If you’re looking for a way to improve your hospitality marketing in a way that adds value to your business, then offering guest wifi is a must. By providing guest wifi to your customers, you can build a customer database that helps you better personalize your marketing efforts.

To learn more about how guest wifi can help your marketing, this post explains how to build a valuable customer database and useful techniques for effective marketing.

What Types of Data Is Captured By Guest Wifi?

When guests connect to guest wifi, various types of data can be captured during the login process, depending on how your setup. Here are common types of data that can be captured with guest wifi:

  • Contact information: Data ranging from name, email address and phone number can be requested during login.
  • Social media profiles: Some captive portals allow users to log in with their social media accounts. This is convenient since they don’t have to create or remember new log-in information. Social media logins also feed the social profiles into your customer database.
  • Demographic information: Guests may be asked to provide demographic details such as age, gender, and location for their customer profiles.
  • Device information: Information about the device used to connect, including device type, model, and operating system, can be collected.
  • Session data: Data about how guests use the wifi network, such as session duration, can be captured for analytics.
  • Location data: In some cases, the wifi network can capture approximate geo location data based on the guest’s device.
  • Usage patterns: Data on guest behavior and preferences, such as the frequency of visits and the services or products they access, can be tracked.
  • Login timestamp: The time and date of the login session can be logged to track user behavior and session duration.
  • Security information: Security-related data may be collected, including login credentials and device MAC addresses for network security purposes.
  • Consent and preferences: Information about user consent to data collection and preferences for marketing communications may be logged.

The type and extent of data captured can vary depending on the guest wifi provider’s choics, the configuration of the captive portal, and local data privacy regulations. To ensure compliance with privacy laws, businesses should always be transparent about the data they collect, handle the data responsibly, and obtain explicit consent from users. Additionally, businesses should have clear privacy policies and practices in place to protect guest data.

How To Use a Customer Database for Marketing Efforts?

The information captured from a guest wifi network can enhance your marketing efforts in several ways:

  • Customer profiling: Demographic information such as email addresses and social media profiles can help you build detailed customer profiles. This allows for more targeted and personalized marketing campaigns.
  • Segmentation: By categorizing customers based on their preferences, behavior, and characteristics, you can create segmented marketing campaigns that resonate with specific groups of customers.
  • Personalized marketing: With insights into customer preferences and behavior, you can tailor your marketing messages and offers to individual customers. Personalization can significantly increase engagement and conversion rates.
  • Email marketing: Email addresses can be used for email marketing campaigns. Send newsletters, promotions, and updates to keep customers informed and engaged.
  • Social media engagement: If customers log in through their social media accounts, you can use this data to engage on those platforms. Share content, respond to comments, and run targeted social media ad campaigns.
  • Loyalty programs: Data on customer visits and behavior can inform the design of loyalty programs. Reward frequent visitors or offer discounts to incentivize repeat business.
  • Timing and frequency: Use data on the timing and frequency of customer visits to send timely promotions or reminders. For example, offer discounts during slow hours to attract more business.
  • Retargeting campaigns: Retargeting efforts can be more effective when you have insights into what products or services customers showed interest in.
  • Customer feedback: Request feedback from customers during the login process or after their visit. Use this data to improve your products, services, and overall customer experience.
  • Event and promotion planning: Analyze historical data to identify trends and plan events or promotions accordingly. For example, offer discounts on popular items during specific seasons or holidays.
  • A/B testing: Use guest wifi data to conduct A/B testing of marketing campaigns. Compare different approaches to see which one resonates better with your audience.
  • Customer retention: Engage with customers post-visit to keep your business top of mind and build brand loyalty. Send thank-you messages, updates, and exclusive offers to encourage repeat visits.

When used ethically and effectively, your customer database can help you create more engaging, relevant, and targeted marketing campaigns that build customer loyalty and drive revenue growth. If you want to improve your marketing efforts, Routie offers affordable, easy-to-use guest wifi solutions to set your business up for success.

Build your customer database for marketing success!