Many businesses don’t get why they should offer free Wi-Fi to their customers. For them, this is yet another unnecessary expense that may distract their customers and prevent them from making a purchase.
However, this is not true. Providing free Wi-Fi is an opportunity to increase user experiences, maximize sales, and inspire people to come back. Above all, you can use it to collect customer data and create personalized offers and campaigns.
Want to learn more?
Keep reading!
Inspiring Customers to Stay Longer and Boosting Sales
Free Wi-Fi increases your customers’ patience and encourages them to spend more time in your store. Staying longer there, they will be more likely to find the products they were looking for and make an extra purchase.
Say you’re a restaurant owner. Providing free Wi-Fi is an opportunity to engage and entertain your guests while waiting for food. For example, they will use social networks to check-in, take photos, and write status updates. Moreover, seamless customer experiences may also inspire your guests to spend more time in your restaurant and spend more money.
Increasing the Customer Retention Rate
In today’s highly competitive market, just attracting a new customer and inspiring them to purchase from you is not enough. To gain a competitive advantage, you need to increase their brand loyalty and inspire them to come back to you again and again.
Meeting their needs and increasing their buying experiences is a great starting point. People love consistency. They choose places they know what they can expect from. The same applies to your free Wi-Fi. Purple’s survey says that 80% of customers say they’re more likely to come back to the store that offers free Wi-Fi.
Say you’re a local coffee shop owner that wants to attract Gen Z customers. In this case, providing free Wi-Fi is not optional for you. Stats say that 40% of Gen Z customers claim working Wi-Fi is more important to them than working bathrooms. Free Wi-Fi is also an opportunity to attract business people that often choose to work or host meetings in places less formal than offices. Your strong Wi-Fi connection will immediately win them over and may soon become their favorite co-working space.
Promoting your Brand and Offers
You can set up free Wi-Fi and give your customers the password, but that’s not the idea behind Wi-Fi marketing. When applied strategically, free Wi-Fi can be a powerful marketing and branding tool.
For example, you can create unique and attention-grabbing landing pages when your customers sign in. That’s what big brands like Starbucks do. After its customers tap/click on the “Agree” button, they are immediately redirected to the brand’s landing page that promotes their new menu items and special offers. They have recently started asking their customers to provide their email addresses when signing in.
You can further use your landing pages to:
- Invite customers like your Facebook page
- Encourage them to sign up for your email newsletter
- Invite customers to events
- Share company updates
Another great option is sending push notifications to the customers that are near or in your store. For example, you could send them coupons or inform them about timely offers or massive discounts.
Impacting Customers’ Buying Decisions
Statistics say that 84% of customers use mobile devices in-store. They use the internet to read brand and product reviews, ask their friends for help, compare products, find discounts, look up coupons, and seek influencers’ opinions.
So, no matter if you’re a clothes store, a natural food store, or a bike shop, providing your customers with a free Wi-Fi connection is critical. You’re basically equipping them with their pocket sales assistant that lets them find the information about your brand, do research, and make a purchasing decision faster.
Learning More about your Customers
When using your free Wi-Fi for the first time, a customer should be given multiple options to log in. For example, they could use their email address, their Gmail account, or even their Facebook profile. For you, this is a great chance to collect customer data.
You will have a better understanding of your customers’ demographic data, such as their age, location, family status, education, jobs, etc. You will also learn more about their hobbies, interests, and behaviors. Most importantly, with these insights, you can create better buyer personas and build more relevant and targeted marketing campaigns.
You can also invest in Wi-Fi software that would inform you about your Wi-Fi logs, letting you track your customers browsing and buying habits. You can track users’ behaviors and create heatmaps to learn where they spend their time.
What Steps to Take When Investing in Wi-Fi Marketing?
Now that you know the benefits of Wi-Fi marketing, let’s see how to implement it right.
Provide Consistent and Quality Wi-Fi Connections
Consult your internet provider to learn how to improve your internet connection. For example, in Australia, The National Broadband Network (NBN) is gaining momentum. Once their neighborhood becomes NBN-ready, Australian businesses will be able to switch to NBN plans and, in this way, boost their network safety and speed.
Inform People about your Free Wi-Fi
You will need to let people know that you offer free Wi-Fi. For example, create both print and digital Wi-Fi signage. You could also mention your free Wi-Fi on your website, Facebook ads, or organic social media posts.
Secure your Network
If you’ve ever watched Mr. Robot, then you probably remember the café Wi-Fi hack scene. “The one in control of your exit nodes is the one in control of your traffic…which is me,” Elliot said and that’s true.
Wi-Fi breaches happen all the time and you need to protect your network. For starters, focus on separating your network from the public one, use stronger encryption, and invest in a strong firewall.
Over to You
Providing free Wi-Fi will help you increase your sales, boost brand awareness, and maximize your customer retention rates. Above all, it is the opportunity to learn more about your customers and provide them with highly personalized and relevant content and offers. And, I hope these insights and tips will help!
Are you using Wi-Fi marketing? Share your tips with us!
