The partnership between Simpleview and Threshold 360 empowers destination marketing organizations (DMOs) with innovative technology to effectively engage visitors, boost bookings, and enhance local partnerships.
By integrating Threshold 360’s virtual tour platform with Simpleview CMS, DMOs can easily embed interactive, location-specific virtual tours on their websites and digital assets. This integration enriches marketing content, supports partner locations, and provides valuable engagement insights, all while increasing the ability to win bids and drive traffic.
With Threshold 360’s proven ability to increase online bookings and engagement by over 20%, this collaboration creates a powerful tech stack that helps DMOs maximize their online impact and create stronger connections with both visitors and local partners — and things just got even better.
Destination marketing has evolved far beyond descriptive blogs and static images. Modern travelers crave engagement and interaction. They look to influencers, TikTok videos, and other new forms of communication to persuade them to visit their next “must-see” destination.
This is why immersive view experiences are the next evolution to give potential visitors the ability to virtually explore destinations before booking their trips.
This shift has been accelerated by innovations like Google Maps’ Immersive View, which launched in 2020 and is now being piloted for a small number of businesses globally with direct integration into Google My Business profiles.
Despite the growing importance of immersive view content, many DMOs haven't fully leveraged this powerful tool in their marketing and sales arsenal.
Those with unlimited access to immersive view technology — like the capabilities Aether by Threshold 360 provides — are gaining a significant competitive advantage in visitor engagement, conversion rates, and overall marketing and sales effectiveness.
Aether by Threshold 360 helps DMOs create eye-catching AI-powered immersive view content that attracts visitors.
Here’s how.
Why Immersive View Content Matters to the New Visitor Journey
Today's travelers typically explore more than 38 touchpoints online before making booking decisions. During this research phase, immersive view content dramatically outperforms traditional media.
Virtual tour content generates engagement rates eight to 10 times higher than paid digital channels, with visitors spending an average of two or more minutes actively exploring immersive views compared to just seconds with static content.
The ability to "experience before visiting" satisfies travelers' desire for authenticity and transparency, significantly impacting conversion rates.
As one Florida-based DMO chief marketing officer noted, "When potential visitors can virtually step into our attractions, restaurants, and hotels, their confidence in booking increases substantially. It removes the guesswork and builds immediate emotional connection."
Optimizing Google My Business Profiles with Immersive View Content
When uploading to Google My Business Profiles, aim for tour views that highlight unique selling points of each location.
Here are a few steps we recommend:
- Prioritize capturing immersive view tours of your highest-traffic or most visually appealing locations.
- Ensure proper keyword-rich descriptions with each upload to enhance search engine optimization (SEO) value.
- Add ALT tags that include location name, city, and primary attraction type.
Revolutionizing Sales Proposals with Immersive View Content
Meeting planners and group travel coordinators make decisions based on logistics and emotional appeal. Tools like SendSites allow sales and marketing teams to build interactive, digital proposals effortlessly.
Integrate immersive view content into your sales proposals by:
- Creating different immersive views of your space tailored to specific client needs.
- Developing split-screen presentations that pair venue specifications with immersive view tours.
- Building immersive view content libraries organized by event type and venue capacity.
"Virtual tours have shortened our sales cycle significantly," shares Clea Cosman, director of sales of Glowbal Restaurant Group. "Clients who experience our spaces virtually are much more qualified when they arrive for in-person site visits."
Social Media Strategy for Immersive View Content
Each social platform requires a unique approach:
- Instagram: Create short, captivating snippets from your immersive view tours.
- Facebook: Embed immersive view content directly in posts to encourage engagement.
- TikTok: Feature creators exploring destinations using your immersive view content as a green screen background.
- LinkedIn: Share B2B focused immersive view content showcasing meeting spaces and business amenities.
The most effective social strategy creates a "teaser ecosystem" that drives visitors to engage with immersive view experiences on your owned channels as the precursor to converting into a booking or visit.
Unlock the Power of Unlimited Content Creation
The most successful DMO marketing and sales strategies are ones capable of scale. Developing immersive view content traditionally requires elaborate production cycles, significant cost, and long turnaround times.
Tools like Aether by Threshold 360 solve this challenge by enabling DMOs to create unlimited AI-powered immersive view content from a single tour capture at a fraction of the cost, starting at $69/month.
Here’s how it works: schedule your tour capture on a Monday and receive a finished immersive view experience by Friday.
Without solutions like Aether by Threshold 360, this process could take weeks, even months to complete a single immersive view tour of your space.
