No-wastage Wi-Fi the way to go

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In addition, wireless hotspot advertising has the tremendous advantage of being able to offer valuable free connectivity to the consumer in exchange for them doing something like providing their contact details to the advertiser before they are able to go online. This quid pro quo arrangement is perfectly acceptable to the vast majority of consumers and brands reap the benefits.

The potential of advertising over Wi-Fi

The growing trend for many consumers, especially those with impressive disposable incomes, to work from coffee shop Wi-Fi hotspots means suddenly Wi-Fi based advertising starts sounding interesting. What’s also interesting that the greater South African marketing and advertising community has yet to realise the potential of advertising over Wi-Fi networks.

It's concerning that in a developing market like South Africa, which one would assume would be more open to new ideas, ad agencies are still simply block booking reams of traditional adverts across conventional platforms without giving new mediums like Wi-Fi networks a due and proper look. They're being extremely short-sighted and will later kick themselves in that future status meeting when the client asks "But what about Wi-Fi?" to red faces all round.

Wi-Fi ads are super-impressive because they go way beyond old-school web-based banner ads. For example, a Wi-Fi-based ad campaign can achieve such specific marketing goals as increase a brand’s social media followers or likes, force the download of an app, give away free samples online, encourage feet through stores, and build databases, amongst many other marketing goals.

The fact that most of the Wi-Fi networks that are mushrooming around the country are either free or partially free, means brands associating themselves with these free hotspots benefit from the consumer’s goodwill towards these no-cost, or low-cost, ICT services. In a challenging world where large corporations are increasingly being pressured to lower costs by under-pressure consumers, there are multiple benefits to being associated with providing free services.

Location-specific mobile marketing tactics

Wi-Fi advertising can be the fuel that powers the mobile marketing effort. Wi-Fi and mobile work extremely well together and nowhere is this more true than with location-specific mobile marketing tactics such as redeemable coupons and other special loyalty offers that depend on the consumer’s location. Mobile and Wi-Fi, if properly implemented by a specialist consultancy, can be the double-whammy that helps SMEs, in particular, punch way about their weight.

The Wi-Fi platform that pops up on the consumer’s mobile device even before they are connected to the digital world, is essentially an attention board that guarantees viewership right off the bat. Wi-Fi advertising is the new micro-billboard that’s ever-present and always welcomed by millions of consumers in search of great value.

Not only does advertising over Wi-Fi networks offer unparalleled advantages in terms of segmentation, but a Wi-Fi marketing campaign can capture the audience’s details and even require them to do something prior to logging in and joining the network. Imagine a traditional billboard asking for your contact details before you’ve even seen it! Wi-Fi advertising is that impressive.