What Exactly is Guest WiFi?
Guest WiFi is a wireless network, separate to your main provider that allows customers to use. The guest network can be an independent host to your main network provider. At kyco, we set this all up under the same domain hassle free for our clients.
Providing a guest WiFi network is a win-win solution for your business and customers. It allows free internet access for guests while they’re in your establishment, keeping them isolated from your main business network and allowing them to stay longer due to having free roaming access.
What’s not to love about this solution! 🤩
If you aren’t tech-savvy, you might not know how to set up your guest WiFi in-house. So we thought we’d tell you everything you need to know.
Firstly, you login to your router's network provider and insert your router’s IP address through a web browser.
Browse for a wireless setting labeled ‘guest network’ or look for a similar term. You can then select a name for your guest network. We always advise naming it something that includes your business name so it is clear to your customers.
You can set-up a strong password for this guest network, however at kyco we tend to ask for personal information. This could be information such as email address or name, therefore allowing data collection that can be utilized rather than applying a network password.
Last but not least, make sure to test your guest network once configured! You can do this by connecting varied smart devices of your choice. If all smart devices are working seamlessly, you’re all good to go! However, if you face any difficulty, kyco is a phone call away. We are quick to respond and usually set this up for our clients prior to going live.
Now, let’s jump into the benefits that guest WiFi has on your independent, locally run business!
The Top Benefits that Guest WiFi has on your Business!
Did you know that 55% of customers are willing to exchange personal information for FREE WiFi access. This means information such as details about the customer, leaving a company review or even a survey.
Therefore, having WiFi available for your guests is a viable course of action. It allows connectivity and a greater understanding of your customer. This leverage can only attract more customers in passing and create a warm environment that your customers want to be a part of.
There are so many benefits to implementing this. Besides capturing data and enhancing WiFi email marketing, you can do even more to help shape your strategy. Let us talk you through some of the primary ways we see this helping your business:
📣 Keeps your Primary WiFi Safe!
If your company is a startup or well established, you’ll have heaps of customers wanting to come inside to your venue. Offering FREE WiFi can only compliment this - having stickers placed in your store window can only help but encourage customers to come and stop by.
If you were to share your main business’s WiFi network with your customers, it might become congested due to it meeting its full capacity. It could even affect employees' performance when performing online tasks due to poor/slow internet connection.
The best way to avoid hindrance on your businesses main WiFi network is to create a separate guest network. This way, customers won't be able to disrupt your businesses day to day operations, as well you won’t have to interfere with your customers web-browsing.
Customers can also accidentally transfer viruses onto your main business network if their smart device comes across one. Therefore, this can pose a threat to business data, breaching company security.
You can also utilize your guest network to your company's advantage. Upon wanting to access your guest network, you can create prompts to build a customer datapool.
This can be asking your customer to fill out a form, providing information about themselves. This data can then be utilized to enhance your marketing strategies for online use!
📣 Data, Glorious Data!
As mentioned previously, capturing customers data through WiFi portals allows easy access to their information. Your company can then store this information and create customized emailing lists to enhance your 1:1 relations with your customer base. Allowing for an enhanced personal relation with your client base.
Through email marketing, you can perform A/B testing which means you can see what email preferences get your customer base talking! This means changing small things such as email header, images, context etc to see which they better respond to.
Therefore this valuable information can be adopted into your marketing strategy going forward and elevate that personal touch that every business strives for! Additionally, you can use this data to gain an idea of genders, age groups, customer interests and more. Giving you a better understanding of what they expect from your business.
📣 Let’s make Promotions Personal
The data that you collect through guest WiFi can give your company the ability to personalize your customers' experience. It can allow you to better understand your customer base. Such as their preferences, behavior and history which can allow you to create targeted promotions.
Apart from it giving you leverage to personalize your marketing efforts, you can also perform push notifications. Using WiFi, you can create ‘push notifications’ on smart devices when a customer is a certain proximity away from your venue. Allowing location-based marketing to be hit into full swing!
📣 Greater Customer Satisfaction
Imagine your customers' satisfaction when they can come through your doors and login to your guest network. Many customers like the choice of being able to browse the internet, access social media and check-emails whilst on the premises.
Being able to do this on your premises means that they will stay with you for longer, potentially even spend more for the longer duration of being with you. Having guest WiFi shows your customer that you care about them and their needs. It allows them to feel welcome and comfortable in your establishment, giving you the competitive advantage in terms of greater customer satisfaction.
📣 Better Marketing and Upselling
Being able to push promotions and marketing are two of the key benefits to having guest WiFi, but only if the portal is captive. At kyco, we provide clear signposting for our users after the customer has accessed your free WiFi. This way, you can display important company updates and upcoming events!
Populating the signposting app with your brand elements such as colors and logo will help improve brand awareness.
You can also connect with your client base by including your company's story. Every business has a story and it is important to show your customers exactly who they’re buying from through marketing schemes.
Overall, having free guest WiFi appeals to different demographics. How people's working week has changed with more employees working from home, this can be a prime selling point to encourage social behavior. Pushing marketing schemes such as inviting customers to work with you for the day. All they need is their computer, then the rest is down to you! They can work at your establishment for the day using your free, guest WiFi whilst purchasing from your lovely venue.
Let’s KICK your Guest WiFi into Swing!
Guest WiFi’s main benefit is convenience. Not only are you helping your customer base feel comfortable but your business can also collect personal data to grow your datapool. Influencing your business decisions on promotions, upselling and overall increasing customer satisfaction.
It is an effective way to increase your new customer base, whilst retaining your current, loyal customer base. However, to bask in the benefits of building a datapool, you need to combine WiFi marketing and implement a captive portal rather than passcode.
At kyco, we’re here to help every step of the way and often organize this for you during installation. We customize your data collection depending on your venue and what you want to know about your audience. This way, we can help influence your marketing decisions for the best course of action going forward.