In today’s world of business, information is key. Knowing their customers, restaurant owners can greatly enhance their footfall and sales. By gathering guest data, they can target their customers more effectively and build customer loyalty more effectively than ever before.
In this article, we’re going to explore:
- What is restaurant WiFi marketing?
- Is WiFi restaurant marketing effective?
- How to do WiFi marketing? A step-by-step guide.
- Unique tips & tricks
What Is Restaurant WiFi Marketing?
WiFi marketing is a strategy that uses a venue’s free WiFi service to collect customer data for targeted advertising and engagement.
Businesses can ask customers to provide some data, such as email addresses or social media accounts, in order to log in and use their free guest WiFi. This allows the business to gather insights into customer behaviors and preferences, which can later be used to tailor marketing messages, promotions, and experiences directly to the customer.
So, in a nutshell, you’re offering free restaurant WiFi in exchange for invaluable customer data. It’s a strategy you’ll see all over the restaurant industry, from coffee shops to eateries and bars.
Is WiFi Marketing Effective?
WiFi marketing involves using your free guest WiFi to collect customer data and build digital profiles. This strategy gives you insights into your customers’ purchasing behaviors, including who visits your establishment, their frequency of visits and loyalty, duration of stay, preferred locations, and their response to promotions.
You can then use this data to tailor your offers accordingly. For instance, you can use location data to send special offers when they are in the area.
Wifi Marketing gives you a lot of key data, such as:
- What kind of customers visit your restaurant
- What offers are they most likely to respond to
- What is their loyalty level
- How long do they stay on each visit
Moreover, a lot of customers are used to having free WiFi access at a restaurant or coffee shop. In fact, most coffee shops nowadays have to offer free WiFi in order to keep their loyal customers coming back.
Most of the work nowadays can be done remotely and many customers spend extra for places with stable and free internet connection. People who seek to do some work at a coffee place, for example, will filter restaurants that offer free WiFi on review websites like Yelp. Let’s take a look at some key WiFi marketing statistics.
- 96% of consumers prefer businesses that offer free WiFi, emphasizing the importance of WiFi as a service expectation
. - About 82% of people use their smartphones to check reviews or compare prices while in-store, highlighting the potential of WiFi marketing to influence purchasing decisions at the point of sale
. - WiFi marketing provides detailed customer behavior metrics and marketing ROI in real-time, offering insights into customer preferences and the effectiveness of marketing campaigns
. - Offering free WiFi can lead to over half of customers spending more money, suggesting a direct correlation between WiFi availability and increased sales
- WiFi marketing platforms enable the creation of automated marketing campaigns based on customer behavior or demographic data, allowing for targeted promotions and increasing the likelihood of customer engagement and loyalty
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WiFi Marketing can be then considered effective in at least three ways: it helps you keep your loyal customers, win new potential customers, and gather invaluable data about guest behavior that allows you to target your customers better in the future, making your offers, loyalty programs, or even online ordering, more effective.
How to do WiFi marketing for Restaurants
Let’s start with the basics. First, you have to research internet service providers and make sure that the WiFi you offer is not going to drive your customers away. If your internet access is not stable, people are going to let you know…through review sites.
Research and select WiFi analytics software
Once you have a stable connection, you now have to figure out a way to garner the capabilities of your guest WiFi to also gather the customer data. To build your WiFi marketing platform, you first need to choose WiFi marketing software. Here are just a couple of examples:
- Bloom Intelligence: Offers enterprise-level WiFi analytics tools that provide insights into customer behavior, including dwell time, visit frequency, and churn likelihood. It’s particularly suited for multi-unit chains looking to compare analytics across locations. The platform also supports email marketing campaigns triggered by customer behavior captured through WiFi interactions
. - NetSpot: A user-friendly, suitable for both beginners and experienced network administrators. It provides detailed heat maps of WiFi strength, making it a good choice for analyzing and optimizing WiFi coverage.
- Aislelabs: Collaborates with prominent restaurant names including Panera Bread and Pizza Nova, offering specialized WiFi marketing packages for the restaurant sector.
- Yelp WiFi: Formed through Yelp’s acquisition of Turnstyle Solutions, Yelp WiFi aims to bolster services that enhance business growth, customer retention, and loyalty.
A good practice is to ask software providers for an extended trial period where you can test and see which platform you like best. That way, you can make sure you make informed decisions and gain access to the highest quality platform.
Restaurant analytics software
Start by utilizing WiFi analytics to understand customer behaviors, such as visit frequency, dwell
Building a comprehensive Customer Data Platform (CDP) involves collecting data from various touchpoints.
To do this, you’re going to need restaurant analytics software that allows you to gather and analyze data from guest WiFi, POS systems, and social media, to create detailed customer profiles.
Building customer profiles
Segmentation plays a critical role in personalizing your marketing efforts. You can tailor your marketing messages to resonate better with different segments by dividing your customer base into smaller, more specific groups based on shared characteristics or behaviors.
