If you are a savvy offline retail marketer, then you know what Wi-Fi marketing, Wi-Fi advertising, and Wi-Fi analytics are.
And while you are aware that you need to get on board this powerful business tools to boost sales, you may not be able to tell the difference between them.
Not knowing this might cause you not to take proper advantage of these powerful tools.
It’s okay to be confused about their differences; many people who are new to the concept also get a bit confused about this.
In this article, we’d explain what they each mean and how they are used. So that you can have a better understanding. That in turn will help you make informed decisions on how to adopt them.
What then is Wi-Fi advertising and Wi-Fi marketing?
Even though these two concepts can be used interchangeably, there is a marked difference between them. And knowing this difference would give you an edge and help inform your choices.
Simply put, Wi-Fi advertising is the display of product or service ads using the social Wi-Fi as a platform.
The same platform can be sold out to other businesses to place ads on the Wi-Fi platform. These ads will be seen by visitors when they log in through the social Wi-Fi hotspot. Visitors can be targeted with ads that lines up with what they may be interested in.
For instance, a laundry could run ads for plastic laundry baskets or pressing irons to customers. The ads can be displayed on the captive portal (Wi-Fi landing page). Or on a splash screen that comes up as soon as visitors log in.
And Wi-Fi Marketing?
Wi-Fi marketing is a bit more ‘personal’, speaking in a certain sense.
By ‘personal’ we mean that Wi-Fi marketing is used for your business and cannot be shared. Wi-Fi marketing is used to communicate with your customers about your business.
You can use Wi-Fi marketing to tell your customers about loyalty programs, promos, special deals, etc. when they come within your business premises.
But the best thing about Wi-Fi marketing is that you can communicate with your customers even when they not connected. As long as they have once logged into your guest Wi-Fi, the system collects their personal details.
With these you can send them newsletters, SMS, and/or push notifications about new products/services, special offers, and so on.
Read more on how you can engage onsite customers through wifi marketing.
In the end, while one works a bit differently from the other, they both have the same goal – boost sales. And they can also be used simultaneously without any friction in operation between the two.
So, what is Wi-Fi analytics?
As the name sounds, Wi-Fi analytics is a tool that can track, organize, and ANALYZE data collected through your social Wi-Fi platform. The data is analyzed and presented in a format that can be interpreted and understood by marketers.
In simple terms, Wi-Fi analytics helps you makes sense of the data you get from your visitors.
Here are three things Wi-Fi analytics can tell you about your customers.
Where do Wi-Fi advertising, marketing, and analytics meet?
They all meet right in the middle.
Let me explain (and this might not be the best allusion): these three tools work like a Pitcher plant.
The smell of the plant attracts the flies. The sticky sugary substance causes the flies to get stuck to the plant and draws them in. The flies get pulled into the plant’s receptacle until they are digested by the plant, all in real time.
To break it down…
The sweet smell is Wi-Fi advertising, the sticky substance is Wi-Fi marketing, and the digestive portion is the Wi-Fi analytics.
Okay, that’s not our best analogy but we’re sure you get the picture. The Wi-Fi advertising and Wi-Fi marketing help to draw and keep the customers. After that, the Wi-Fi analytics makes sense of the data collected.
Thankfully, your customers won’t be digested by Wi-Fi analytics – only their information will.
As you collect more data, you learn more about which of your offerings are popular among your customers. You learn what messages trigger the kind of reaction you want. And over time, you keep refining them to get the same response.
Basically, Wi-Fi analytics is ‘useless’ without Wi-Fi advertising and Wi-Fi marketing to collect customer data.
How do these three benefit offline businesses?
It is one thing to have these powerful tools at your disposal.
But it’s another thing to have a clear cut plan on how to use them to reach your bottom line. Without any meaningful strategy, Wi-Fi analytics, advertising, and marketing are just duds.
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You can make money with them
Your customers may be getting free social Wi-Fi access. But you know that it costs you money to offer it for free. Since you aren’t making any money directly from your social Wi-Fi, you might as well rent out your Wi-Fi landing page.
There are businesses that offer products/services that complement yours who may love to run ads on your Wi-Fi landing page. This way, you can comfortably pay the bills while you continue to offer your customers free social Wi-Fi.
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You can know what you customers are thinking
A combination of Wi-Fi analytics and Wi-Fi marketing is an excellent idea.
And more so if your objective is to get inside your customers’ minds. This combo will enable you see what your customers are thinking by trailing where they visit on the internet.
They might visit an online business which offer a product or service they think you should offer but do not. They may frequently visit an online business that offer the same product/service you offer but at a lower price.
This action is a clear sign of what they are actually looking for.
And it should prompt you to take the appropriate actions to meet their needs before they take their business to your competitor.
Finally…
If your goal is to be able to reach customers offsite, then Wi-Fi marketing is your best bet. With you can send them messages about new products, special offers, loyalty programs, etc using the data you collect. This could be done through email newsletters, SMS, and push notifications.
The most important things to consider here are data collection and a strategy to turn this data into profit. You can significantly increase your ROI if you have a clean and efficient strategy, and a clear goal.
Do you have questions about how you can use SpotOn’s Wi-Fi platform for advertising, marketing, and analysis? Get in touch with us, we would be happy to assist you.
Or you could request a free demo to have a feel of our platform.
POSTED ON May 16, 2019Share:
