Outshining the competition in any industry requires creative strategies. You must focus on customer engagement that boosts growth, like WiFi marketing. Especially for local businesses, offering free WiFi can turn curious visitors into loyal customers who eventually become brand ambassadors. Businesses that realize this often search for the best WiFi marketing tactics.
If that’s your goal, you’ve come to the right place. There’s so much to explore in this area that even the most experienced marketers feel overwhelmed.
The best way to avoid this is to start from the beginning. Therefore, we’ll begin with the definition and benefits, proceed to the strategies, and conclude with platform features to look for.
What Is WiFi Marketing?
WiFi marketing is an approach that leverages WiFi to enable all types of marketing initiatives. Basically, you offer free WiFi to customers who visit your venue to get contact information or promote your venue. That’s where the domino effect of good things happens.
Brick-and-mortar businesses use WiFi marketing and social WiFi hotspots to leverage an in-store WiFi network to attract and engage customers.
However, some people mistakenly believe customers aren’t willing to share data. Therefore, they don’t use their WiFi offering to its full potential. Instead, they give customers the password to their main network and call it a day.
In reality, customers want businesses to give them a personalized experience each time they visit. They understand that this won’t be possible without sharing their information.
In fact, 56% of social media users are happy to log in with their profiles for a customized experience. Besides, free WiFi is a perk people rarely refuse.
Therefore, creating a separate guest network and using a captive portal to capture customer information is best. It’s a web page that lets you authenticate visitors by collecting basic information.
Combine that with WiFi marketing software, and you’ll be all set to turn customer visits into sales.
4 Reasons Why Every Business Should Invest in WiFi Marketing
Now that you know what WiFi marketing is, you must be curious about its benefits for your business. So, let’s discuss four of them to give you a better idea of the effectiveness of this type of marketing.
- Increased foot traffic: WiFi is something no customer can refuse. If you’re offering it for free, you’re already off to a great start. You’ll get foot traffic growth. More people will visit your venue, giving your business the exposure it needs to enjoy unmatched success.
- Customer information: If you’re careful about privacy and sensitive data, people will willingly give basic information to get free WiFi. Things like email addresses, names, preferences, etc., will help you create detailed customer profiles. However, be transparent about usage and don’t ask for irrelevant information unrelated to personalization.
- Customer engagements: Customers who connect to your WiFi are more likely to stay longer. This allows you to engage with your customers and build strong relationships with them. That also gives way to customer loyalty for small businesses.
- Increased sales: Since more customers will enter your venue and stay longer, your sales will automatically increase. For example, a person visiting a restaurant for its WiFi won’t keep sitting without ordering something. So, longer stays often result in multiple orders.
5 Best WiFi Marketing Strategies That Turn Visitors Into Customers
Did you know that 82% of customers check their mobile devices in stores before making purchasing decisions? You’re missing out on a lot if you’re not taking this as a chance to drive those decisions.
Letting customers do their research easily through your WiFi network sets you up for success. They’ll view you as a brand that genuinely wants to help its customers, making a good impression on them.
However, pairing this with creative strategies will take this offering to the next level. If you’re unsure where to start, here are the five best WiFi marketing strategies for small businesses.
Let’s start this list by discussing how WiFi marketing can strengthen other strategies, such as email and social media marketing.
Instead of asking for information, let customers log in to your WiFi through their social media profiles. This will make the process easier for them and enhance their experience.
You can also display links to your social media pages on the captive portal. Interested customers might potentially give you a follow, increasing your organic reach.
On the other hand, asking for email addresses during the login process allows you to build business email lists. Since the customer has already visited your venue and connected to your network, they aren’t cold leads. Therefore, they’ll be more willing to receive your email marketing messages. Using that, send consistent and relevant content to increase your conversion rates.
Even with the most advanced tools, it can sometimes be difficult for marketers to combine online and offline marketing efforts.
Customers go through multiple phases in the journey. They might discover your website first before visiting your social media pages. Or they might forget all about your brand until they see a billboard. The point is it’s hard to pinpoint what made your customer give in when their journey is this haphazard.
But, with WiFi marketing, you can drive sales by combining some of the phases of the customer journey. For example, you can encourage comparison shopping in retail stores. Let customers connect to your WiFi network to review prices and compare products.
However, you must ensure that your product is the clear winner. Otherwise, you’ll be sending the customer straight to your competitor.
