A guide on utilizing a captive Wi-Fi portal for business marketing purposes

If you own or operate a restaurant, coffee shop, QSR, small brewery, or hospitality business, you may have wondered about the benefits of using a captive Wi-Fi portal.

Many business owners are using guest Wi-Fi to acquire, engage, and grow customer loyalty.

A Wi-Fi Captive Portal is a software that restricts access to a network until the user authenticates themselves

A captive Wi-Fi portal is the web page or microsite that appears when you connect to a free Wi-Fi network. Consumers encounter them in various situations, such as logging onto Wi-Fi at a coffee shop or waiting for a flight at the airport.

Typically, an email address or zip code is required to connect to the Wi-Fi network provided by the business.

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The benefits of using a Wi-Fi captive portal for your business

Security

To ensure the safety of users, it is important to take precautions against security breaches and hacking when using WiFi. There is an increasing trend of hackers setting up fake WiFi networks in public places to steal data from individuals using public WiFi networks.

A captive portal provides an additional level of security by informing customers that they are connected to your WiFi network and preventing accidental access to other networks. Additionally, a WiFi captive portal safeguards your business against unauthorized use of your network.

Identify and safeguard your business.

It is recommended to monitor the usage of your guest WiFi to ensure compliance with legal and usage regulations. Implementing a captive WiFi portal can aid in identifying and tracking any potential misuse of the internet at your establishment(s).

Monitor and control the WiFi bandwidth.

Customers primarily use WiFi for work, video calls, and browsing. However, WiFi is not designed for heavy usage like streaming, gaming, or large downloads. To keep the WiFi speed consistent, it is necessary to limit each customer's bandwidth usage. A captive portal can assist in monitoring and controlling the usage.

Promote your business and increase awareness.

Through the use of your captive portal, you can effectively promote various aspects of your business to your customers. As customers seek internet access, they are attentive and open to viewing the information you provide, rather than simply scrolling past it.

One possible use of your captive portal is to promote upcoming events or share new menu items with your customers. Another option is to utilize it for promoting your loyalty program. The potential uses are limitless.

Scope of monetization

Monetizing WiFi is an option for businesses. It is important to consider if it is suitable for your business. Factors such as your audience, type of business, customer duration and spending, competition, and other factors will affect your decision. Monetizing WiFi works for some businesses, but not for others.

If you provide free WiFi, it's recommended to collect contact details or data from customers in exchange. You can also offer packages for customers needing more bandwidth or longer WiFi usage. Additionally, you can sell ad space to partners. These options are available through your captive portal.

The benefits of WiFi captive portals include increased security, customizable branding, user data collection, simplified guest access, enhanced user experience, and potential marketing opportunities.

A guest WiFi captive portal that requires a purchase from a guest before joining can assist restaurant-style businesses in establishing clear guidelines and a WiFi policy. It can also eliminate the need for front-of-house staff to continuously ask customers to make additional purchases, ensuring sales are being generated.

Many consumers experienced the situation of entering their favorite coffee house or restaurant for lunch, only to find every table occupied by remote workers and students using their laptops, without making any purchases.

A guest WiFi captive portal can influence guest behavior by requiring a purchase before accessing the fast, free, and secure Internet. This allows the front-of-house team more time and energy for providing exceptional service and products. Setting up a guest WiFi captive portal with a purchase is simple. Our product was introduced in 2016 and has undergone continuous refinement and improvement.

Request some information

Requesting personal information from guests in exchange for the use of guest WiFi has been a common practice since the 90s. However, captive portals have evolved over time to become more brand-focused, with most WiFi captive portals now being entirely dedicated to promoting your brand.

A captive portal solution can effectively showcase new offerings, products, events, and eCommerce channels, if available, allowing for a seamless introduction of various aspects of your business and brand.

GoGoGuest captive portals facilitate the process of opting in and opting out for your guests.

Customers who are interested in learning about your business and brand are the ones you should focus on. They can benefit from your products or services, just as you can benefit from their support.

Add a welcome journey message

When a customer gives permission to contact them through email or SMS, it is acceptable to initiate communication.

