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5 Key Areas to Consider When Evaluating a Virtual Tour Solution for Your Athletics Programs

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In an increasingly digital world, students are accustomed to high-quality virtual experiences that grab and keep their attention. The college-search process is no exception. This is why many enrollment teams and athletic departments have decided to leverage a virtual tour as part of their recruitment strategy.

The challenge for coaches and athletic directors, who typically spearhead athletic recruitment, is often in meeting the expectations of Gen Z and scaling their limited time and resources. It can also be challenging for coaches to communicate the full campus experience and non-athletic topics that resonate with this generation of prospective athletes.

So, what makes a great virtual tour? When you think of a virtual tour, you might think of maps, pictures of buildings, or 2D video walk-throughs; but to be highly effective, a virtual tour should be more than a tour of your physical space-it should be an experience. And that experience should help prospective athletes, at any part of their journey, connect with your school in an emotional way and allow them to easily envision themselves at your institution.

With an increase in athletic programs adopting immersive virtual tour solutions, we’d like to share five key areas of evaluation when considering your options.

5 Key Areas of Evaluation for Virtual College Tours for Athletics

1. Storytelling: Does your virtual tour tell a compelling story?

An exceptional virtual tour tells a relatable and authentic story about your institution and creates an emotional connection with your audience.

your tour should…

• Highlight what your athletic programs/facilities have to offer
• Help prospective athletes understand the full campus experience, including residence life, student support services, and academics
• Incorporate existing creative assets to tell a more robust story

2. Engagement: Does your virtual tour have engaging content?

An exceptional virtual tour combines the right types of content, in the right places, to keep visitors engaged.

your tour should…

• Deliver an interactive experience that encourages exploration, such as layering YouTube videos of game highlights and coach interviews and/or incorporating photos from social media
• Let athletes dive deeper on topics that interest them by including relevant, attention-grabbing content within tour scenes
• Introduce prospective athletes to the people who will be an important part of their journey, such as coaches, professors, and fellow athletes

3. User Experience: Does your virtual tour provide an exceptional user experience?

An exceptional virtual tour is user-friendly, intuitive, and easy to navigate.

Your tour should…

• Allow athletes to explore content in a nonlinear way at their own pace
• Be optimized for desktop and mobile
• Make it easy for athletes to take the next step in their journey, such as scheduling a visit

4. Accessibility: Is your virtual tour accessible?

An exceptional virtual tour is accessible anywhere and everywhere. It should be available across all devices and provide equal access to all people.

Your tour should…

• Follow ADA compliance guidelines
• Be accessible from all devices and operating systems
• Provide a place for athletes to gain access to your campus and facilities at any time from places such as your .edu and third-party sites (this is especially impactful when students are just beginning their college search, to narrow down schools that interest them)

5. Analytics: Does your virtual tour provide insights?

An exceptional virtual tour not only provides a great experience to visitors but also provides insights about the visitors.

Your tour should…

• Capture inquiries by allowing prospective athletes to register for more information directly from the tour
• Enable you to see what other school types and geographical locations your inquiries are exploring
• Track where your visitors are coming from to help inform which territories your coaches should focus on
• Provide interaction data to help you understand which tour destinations are resonating the most with prospective athletes

See how athletic departments are sharing their unique story

US Air Force Athletics

Yale University Athletics

Susquehanna University Athletics

Unlock New Ways to Engage the Prospective Athlete

Building affinity with an athletic program takes time and resources, and with recent staffing shortages impacting admissions offices across the country, many athletic departments are turning to new digital tools, such as the YouVisit Virtual Tour, to scale their recruitment effort.