Friday Finds: 10 Clever Ways 3D Event Designer Visuals Win Venues Business

For properties, 3D event design is one savvy response to the increasing popularity of digital venue sourcing. According to Cvent research, fully 77 percent of planners say they research venues online before contacting sales teams. This means that your website is on the front lines of business acquisition. What’s there makes an impact.

Leverage that space to your advantage. Highlight your property’s outstanding features, let planners really envision their event in your space, and get a jump on the competition with photorealistic 3D event design visuals. 

Using 3D event designer apps and software, it doesn’t take much know-how to bring your venues to life with 3D design. Here are 10 ways these 3D event visuals, including interactive photo-realistic venue maps from Social Tables, improve your website, and boost client acquisition.  

Explore the Best Ways to Use 3D Designer Visuals

1. Attract more Millennial planners.

Millennials are the largest generation in the American workforce today and they are native to tech”using it seamlessly throughout their personal and professional lives. They are especially drawn to self-service options that let them control the research and buying experience until they decide to ask for help. Providing 3D event design info on your website gives Millennial planners the tech-forward, self-service experience they want. 

Experience is also important to this demographic, so include an interactive elements, such as the ability to ˜walkthrough’ 3D event spaces and explore every corner and detail. After Millennial planners book your venue, they’ll appreciate the ready availability of a digital floor plan they can upload to their own event planning software.  

2. Show, don’t tell: Demonstrate how events will fit in every space.

If your banquet room has a capacity limit of 350, show how it will look set up for 350 guests. Then, with a few clicks, also show how it will look set up for 250”with seating nooks, additional function tables at the edge, entertainment, or simply wider aisles between tables. Planners with groups at your maximum capacity will appreciate seeing that the setup is comfortable, and planners with smaller groups will be able to tell that your venue can feel just right for their event too.

Another useful thing to demonstrate is the relationship between spaces in the hotel. Let people visualize how far the meeting room is from the lunch room, or where the bathroom is in relation to event spaces. (This feature will be appreciated by all, but it is especially fantastic for anyone with mobility-related needs.)

It can be hard for potential clients to get a sense of space in the room with 2D layout software. Photorealistic 3D software is an easy and fast solution to this common pain point. Planners can confidently determine whether your venue spaces meet their client’s requirements. 

3. Gain a competitive edge over your venue’s competitor set.

When it comes to ways your property can stand out from the crowd, the website is a high-value target. According to extensive meeting and event research from Cvent, 67 percent of the buyer’s journey now takes place digitally.  

Rise above the rest. Get your property noticed early in the process for its visuals, its potential, and its ease of sourcing.

Feature visuals that capture a wide variety of events, from weddings to company meetings to awards ceremonies. Include all your room sizes and areas”anywhere your customers might be interested in hosting part of their events. Finally, don’t forget to feature spaces that can drop off the radar, such as outdoor spaces available for tents and lobbies available for pre-banquet cocktails. 

4. Entice remote or international event clients.

Sometimes planners just can’t make it to your property for a site visit. Or maybe they could travel for a visit, but skipping the trip frees up more money for the event budget. (That, of course, is good news for venues.)

Interactive 3D maps are the perfect way to showcase your property remotely and give planners and their clients confidence that it’s absolutely the right place for their event. An interactive 3D map isn’t just a series of static photos or a pre-set video tour. The potential client can control how they move through the space to get a sense of it, just as they would on a real site visit. 

The benefit is even more pronounced when potential clients have a first language other than English. The clear visuals minimize the language barrier. They drastically cut down on difficulties like answering client questions about spatial relations and layout, or augmenting information from photos and 2D diagrams. 

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. A photo-realistic, interactive 3D map is worth more like a million to event planners who need to absorb a lot of information about your space in a short amount of time.    

5. Give a great sense of your popular event venue spaces.

Show the event lighting, the flow, and the feel of your sure-thing spaces. Let people see for themselves”however often they want”what makes those spaces special and how an event would work in them.