Also, consider combining these tactics with proximity marketing for even better results. With the right tools, you can gather data about how people interact with your brand touchpoints online.
Using that information, you can send them personalized in-store messages about the products they show interest in. Add in a small discount, and you’ve scored a guaranteed sale.
3. Gather Customer Reviews Through Post-Purchase WiFi Marketing
A business’s responsibility never ends, even after the customer has made a purchase. The same is the case for WiFi marketing.
Once they’ve bought something and are about to disconnect from your WiFi network, ask your customers to leave a review.
However, make the process easy by keeping it short. A simple message like, “What did you think of our service?” and the option to select a rating will do. These reviews will help you impress onlookers, potentially increasing your customer base.
4. Enhance In-Store Experience for Your Customers
WiFi marketing solutions help you gather insightful data about your customers. This can help you enhance their in-store experience.
Knowing the areas your customers visit the most, you can send targeted online promotions for products in those particular sections. Since they’ll already be there, customers will have no problem using those discounts, eventually increasing your sales.
Moreover, you can display WiFi-enabled product demos, allowing customers to view information, specifications, reviews, etc. Technologies like virtual reality and augmented reality can also come in handy by letting visitors picture your product. It will be like you’re guiding them without physically even being there.
5. Customize the Login Page To Spread Brand Awareness
An optimized captive portal isn’t just for collecting information and authenticating users. It also gives you a chance to reinforce your branding and spread customer awareness.
Everyone who wants to join your network will have to view this page. Therefore, to spark recognition, incorporate your brand elements like colors, logos, slogans, etc.
Moreover, refer to your customer database and determine what will entice each audience segment. Then, create targeted ads and display them on the captive portal. For example, you can create customized links to your email loyalty programs for customers on the verge of churning.
What Do You Need for an Optimal In-Store WiFi Setup
An optimal in-store WiFi setup involves choosing the right provider and WiFi marketing platform. Keeping the second part for the next section, let’s discuss what we mean by “The right provider.”
When you choose an ISP for your WiFi network, you’ll find multiple options. There will be many claims and guarantees, but you must conduct proper research and choose the best service.
One of the main things you need to look for is quality. Things like security measures, speed, and bandwidth determine the quality of an ISP.
If the ISP you choose doesn’t provide a secure network, your customers’ data might be at risk. Once that happens, you’ll be at risk of losing your customers as well as facing legal problems.
Moreover, you wouldn’t want to frustrate customers with a slow WiFi network that doesn’t support multiple users.
That brings us to the next point: the ability to create networks for guest WiFi marketing initiatives.
Letting customers access your main network is never a good idea. First, users might accidentally gain access to your business data or pass on a virus. Secondly, too many users on the same network will make it slow.
The ideal solution is creating a separate guest network for customer use. However, not all ISPs provide routers with this functionality. So, ensure the equipment allows you to create secure, isolated guest networks for your customers.
In addition to that, your chosen service should have good customer support, scalability, and uptime guarantees.
Now that you know the best WiFi marketing strategies, you might want to implement them immediately. Investing in a WiFi marketing platform will help you achieve this quickly. But how can you settle on one when there are so many options?
Well, the first thing you need to consider is your budget. WiFi marketing platforms come in all shapes and sizes. When you’re just starting, you don’t need to invest in one with a lot of features. So, look at the pricing before thinking about anything else.
Your choice will also depend on your needs. Does the platform have all the features you need? If yes, then that should be your choice.
However, sometimes, these platforms have too many features that you might never need. That makes them more expensive, so try to avoid them.
As your business grows, you’ll need the software to help it. So, determine if the platform can support integrations and scalability.
Lastly, look for one that offers customer support. The company shouldn’t leave you high and dry when you face a problem.
Offering Free WiFi Can Be a Blessing in Disguise
Business owners who focus on immediate sales often overlook the potential of free offerings, translating into lost revenue. However, promotions like discounts, free samples, and free WiFi can skyrocket your sales.
To implement this, use the above best WiFi marketing strategies. Customize your login page, enhance your social media and email marketing strategies, and improve in-store experiences.
With Beambox, you can do tons for your business, including:
- Gather customer data.
- Run SMS and email marketing campaigns.
- Secure your WiFi with rotating passwords.
- Manage network settings without being an engineer.
Does it sound good? Try Beambox for free for thirty days.
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