How Does WiFi Marketing Work?

WiFi marketing is currently becoming an essential tool for small businesses – and with good reason. Growing in popularity, it’s one of the most innovative and powerful ways to advertise while effectively bridging the communication gap between the retailer and the customer.

The big question is – how does WiFi advertising work?

When business owners are first introduced to the term “WiFi marketing”, their response is often a blank stare. This is completely understandable since this form of advertising has taken digital media marketing to a whole new level.

For this type of marketing to be possible, you will need to have your own WiFi coverage that preferably remains within the borders of your store. Anyone that uses a WiFi-enabled device (like a smartphone, tablet or laptop), will be able to see and connect to your WiFi network.

Upon joining your network, your customer will be redirected to a splash page. Here they will see a message from your store and they will be notified on the terms of use. Many WiFi marketing companies allow you to customise your WiFi splash page with your branding while notifying the user about the network’s terms of use.

To agree to these terms and to access your WiFi, the customer will have to enter their email address and you can also prompt them to answer other useful questions. Once they have agreed to give you this information, they can use your WiFi as a hotspot (you can determine the type of access they have and set limits). It’s at this point that your digital marketing efforts can commence.

The platform that your customers have just subscribed to can prompt them to visit your other social profiles, it can notify them when you are running a promotion, it can be used to store data for a loyalty reward program, and it can even track trends so that you can deliver on what it is your customers are really after – encouraging them to come back for more.

One of the biggest novelties about hotspot marketing, however, is that you are now also providing an additional sought-after service. For instance –
A study by Cisco [1] found that 96% of consumers prefer to shop at stores that offer free WiFi, and they’re also more likely to return.

How Can My Business Benefit from WiFi Marketing?

We have briefly touched on why physical retailers are embracing the digital world, with WiFi marketing making its way to the forefront. But let’s take a lengthier look at how it can benefit offline businesses.

For the customer it is:

Super convenient. Consumers can access a network that’s potentially faster than their mobile network. This means they can enjoy fast browsing while they save on their data usage.
Able to improve the overall shopping experience. According to a survey done by Devicescape [2], almost 62% of a business’s customers stick around for longer when free WiFi is provided.

For the retailer it:

Increases sales. The main goal for most retailers is to drive sales. The more time your customers spend at your store, the more money they are likely to spend or they might stumble across something that they wouldn’t have otherwise seen if they had rushed out of the building. This also gives you more time to “make your pitch” to your customer.
Helps to get a better understanding of customers. WiFi marketing grants you access to a cornucopia of information and data about customers and their shopping trends. This insight can then be used to get an in-depth understanding of your business, the in-store experience, and what makes shoppers tick. You can also do comparative analysis if you have more than one store location.
Builds an audience. By collecting email address and social profiles, you are creating an audience of interested individuals to whom you can target your marketing efforts. You will also have insight into their shopping and online behaviour, making it possible for you to leverage for more targeted advertisements and promotions.
Is perfect for promotions. There are several ways that businesses can use WiFi advertising to promote their brand. From placing a message on your splash page to retargeted ads and email campaigns, the avenues open up a whirlwind of opportunities. For example, many companies have been using their data to make informative store layout and visual merchandising decisions – pleasing consumers and increasing sales conversions as a result.

Who Offers WiFi Marketing?

With digital marketing taking its place as the world’s ultimate form of advertising, offline businesses are looking for solutions so that they can participate in this digital revolution. This means that many marketing companies are branching out to offer similar services.

If you would like to increase your own sales and encourage customers to return, we’d like to refer you to Stampede. Stampede is a leading WiFi marketing platform that offers an effective and automated mobile marketing strategy that has been developed with smaller businesses in mind. To get first-hand experience on how WiFi marketing works, get in touch with us now.

From independent coffee shops to global brands with thousands of locations, Stampede is ready to equip you with the tools you need to make your marketing efforts work.

References:

Cisco Consumer Study.

Survey By Devicescape.

Marketing