If there’s something spectacular in the space”an eye-catching architectural feature, a thoughtful detail, a jaw-dropping view”show how a variety of events incorporate that feature. Create a wedding setup centered against the view of the skyline or the mountains, a speaker’s podium placed so the view serves as a dramatic backdrop, or a conference buffet table aligned near a contemporary art installation.

6. Mock up underutilized event venue spaces too using 3D design visuals.

Do you have an area that doesn’t see a lot of business, but that you think is a hidden gem? 

Perhaps a large conference room gets used for business meetings during certain parts of the year, and sits fairly empty at other times. Render a holiday celebration to show off the possibilities. Or maybe the kids’ art room at a boutique property could easily host kids’ events, but the space hasn’t taken off yet. Mock it up however you like, easily changing the layout and decor to show a variety of styles.

3D event layouts give you plenty of advantages over 2D layouts in clarifying the value of these spaces. Maybe the foyer doesn’t appeal in 2D plans, or it’s hard to ˜see’ the dynamic possibilities afforded by a two-story atrium. Put them in 3D. Show potential clients how those spaces feel and let them imagine how attendees would move through the space. 

7. Sell events event during pre-opening or renovation.

Maybe a new or revamped venue space is under construction. You don’t have to wait until the molding is on, the paint is dry, the furniture is in, and the flowers are arranged to start booking clients. 

Far from it. 3D design visuals give you an option for a ˜site visit’ that isn’t even possible in the real world yet. It worked for the Watergate Hotel. The venue’s senior sales manager Caitlin Nicolson said Social Tables’ design software helped the property sell out 95 percent of the available meeting space for a year nearly three months prior to doors open, and with the ballroom’s drywall still setting. 

8. Demonstrate creative, non-traditional use of event venue spaces.

Think beyond what has already been done in your space, and demonstrate different layouts and decor. Design an informal meeting setup in the bar area, for example, in which a breakout group can combine business with lunch while the rest of the group takes a full break and lunches elsewhere in the venue. Or, design an awards banquet in a space most often used for wedding receptions. 3D event design brings it into reality”no need for a styled shoot.

If your venue has a planner on staff, their creativity will shine here. If not, consider collaborating with a trusted planner or planners to come up with some fantastic 3D event designs. In return, you might feature their postcard-sized business cards at your venue and link to their website from your venue site. Event concept and design by¦ or a section called Planners whose work we love could work well.

9. Decorate for events however you want¦without the cost of new decor.

Social Tables maintains partnerships with event furniture and decor rental companies. Go into their up-to-date seasonal catalogs in Social Tables and design and decorate your spaces however you want”from fuzzy chairs and lawn walls to decorative pillows, box hedges and centerpieces. 

The partner catalogs are fully 3D rendered already. Showcase whatever styles of decor and event you want, right from your computer.

This is not only a boon to you, but also a boon to planners. Decorating realistically from a screen makes their jobs easier and faster. Sharing the results with clients and iterating in response to their feedback makes planners look sharp and responsive, and gets their designs closer to their client’s wishes. The ability to do this in your venue will be a draw for many planners.

10. Create a VIP event experience for all

Hospitality is all about making people feel special and cared for. A photorealistic 3D rendering that visitors can navigate on their own feels special because it is special. And having it on your website shows that you care for the experience and the needs of event planners. 

Planners will also appreciate the ability to share the 3D event design visuals with their clients, passing along the VIP experience (at the same time as your brand).

Give your hotel website visitors the five-star treatment before they ever set foot on your property. And deliver it to them right where they already are: on their devices. 

No matter how well your property presents in person, an enticing online presence is crucial. 3D event design visuals can be an invaluable tool in the tough job of selling a physical space to a person who isn’t physically there. These 3D visuals can help you grab the attention of planners, and make a positive first impression before they even walk through the door. 

Now you’re ready to get the most from any 3D event designer app!

Up next, learn more about Social Tables event sales solution, including our 3D event design software, to help you showcase your space, drive leads, and close faster. Or, learn the keys to marketing an event venue.