A guest WiFi captive portal with built-in marketing automation offers the advantage of allowing your marketing team to design and create a welcome series that introduces your business and brand to each customer. The welcome series can cover various topics.

• Ways to establish a connection with your brand on various platforms.
• What is the core values of your brand?
• There are various channels of engagement available, including products, events, and subscriptions.

The welcome series can provide valuable insights for your marketing and customer teams to personalize campaigns based on content and timing. Personalization has been shown to increase engagement by 74%, and more engaged customers are 6 times more likely to continue buying from your business and brand.

Segmentation tools for personalization

As your consumer profiles or subscribers increase and interact with your brand, GoGoGuest gains more knowledge from a combination of personal profile identifiers provided by your customers. Here are a few illustrations.

• Location
• Preferred email client
• Preferred Zip Code
• Device
• Time zone
• Frequency of visit

If GoGoGuest is integrated with your POS system, it can also provide information on products purchased, average order per visit, total lifetime purchase value, and other relevant data.

A solution like GoGoGuest can assist your marketing and customer teams in effectively segmenting and organizing your extensive customer list into different groups based on their preferences. This segmentation capability allows for personalized content tailored to each customer's preferences, leading to the additional benefit of a customer preference center.

What is a customer preference center?

Preference centers serve as a means to gather information about your customers' preferences. As more data is collected and stored in a customer's profile, a preference center allows customers to have control over changing and updating any previously provided information.

For instance, John Doe may have previously stated a preference for medium roast whole ground beans, but he has recently found himself enjoying dark roasts. A preference center like GoGoGuest can update John's information to reflect his changing purchase patterns.

Gain Valuable Insights

Every time an automated email or SMS campaign is sent, valuable insights can be gained about your audience and various customer groups.

You can observe recurring patterns in the optimal timing for sending campaigns, and identify which customers may not be motivated by certain topics but are highly engaged by others. This information and insights should inform your future actions in terms of content and messaging to increase interest, engagement, and conversions.

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Here are five recommended practices for achieving improved results

Now, let's discuss the recommended practices for captive portals.

1. Know your repeat customers

Identifying your repeat customers, who make frequent purchases from you, can be challenging without the proper tools or data to easily track and recognize them.

Captive portals facilitate the identification of repeat customers, allowing businesses to offer them special services or promotions as a way to show appreciation and encourage continued patronage.

2. Measure foot traffic

Restaurants and hospitality brands often have access to data on sales, revenue, and inventory, but may lack information on traffic volume. Implementing captive portals can provide the ability to track and monitor traffic, offering valuable insights for making strategic business decisions.

Check-In with loyal customers

Loyal customers may occasionally disappear for a while, whether they are trying out competitors or taking a break from dining out. This is normal in business. However, a simple friendly reminder or a quick hello can often bring them back to purchasing from you.

The data captured on captive portals can help identify customers who used to visit regularly but haven't recently. This information can be used to send re-engagement emails, promotions, special offers, or SMS messages to entice them to make a purchase.

Display a customized greeting upon arrival

Sending a personalized welcome message to your customers can help you establish a genuine connection and leave a lasting impression. It is important to show customers that you appreciate their purchase, and even small gestures can make a difference. You can easily create a personalized welcome message on your captive portal to delight customers.

Provide information to customers about how their data is used

Currently, customers have a high level of skepticism regarding how brands utilize their data. It is important for your customers to understand how their data will be used and what measures will be taken to protect it.

Please read our captive portal for a clear and comprehensive explanation of how we handle and protect customer data.

Conclusion

A WiFi Captive portal installed at a restaurant or a coffee shop is an excellent source of new customers. GoGoGuest makes it super easy for restaurant operators to capture and re-target customers with a personalized message about ways to engage with your business, new products, rewards, and more after they join. Learn more about the benefits of a WiFi marketing strategy.

Next Steps

Would you like to learn more about how a guest WiFi captive portal can help you market your new coffee shop, restaurant concept or growing restaurant business more effectively? Book a demo it only takes 5 seconds to submit.