client and start composing a new email.
Step 9.
Write the text you want to hyperlink. and then select / highlight it.
Step 10.
Click on the “Insert link” button in the formatting toolbar (it looks like a chain link).
Bonus Tip: If you want to be extra fancy you can highlight the text that you want to hyperlink and then use the keyboard shortcut (Ctrl-K) to activate the Insert Hyperlink command.
Step 11.
In the pop-up window, paste the URL you copied to your clipboard earlier in Step 7.
Step 12.
Click the “OK” button to create the hyperlink.
Step 13.
Repeat Step 4 – Step 12 to add as many areas of you tour that you want to share.
Step 14.
Send the email and sit back and think to yourself, “I am an email expert who has just given my potential client everything that they need to make a purchasing decision. I think I may need a raise, or at least a bonus. I think I’m going to reach out to my employer now and remind them how lucky they are to have me.”
Or just send the email and get back to work. 👍