Mobile data consumption is increasing - The solution: free WiFi!

What only worked from home just a few years ago is now indispensable: We surf the Internet around the clock — and everywhere. Regardless of whether we post our quinoa bowl on Facebook from our favorite restaurant, share the cappuccino on Instagram, listen to our own playlist while weightlifting in the fitness center or stream the next episode of the new Netflix series in the doctor's waiting room. The range of streaming and social media platforms is as huge as ever, while consumption is constantly increasing and so are the costs for users. However, due to the high consumption of mobile data, the Internet speed is quickly throttled for many. For this reason, free WiFi networks are more popular today than ever before and a must for all companies that want to meet increasing customer demands. As an entrepreneur, you will find out how to implement exactly this and at the same time effectively market your business without additional effort.

Germans' mobile data volumes are becoming increasingly scarce

German mobile phone users have been consuming more and more mobile data volumes in recent years and the trend is continuing. This is also due to the fact that both social networks and streaming portals such as Spotify and YouTube are increasingly determining our everyday lives everywhere. More and more platforms are now expanding their offerings to include full-fledged videos in order to be able to compete with other video providers. Short clips, so-called stories, are also becoming increasingly important. It should be noted that both publishing and watching videos consume significantly more data volume than dealing with images or texts. As a result of this development, the available mobile data volume is no longer sufficient for many consumers.

The following table shows how much data volume is consumed to use any platform.

On average, German users spend almost one and a half hours a day on social media. The young user group of 16 to 19 years of age spends an average of two and a half hours a day alone on the video portal YouTube. If you look at the average consumption of mobile data in Germany, the rapidly increasing consumption can also be proven in figures. While 200 MB per SIM card were still used per month in 2013, this figure rose to 870 MB in 2017. In 2020, an average of 3 GB was consumed, which represented an increase of 46 percent compared to the previous year.

Demand for free WiFi is increasing

If you compare the collective agreements on the German market, it is noticeable that they are significantly more expensive than those in many other EU countries. In 2019, German users paid an average of 3.35 EUR per gigabyte of mobile data volume, twice as much as mobile phone owners in Italy (1.65 EUR). In addition, expansions in the current month usually charge disproportionate prices when data volume is used up. For example, Vodafone charges 6.99 euros per month for a permanent upgrade of just one gigabyte. Or: Once the mobile data volume of your own collective agreement has been used up, the high-speed surfing speed is downgraded to just a slow 16 to a maximum of 64 kbits/s. The high costs and other disadvantages mean that the demand for free WiFi is increasing, as it allows users to surf the Internet completely carefree while on the go, whether for business or private purposes. With free WiFi, you can avoid scenarios in which, for example, a regular customer at your premises has to pay almost seven euros for a one-time expansion of their mobile data volume by just 1 GB in order to be able to view a work colleague's presentation. This is a nuisance that could lead to regular customers enjoying their lunch break with the competition in the future, as they provide free WiFi. When guests sit in the hotel lobby and have to send an important email to their manager, customers at a supermarket want to research the origin of the products at the meat counter, or customers at a hair salon want to share their latest haircut with the world and all of this fails due to a non-existent WiFi system, negative reviews on Google are inevitable.

Free WiFi more important than ever since the pandemic

The Covid-19 pandemic has significantly changed the everyday lives of most people. For example, changes can also be observed in the consumer behavior of mobile phone users and the way in which communication takes place. Surveys have shown that social networks have increased significantly since Corona. In addition, all digital and mobile communication channels, in particular video calls, are used much more frequently in order to participate in meetings all over the world without actually being there. Data volume for the use of digital (video) platforms is therefore more essential than ever before, even due to the current situation. Nevertheless, increasing consumption also means rising costs for consumers. Free WiFi networks, on the other hand, enable customers to conduct important zoom meetings and video messages free of charge from car dealerships, rented holiday apartments or from the waiting room. In addition, restaurants and hotels can ensure that necessary conditions such as the digital vaccination certificate or the online contact form can be retrieved and that guests can take advantage of the offer on site.

Free WiFi for customers - effective marketing for companies

The Internet is currently used at least eight times as much via free WiFi hotspots than via the networks of mobile phone providers, with almost a third of Internet users in Austria even saying that they connect to a public WLAN network at least once a day. From a business perspective, providing free WiFi is definitely worthwhile. What was just another cost factor for companies to meet customer requirements a few years ago has developed into one of the most effective marketing tools of all in recent years. For example, there is now an opportunity to purchase WLAN packages that not only provide your company's customers with fast and secure Internet, but also offer important benefits for your business. This gives users the opportunity to publish a positive Google review about their company directly via the WLAN login. However, should customers want to complain about the prices of your bakery or about the service in your optician shop, they can also do this via the system, but they fill out a form whose content is not published but simply ends up in your e-mail inbox for possible answers. In this way, you avoid negative Google reviews, collect only the positive ones and thus increase valuable places in the Google online ranking. At the same time, you offer your customers exactly what they need right now: free and fast Internet. In addition to the 5-star Google reviews, Socialwave offers other marketing options: With WiFi logins generated via Facebook, automatic postings are published, which inform an average of 200 people that the respective person is visiting your premises, thereby expanding the reach of your business. In times of influencers, you also promote the free placement of your product on social media, as any photos and videos can be easily shared by your customers via social media, for example on Instagram or Snapchat, using the WiFi provided. Free WiFi therefore means free advertising for your business, without any personal effort.

conclusion

The Socialwave marketing package keeps regular customers with you and acquires new customers, as after successfully sending the business email, your bistro's guests still have enough time during their lunch break to skilfully present your latest main course offering on social networks. Positive reviews are published because personal best performance is achieved on the weight bench at your gym while streaming your favorite music without errors. Parents will be happy to come to their pediatrician practice in the future, as waiting times can be bridged by watching the latest children's film together. In order to remain competitive as an entrepreneur and to be able to meet the increasing demands of customers, there is now a need for free WiFi in all industries, which is available to visitors to your institutions.More information about the Socialwave marketing package can be found here.With our WLAN marketing package, your customers/patients/guests advertise for you, are happy and recommend you to others.