We talk a lot about WiFi Marketing – but for WiFi Marketing to work – you need a Guest WiFi network.

No matter the type of business – customers, guest, patients, and students all expect secure, reliable, high-speed WiFi.

This USA Today article “Hotel guests use WiFi within Seven Minutes” cites a survey by English hotelier Roomzzz that found that: 65% of guests were online within seven minutes of checking in and one third requested the Wi-Fi password as soon as they arrived.

Other statistics about WiFi

• 64% of consumers make a restaurant choice based on the availability of WiFi services (Source: Accenture)
• 62% of local business customers spend more time in store if WiFi is available (Source: iGR)
• Businesses who offer free WiFi to boost sales numbers have a success rate of 72% (Source: iGR)

Given that people are expecting businesses to supply guest WiFi, what are some other benefits, beyond the above statistics, for businesses that offer WiFi services to its guests?

Network Security
Cybersecurity is a concern for everyone and no matter what sensitive information your business is collecting; passwords, credit card numbers, dates of birth, social security numbers, salary information, health records, student grades, etc.. A guest WiFi network is one piece of the security puzzle, segregating the business traffic and guest traffic to two subnets or segments - making it harder to get to the sensitive information.

Network Performance
Businesses need to make sure the software and essential items to keep your business running need priority on the network. Take for example a coffee shop. Without guest WiFi, the traffic and bandwidth usage of all visitors will be on the same network as the POS and credit card processing software – potentially holding up business. Prioritizing business applications and segmenting visitors to the guest WiFi keeps everything flowing smoothly.

Marketing
Finally, what we’re passionate about. In addition to its security, performance, and management benefits, guest WiFi also offers a host of marketing benefits. WiFi Marketing solutions can help you grow your email lists with accurate first-party data validated email addresses, and social media demographics. Our system also allows promotional messages on the login or post-login page that highlights, for example, an upcoming savings opportunity or special event – as well as other experiences and content around marketing or sponsorship goals using our card-based system.

The Bottom Line on Guest WiFi

At the most basic level, a guest wireless network allows additional security for your network, while providing guests with a great WiFi experience and with a WiFi Marketing solution, collects validated first-party data, growing marketing lists with accurate email addresses and gathering important demographic information through content cards and promotional experiences -  like the ones above.

At SocialSign.in we’re passionate about WiFi Marketing, the capabilities of the software and what it can do for businesses. If you’re interested and want to learn more - you can contact us @ info@socialsign.in.