Moreover, integrating your WiFi marketing efforts with social media can significantly amplify your reach and engagement. For example, requiring your customers to log in to your WiFi network using their social media accounts can provide you with rich data and a more straightforward way to engage with them on social platforms
At the same time, make sure your customers are willing to do that; in the era of increased cybersecurity awareness, people might not be very likely to use their personal social media accounts to log in. So, if you decide to require a social media login, make sure to monitor the total amount of people logging in. Chances are, you might experience a steep decrease.
Data Collection and Customer Insights
Each time a customer visits your restaurant, you get an opportunity to collect unique data. WiFi marketing is a gateway toward all kinds of restaurant marketing. Just think about it: if you can incite your customers to leave some of their data in exchange for free internet (and usually some special deals), you can then use that data to target your customers better, which in turn should lead to increased revenue.
- Demographic data: Age, gender, occupation, location, and more.
- Behavioral data: Customer loyalty, repeat visits, dwell time, how much they spend on each visit, etc.
- Email: Email marketing is one of the most effective ways to reach your clients. Try to get your customer email so that you can send special offers and other restaurant email marketing campaigns.
- Social media: Social media is a real goldmine when it comes to data. It can help you gather the vast majority of demographic and behavioral data.
- Phone: Alongside email marketing, restaurant SMS marketing is one of the most popular ways of promoting your restaurant.
Personalized offers
Perhaps the biggest perk of Wi-Fi marketing is your ability to create highly personalized offers. You may, for example, reward your customers with coupons each time they log in to your free Wi-Fi network using a social media account. This will not only encourage them to come back more often to get their special offers, but also to use their social media accounts for logging in.
That way, you may not have to require social media to log in so that you don’t scare anyone away. You may simply offer special perks for doing so. Remember, good marketing should be a win-win for both you and your customers.
Restaurant WiFi Marketing: Worst & Best Practices
There are two ways to do WiFi marketing: right or wrong. If you do it right, you can gain invaluable customer data, foster loyalty, and attract new customers. If you do it wrong, you might lose customers. Let’s go over some of the best practices in the business and discuss some mistakes that you should avoid.
- Forcing customers to give up their data: One of the worst things you can do is force your customers to give up their data in exchange for free WiFi. Your diners should feel welcome and should not feel forced. Offer special offers and discounts in exchange for using your network.
- Laggy, not secure connection: Another quick way to lose your customers is by providing them with an unstable and insecure connection. Make sure your internet provider is up to the task.
- Abstract network name: If your restaurant’s name is Jim’s BBQ, why is your network called WiFi120390291? Make sure your customers know what to look for when they visit you.
- Secure and easy access: Make sure your network is secure but easily accessible to guests. Consider using a simple login portal that captures essential customer data (e.g., email addresses) in exchange for access.
- Personalization: Use the data collected to personalize the marketing messages sent to your customers. Tailored promotions, based on previous orders or visits, can significantly increase return visits.
- Engaging welcome page: Use this page to let your customers know of your special offers, bundles, and restaurant loyalty program.
- Grow following: Encourage customers to follow your social media profiles or check in at your location by integrating these options into the WiFi login process. This can enhance your online visibility and customer engagement.
- Gather feedback: Use the WiFi service to collect feedback from your customers about their dining experience. This can be done through a quick survey accessed upon logging out or via an automated follow-up email.
- Loyalty programs: Integrate your restaurant loyalty program with your WiFi network, allowing customers to earn points for connecting or completing certain actions (e.g., leaving a review).
- Respect privacy and legal compliance: Ensure your WiFi marketing practices comply with data protection regulations (like GDPR in Europe) and respect customer privacy. Be transparent about how you collect and use customer data.
- Quality internet service: Above all, ensure that your WiFi service is fast and reliable. A poor internet connection can negatively impact your customers’ experience and deter them from returning.
In the end, WiFi marketing is fairly simple. As long as you understand that it is a two-way deal, where both you and your customers have to give something to get something, you should do well.
Key Takeaways
- Restaurant marketing is one of the best ways to gather invaluable customer information that can then be used to for targetted promotion campaigns.
- WiFi can be effective in at least three ways: it helps you keep your loyal customers, win new potential customers, and gather invaluable data about guest behavior.
- To conduct WiFi marketing, you need a stable internet connection, WiFi analytics software, and restaurant analytics software.
- Some of the worst WiFi marketing practices are: forcing customers to give up their personal information to log in, poor network connection, unclear network name.
- Some of the best practices include an engaging welcome page, a solid internet connection, privacy and legal compliance, and secure and easy network access.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Why is WiFi important in restaurants?
WiFi in restaurants enhances the customer experience and offers a competitive edge. Public Wi-Fi networks encourage patrons to stay longer and potentially spend more money.
It also enables the collection of constructive feedback, allowing restaurants to improve their services. Compared to other businesses that don’t offer WiFi, restaurants with this amenity can attract more customers, including those seeking a place to work or socialize while dining.
