- by: Robin Johnston
- On: 5, Jul 2018
5 min read
Did you know you can use the free wi-fi you offer your customers to collect valuable data about them in real time? Even if they don't log in, you can use your wi-fi access points to gather data, analyze it, and effectively react to customer behavior. You'll know if someone is a repeat or first time customer, how often they will be likely to visit, and even what their lifetime value may be for your business. Let's take a look at how you can gather this information and how to use it.
Wi-fi analytics tools use your wi-fi access points to collect data and allow you to react to customer behavior in real time, even if a person does not log into your wi-fi. This let's you experience the advantage that eCommerce companies have held over brick-and-mortar locations for years.
You will be able to use Big Data, proprietary algorithms, and technology to benchmark important key performance indicators for your offline business.
Data like this is vital to have if you plan on creating a profitable marketing strategy and effective marketing message.
If your system allows customers to login to your wi-fi using their social media account, you may be able to collect their email address, name, age, gender, birthday, and more. Once you start gathering this information, you will begin to see who your best customers are, their typical visit behavior, what kind of offers they redeem the most, and more.
Based on this information, you can begin executing targeted email campaigns. For example, you could send out one type of promotion for customers under the age of 35, and one for those over 35, or one message to men and another to women.
Your wi-fi landing page gives you the opportunity to highlight your menu items, special events or anything you'd like your customers to see. Before guests receive internet access, you can show them a promotion, ask for a rating, ask for social media likes, or any number of other options.
You can place your logo and the name of a special or well known menu item, which will help establish brand recognition. You could offer discounts for this item, and if sales increase, you'll have an idea of how effective the promotion is. You could also include a survey to inquire about what items your customers like best.
In addition to allowing a customer to login with a social media account, you could also get his or her email address by requiring it before logging in to your wi-fi. Then, you can send email newsletters, special offers, coupons, and promotions even after they have left your store, although you gather the information in real time while they are in your restaurant.
You can use the information you've gathered to segment your customers for marketing purposes. This is simply targeting a specific group of customers to increase sales by talking to their specific interests. Here are some ways to use the data you gather to do that:
As you can see there are is a great deal of important information you can gather in real time by using your guest Wi-Fi, and there are many ways to use that information to help grow your business.
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