WiFi marketing technology is one of the most exciting developments you can invest in for your business. Why? Because it’s a relatively passive process that garners a whole flood of results. It perfectly meshes your other marketing strategies and improves your business without breaking budgets.
At the heart of WiFi marketing tech is a captive portal system, which we’ll explain more in just a second. This technology is a simple network of software that you can add to any existing WiFi network. It’s seamless to integrate into your current set-up.
In this guide, we’ll introduce you to the depths of this marketing strategy and technology. Get ready for definitions, how-tos, and why you should care about WiFi marketing. It’s safe to say we’ve got a lot to cover. So, let’s begin!
What Is WiFi Marketing?
A WiFi marketing solution is a strategy that relies on you offering guest WiFi to customers. You then benefit from sharing your network, typically through a captive portal.
A captive portal is software that combines your existing WiFi network to collect customer data. When customers click to join your WiFi, it triggers a captive portal to open a webpage. This webpage has a form with questions, and these questions collect information or contact details for the business owner. It’s a fascinating system.
Since these forms are customizable, it’s really up to you what you collect. You could collect demographic details to build detailed customer profiles or help with customer segmentation. Alternatively, you could collect reviews or contact details like email addresses for other marketing strategies. It all depends on what you want to gain from your WiFi marketing campaign.
If you decide to collect data from your captive portal, you’ll sync it to a database. Tailoring your software choice to your data type is a good idea. For instance, you could pick email marketing software compatible with your captive portal. This way, the email addresses you collect will funnel straight into a database for emails.
The way we see things, WiFi marketing is a lot like a stepping stone. It’s useful for reaching and facilitating other strategies you’d otherwise be unable to launch.
There are three vital components you need to remember:
- A solid WiFi network for customers
- A captive portal
- A database software to sync collected data to
3 Reasons To Invest in WiFi Marketing Technology
There are many reasons to invest in WiFi marketing technology. As you can see, it’s a breeze to set up and is a great way to invest in further marketing strategies. It is the foundation for a successful business, using existing demand to drive positive change.
Let’s get into the nitty-gritty details, though. What are the reasons you should invest in WiFi marketing platforms for your business? Here’s our take.
1. It Helps To Build a Positive Guest Experience
WiFi marketing tech helps build a positive guest experience. It’s reliant on offering guests a solid WiFi network to join on a complimentary basis. WiFi is a huge part of a positive customer experience, so it’s a good byproduct to invest in. In a way, WiFi marketing forces you to take offering WiFi to customers more seriously.
According to Market Scale, 74% of restaurant guests expect WiFi; not having WiFi can really damage your business. Half of shoppers expect fast, or at the very least available, WiFi at retail stores, judging stores in its absence.
Almost everyone has a mobile device, so you’re really tapping into a lucrative marketing base. WiFi improves customers’ experiences and helps you with your marketing — it’s a win-win.
2. It Gives You Customer Insights
When you use a captive portal, you gain the ability to collect valuable information. It doesn’t even need to be contact details for future marketing strategies. It could be as simple as collecting customer facts to optimize your marketing and service.
These insights could range from survey responses and feedback on service to demographic details like age and home area. Collecting these insights helps you hone your overall approach.
Regardless of what you measure, getting customer insights is one of the main benefits of WiFi marketing. With the right insights and understanding of customers, you can rocket customer loyalty and optimize marketing to increase foot traffic.
3. It’s Almost Entirely Passive
Another huge benefit is that this type of marketing is almost entirely passive. You need some initial work to set up the system, including setting up great WiFi and designing a captive portal. You’d also need a software database where captive portal responses (and the data within them) automatically sync.
However, once you sort that, WiFi marketing runs solo. It’s one of the greatest forms of passive marketing, as it requires minimal maintenance. You can invest an afternoon or day in it and then reap the rewards for a decade.
We don’t know about you, but as busy business people, we love that. WiFi marketing runs like clockwork once you set it up.
The Cost of WiFi Marketing
Here’s the good news: WiFi marketing is actually cheap to run. You very likely already have your WiFi network set up. This means that your only costs will be investing in marketing software to establish your captive portal and database.
Most of these software programs operate on a monthly subscription basis, with some offering free demos and trials. We recommend utilizing these to “dip your toes in” and see what works for you without financial commitment.
So, what’s the general cost you should expect? As a general rule, here’s what to budget:
- $15-35 per month for a budget package
- $40-60 per month for a mid-range package
- $60-90 per month for more advanced packages
Fitting WiFi Marketing Into Your Wider Strategies
WiFi marketing is the easiest thing to slot into your wider strategies. By default, as an information-collecting strategy, it’s all about collecting data that will be helpful later. This type of marketing is about extracting as much useful information in singular client interactions as possible.
Starting with a WiFi marketing strategy is like weaving a thick web. You’re weaving in possibilities for multiple future strategies through your immediate data collection using WiFi. You could collect email addresses, phone numbers, social media followers, reviews, etc.
This goes for everything from SMS marketing to social media campaigns and Google My Business (GMB) accounts. Here’s a breakdown of exactly which strategies most easily fit alongside WiFi marketing:
- Email marketing through collecting email addresses
- SMS marketing through collecting phone numbers
- Social media marketing by prompting engagement
- Google marketing by encouraging WiFi users to leave reviews
- Customer segmentation by collecting demographic details
- Event marketing by collecting contact details for future invites
- Loyalty programs by collecting contact details
Beambox: Harnessing the Power of WiFi
WiFi is immensely powerful. This small piece of technology holds a really simple strategic solution. All you must do is create an initial barrier for those joining your WiFi network, giving you leverage for marketing. This is where a captive portal comes in.
The guests click to join your network, and the webpage form pops up. You then make your demands (ethically) and collect any responses in a secure database. It’s a slick way to quickly build a solid database of marketing contacts. And that’s without considering benefits like boosting customer loyalty.
This straightforward system is easy to implement, yet it causes incredible ripple effects. You could boost customer loyalty, increase foot traffic, and better target your ideal customers. You can also use WiFi marketing as a direct means to facilitate other marketing avenues, like email and SMS marketing. It’s a powerful stepping stone to boosting your business overall.
You don’t have to look far, either. At Beambox, we offer all-in-one WiFi marketing software with an adjustable captive portal.
Start your Beambox free trial today and begin your WiFi marketing technology investment journey.
