Why guest WiFi has become essential for hotels

More and more people are planning their holidays using the Internet — and then staying online even while on vacation. Almost 70% of Germans keep in touch with their family even when traveling, share pictures, find out about restaurants and thus take advantage of the interconnectedness of our world. However, if the mobile data volume is used up faster than expected, the search for the nearest pizzeria becomes a farce. Travelers therefore expect a way to connect to the Internet, particularly in their hotels. For business travelers, a free and stable WiFi connection is a prerequisite anyway when choosing their accommodation. In the following article, you can find out what benefits offering WiFi can have for you as an operator.

WiFi in the hotel: luxury or necessity?

In other words, you provide WiFi for your guests. So far, so good. Access to every room seems contemporary. It should be fast and there should be no break-ins even during peak hours. And preferably free of charge. Your benefit in doing so?

Various surveys confirm that free WiFi not only ensures satisfied holidaymakers. Business travelers in particular enjoy access, as they often depend on a stable Internet connection for their work. This is because work steps on the PC are increasingly being carried out online. Where you used to use a hard drive in the office, you now access the cloud via your laptop. In addition, Internet & video telephony is also becoming increasingly common in a business context. Here too, a stable connection to the Internet is always a prerequisite. WiFi has therefore gone from luxury to a necessity for business travelers. For this reason, hotels without WiFi in the room are often excluded in advance when searching. If only poor or slow access is available, guests will not return and, in the worst case, will also leave a negative review on Google. With fatal consequences...

“Have you seen the reviews?!”

As a rule, anyone who searches on the Internet uses Google. And if you Google, you'll see reviews.

Various sources show that up to 87% of travelers check reviews before booking to get a better idea of the future accommodation. This is because reviews from other users are considered trustworthy and authentic. In fact, according to a study by Brightlocal, 79% of respondents trust an online review as much as a personal recommendation. The desire to learn as much as possible about your future home in advance by reading reviews is understandable, but it involves risks for you as an operator. Not being able to read reviews creates uncertainty among your potential guests, which is why they will opt for an alternative with reviews. Because even if the existing reviews aren't perfect, they're still better than none. But that's not all. If you receive a large number of reviews, they must be largely positive so that you benefit from them, because negative reviews scare off customers. For many visitors, it is enough if less than four out of five stars are awarded. This fact can only become a reality all too quickly, as people in affect tend to express their displeasure rather than praise it. This quickly gives guests a distorted image of your company and who could have just been your customer is now booking with the competition. Too bad, because it is precisely this criticism that can help you improve your service. So what to do?

Benefit and learn from Google reviews

As the operator of a hotel, satisfied guests are your top priority.

In order to be able to guarantee this in the long term, you depend on their honest feedback — because your customers' wishes can change over time. Once again, access to the Internet is a good example of this. While free WiFi was the exception a few years ago, today most restaurants, gyms and hotels have at least one access point for their guests. The market meets the customer's needs and your guests want the Internet. If there had been no need for it, this standard would not have been established. Honest feedback therefore shapes the market and can therefore also contain criticism. However, negative reviews damage your online presence and although you benefit from positive reviews, they are much harder to obtain.

The Socialwave WiFi network offers a solution for this. By using the hotel WLAN, the customer agrees to be contacted by you, the hotel operator, via e-mail, WhatsApp or other channels. After the guest's stay, the Socialwave network proactively and fully automatically asks for their feedback. This request has been shown to drastically increase the number of Google reviews.

Perfect! But what about the negative reviews? You will receive them directly by email, without publishing them on Google. For you, this only means the benefits of positive and negative reviews: an improved presence on the Internet and honest feedback. Two decisive factors on the way to more satisfied guests. The numerous reviews from these very guests also increases your relevance on Google. This in turn means that in future, Google users who had not previously had an eye on your hotel will now also receive a recommendation. In the long term, a self-fulfilling prophecy emerges: customers leave positive reviews, attract new customers, leave positive reviews, etc.

WiFi marketing turns hotel guests into regular guests

It is not without reason that the regular guest is considered the holy grail among customers.

Regular guests are much more likely to make full use of the hotel's services and are less price-sensitive at the same time. In addition, business travelers in particular are valuable returnees for your hotel, and not only because they fill their rooms even in off-season.

One of the best ways to get repeat customers is through targeted email marketing. Because that's how you make your guest feel important. That is the essence of good service. If the guest feels seen, there is a good chance that they will return. The options are varied here. For example, you can inform your customers about news about your hotel. A new outdoor area with a pool? A new drink in the hotel bar? Crime dinner? concert? You can also thank your guests again for their visit or tell them that you miss them. All of this increases the likelihood of a second visit.

You can go one step further by sending digital vouchers. Your visitors are much more likely to try the new cocktail of the week if they've received a personalized voucher. And it's guaranteed to taste better too! Discounted admission to the spa area or a discount on your next visit are also possible. Small gifts maintain friendship and vouchers retain regular guests.

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The online marketing package from Socialwave

Keeping track of all the options can be challenging. Fortunately, it doesn't have to. We remember: Your customer provided their contact details via the Socialwave system in order to be able to connect to the Internet. You can now use exactly this contact information for your campaigns. The Socialwave network thus creates the basis for a long-term customer relationship the first time you log in. With your guest's consent, nothing stands in the way of newsletters and vouchers and no further systems are required. Uncomplicated and 100% secure against warnings. Individual design options offer you maximum freedom with easy operation. Select a campaign or design it yourself, define the delivery period and recipient group and off you go! If you want to attract new guests, retain regular customers and strengthen your online presence through Google reviews, opt for the WLAN marketing package from Socialwave.

conclusion

If you want full rooms, you have to stand out from the competition as a hotel operator. Providing guest WiFi has become standard and is therefore no longer enough on its own. It also needs positive Google reviews and sophisticated newsletter marketing. Use Socialwave's WLAN marketing package to use the collected email addresses to get your customers to come back again and again. The sophisticated rating system also automatically prevents negative reviews and collects numerous 5-star reviews at the same time.

With our WLAN marketing package, your customers/patients/guests advertise for you, are happy and recommend you to others.