Understanding The Benefits of Social Wi-Fi for Service Businesses
Free wi-fi is becoming the norm in many areas. It’s also becoming something that customers expect when they go to a bar, a restaurant, a cafe and even stores and service providers like doctors’ offices. It’s hardly surprising then that even small businesses are getting in on the act.
If you have been considering offering free wi-fi to your clients and customers but have been wondering about the ROI, you will really get from installing and then maintaining the hardware and software needed we have something interesting to share with you; the benefits offered by social wi-fi.
What is Social Wi-Fi?
Unlike traditional free Wi-Fi, which usually requires users to choose your network and ask for/type in a password, social Wi-Fi allows clients and/or customers to easily connect to your public Wi-Fi network via their Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or other social network account.
Once they have logged in, users can then be asked if they would like to ‘check in’ or ‘like’ or ‘follow your business in return for access to a coupon or targeted promotion. For example, ‘receive 10% off your meal today if you like us on Facebook.’
What are the Benefits of Social Wi-Fi?
Basically, social wi-fi offers a great win-win situation for everyone involved. Customers get to save on data and enjoy a freebie or discount with very little effort involved on their part. The business gets a big boost too, in terms of marketing opportunities.
You see, in the past bricks and mortar retailers did not enjoy the advantages that online retailers did. They couldn’t place a cookie on a person to retarget and advertise to in the future in the way that an online concern can. However, social wi-fi acts like a real-world cookie, allowing businesses to attract consumers back with targeted content and promotions, all in real time, while also gaining access to some invaluable additional analytical data that can be used to improve marketing campaigns even further.
Does Social Wi-Fi Really Work?
All of this sounds great, but does it really help? Since numbers are often more convincing than prose, here are some interesting figures released by the Subway sandwich chain. Between February and May 2016, using social wi-fi technology at 54 of its locations, Subway achieved:
16,000 users opted into its new marketing program in only four months
A 17% coupon redemption rate on opt-in offers
5.2 times more loyalty from customers after redeeming their opt-in offer
1.8 times more frequent returns from customers who opted into the social Wi-Fi vs. those who didn’t.
And it’s not just big businesses benefiting either, small concerns are reporting similar figures and they aren’t all restaurants and bars. As 93% of smartphone owners use them while shopping in general, stores of all kinds and sizes are reporting social wi-fi success as well.
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