Entrepreneur, James Hamilton Healy, recently announced that his Authority Media Agency, McLean Media in Bozeman, Montana, will offer a new and cutting-edge platform that will initially focus on serving the hospitality industry.
McLean Media’s platform, LiveWireWiFi, will help hotels and motels, inns, bed and breakfasts, vacation rental properties, and even B&B associations or vacation rental agencies turn something they are giving away for free, their guest Wi-Fi access, into a valuable business asset and powerful marketing tool.
“Having a “Free WiFi” marketing strategy is a real must and will become an industry standard over the next few years,” said Healy.
Times are changing and free Wi-Fi is an amenity that is expected by every traveler to be provided by the property wherever they are staying, more important than soap or a free breakfast. In fact, recent surveys have shown 94% of travelers now cite Wi-Fi access as the most important amenity and 38% say, “No Wi-Fi is a deal-breaker.”
“It’s a highly competitive market, and was the first to see how the internet could make or break a business,” said Healy.
He went on to say, “Most hoteliers and innkeepers know the importance of engaging with their guests and keeping customer data for remarketing. This can now be done using their Free Guest Wi-Fi.”
“It’s all about standing out from the crowd and creating conversations, before and after the guest’s stay.”
Engaged customers are more likely to build an affiliation with the hotel and can account for as much as 23% of their profitability according to a Gallup poll. Mr. Healy stated that their clients also find the frequency of guest visits increase with remarketing campaigns utilizing profile data captured with the LiveWireWiFi platform.
“Engaged customers are repeat customers,” Healy stated.
A story in Entrepreneur Magazine recently declared, “Reputation is worth more than money.”
Nobody knows this more than the hospitality industry which pays close attention to how they are portrayed through travel apps, social media, and search engines.
Daniel Newman, a contributor for Forbes Magazine wrote, “Influencers may be marketing’s next ‘golden goose,’ as people no longer trust ads, but they do trust people.”
Most hotels have a social media presence, with LiveWireWiFi they see more “likes” and can use the power of social sharing to boost their brand awareness.
To assist in efforts to improve online reputation, the LiveWireWiFi platform has a TripAdvisor campaign built right into it, users simply set up a time when they want to send an automated request asking for a review and the platform will send it.
“On average our clients get 4 times the number of reviews after switching on their Social-Powered Wi-Fi Marketing platform,” said Healy.
Healy also said, “Given today’s technology which demands a Wi-Fi connection, you are guaranteed to build your business using this strategy. People just aren’t going to avoid logging in and ignore your free Wi-Fi.”
Wi-Fi Marketing is a marketing technique that uses a physical location’s guest Wi-Fi landing pages and access point to collect customers names, contact information, and demographics while measuring their behavior at the location. This data is then used to create targeted remarketing campaigns to influence customers to increase their visit frequency and spend, and measure their satisfaction in real time.
LiveWireWiFi utilizes a 256 bit, fully SSL Encrypted login to separate the guest Wi-Fi from the Point-of-Sale and passwords no longer need to be handed out. And not only is the network secured, but bandwidth can be monitored and controlled, along with the ability to filter DNS so certain undesirable sites cannot be accessed by guests.
Healy admitted this service could help nearly any business that provides free Wi-Fi to customers.
When asked why he was focusing on the hospitality industry for this new service, Healy said, “Several years ago I owned a high-end hiking tour company and we would stay at unique and special properties which allowed our clients to get an amazing experience, and not just from the hiking.”
“I have always enjoyed sharing these places with others and working with the owners of these typically “love-what-they-do” small businesses.”
For more information on James Hamilton Healy and the LiveWireWiFi platform please visit https://livewirewifi.com or call (406) 414-6442.