Free customer WiFi is a convenience that customers appreciate, enjoy, and even expect. Many businesses recognize this is an in-demand customer need. They may even know that offering free WiFi can make customers spend more time on their premises which increases sales and ticket amounts.
But, many businesses don’t know that free customer WiFi does WAY more than entertain and treat guests.
With the right software and strategy, free WiFi becomes an impressively powerful marketing, analytics, and data tool. Here are seven things you probably didn’t realize free customer WiFi could do.
Sync with and collect data from customer Facebook accounts.
When you offer free WiFi to customers, you don’t have to force them to create another login or customer profile. You can set up your WiFi service so customers connect using their Facebook account. This login process is easier for customers and also has powerful implications for your business.
When customers use their Facebook profiles to connect with your WiFi, it unlocks troves of useful data for your business to use. Your WiFi system can collect back-end data about your customers using information from Facebook profiles. This customer data allows you to learn about your customer’s demographics, interests, spending habits, and activities.
Deliver custom, targeted landing pages.
Having detailed data about your customers allows you to do more than just learn about your audience. You can use the data to create targeted campaigns for your audience. When a user logs in with their Facebook page, your WiFi systems can identify key characteristics about the user and deliver custom content based on that data.
For example, a mall could use customer data to determine if a man or woman is logging in to the WiFi system. It could then present one of two landing pages, a page featuring a list of women’s retail stores or one featuring a list of stores targeted toward men.
Create custom email and text marketing campaigns.
With a direct line to your audience, you can collect email addresses and phone numbers and grow your contact list. When customers log in, your free customer WiFi system can also create a profile for the user. This allows you to extract contact information and keep tabs on customer activity. You can then use the data to produce targeted email and text marketing campaigns.
For example, an auto shop may send an email with a coupon for an oil change to a customer three months from the time the customer last visited the shop to have their oil changed.
Create heatmaps based on foot traffic at your location.
When a person enters your store and connects to your free customer WiFi, it can send a signal to your internal system and start tracking that person’s movements within your location. So as the person moves about the store, stops in certain sections, or waits in line, your tracking device will create a heat map of their activity. This information allows you to see how customers interact with your store, where they spend the most time, and which areas they miss or ignore. You can also pair this information with demographics so you can learn more about the activity of specific segments of your customer base.
For example, a food court could compare foot traffic heat maps of seniors and teens to determine which restaurant options are attracting their attention. They could then design ads to target each group with marketing messages for brands that are more likely to resonate with them.
Set up geofences and trigger targeted ads.
The ability to track foot traffic in your location provides value in another way. It allows you to trigger marketing messages based on where your customers go in your location. You can set up geofences, or digital geographic boundaries, in your location so when a person crosses a line, the WiFi system recognizes them and send them a targeted message.
For example, car dealership could set up a geofence around their used car section. Then, when a customer walks into this area of the car lot or showroom, the system can send a text message to the person mentioning used car specials.
Trigger changes to in-store content.
Geofences can also trigger messages on in-store platforms when a customer crosses an invisible barrier. The content on digital signage can automatically change based on the demographics of a customer who comes before it. And, overhead music could change styles to suit the largest group of customer demographics in a location.
For example, a mall’s free customer WiFi tool could detect that the mall is filled with mostly teenagers and adjust the music from slow jazz to upbeat pop music to match the tastes of the teens.
Monitor and manage the ebb and flow of your operations.
Another way that monitoring the foot traffic in your location can help your business is that it can send important messages to your operations team. Management can use foot traffic monitoring to see how many people are in a location in real-time and over a period of time.
For example, a grocery store could use their foot traffic maps in real-time to identify when check-out lines are long so they can send out additional cashiers. They could also review data tracked over time to identify busy times of the day when they need to have more cashiers available.
Bring Smart, Free Customer WiFi To Your Location
As you can see, free customer WiFi benefits both business owners and customers. Customer experience improves and visitors are able to freely use their devices. Businesses in turn, get access to useful data, the ability to directly connect with customers, and deep insights into how visitors engage with their location.
WiFi is way more than a customer convenience. It’s a powerful marketing, data, and operations tool that has uses way beyond improving immediate customer satisfaction.
Find out how you can bring smart, free customer WiFi to your location. Request a free consultation with one of our specialists to find out what’s possible for your business with this impressive tool.