It’s nice to know I’m on the same wavelength as Jeremiah Owyang. You see I had this post in the oven a couple days ago and he drops a post on the exact same topic – “Hotels: Don’t Charge Us For Internet Use“.
I am traveling the rest of this week and need to get some work done – but I am dreading the $10/day WiFi charge that is likely to await me at the hotel. Jeremiah makes some good points on why your hotel should provide free WiFi. His first point is that providing free WiFi will likely keep him on the property longer, which means he’ll spend more money and have more meetings there. The second point is even better – free WiFi will encourage guests to rate, register, etc your hotel and surrounding areas – which will only help your presence and reach on the web.
For some that’s not enough ROI and for that I have two additional suggestions. First off, have your guests opt-in to an email newsletter before granting WiFi access. By having them opt-in to your email marketing campaign you get something in return for the added value of free WiFi. You can now send them permission based promotions, deals, coupons, and “sponsored attractions” (see below).
Another option is to send the free WiFi surfer to a landing page before they are “let out” onto the internets. On this page you can sell advertising placement to surrounding restaraunts, bars, and attractions. This will more than pay for the free WiFi.
So if just being a good host doesn’t give you enough ambition for providing free WiFi – here are some real business reasons for doing so. Now go – take down the walls.
For fellow travelers – here’s a Guide To Hotels With Free WiFi (and a list of of those that have fees)
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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Seriously, it’s ridiculous when the WiFi is an additional fee. I think I remember when I was little driving past hotels that said “Free HBO!”, implying that maybe at some hotels you paid for cable service? Not sure, but I think it’s safe to say that every hotel 5 years from now will figure out how WiFi is a utility like running water and electricity, so they might as well figure it in their business model now.
Scott Sorheim’s last blog post..More Lean in Iowa Government
Haha I remember that too! Interestingly it’s the same with WiFi now… What should be a ubiquitous value added feature is being used by many hotels as a differentiation mechanism… They will have to adapt to compete, no doubt…
Amen Andy – I have been holding my breath and waiting for the promised WiFi nirvana for years and it never seems to get here. I’ve purchased phones based on WiFi access and found that there just isn’t enough free access to make it work well. I have parked outside many a crappy motel with free WiFi to check email and such becasue the public spaces for free access just weren’t there. Starbucks and McDonald’s are also violators of the WiFi freedom act (completely made up, but desperately needed legislation).
This is a case of what Jeff Garrison called Scarcity sales style (http://www.jcgarrison.com/2009/05/abundance-or-scarcity.html) and only has a short term gain at the cost of long term negative brand influence. I would line up to purchase hotel accomadations at a place offering free WiFi and would also tolerate the splash pages you suggest for the privilege.
I think many would tolerate subtle monetization of the free service – we do it everyday! Love the scarcity sales post from Jeff!
Completely agree with Ben. I have a mental list of hotels and coffee shops restaurants that DON’T offer free WiFi, and my impression of them is that they clearly DON’T want my business, and has certainly impacted their brand because I tell others about their lack of needing the business of today’s travelers.
On the flip side, it is certainly a benefit (here’s their ROI) to the places that do offer free WiFi, because I give them business that they probably otherwise wouldn’t have had just because they have free WiFi (and I don’t just park outside :) ). And they’re often not the major “brands”.
Examples:
Violator of free WiFi: Marriott in Schaumberg, IL.
Promoter of free WiFi: Fryn’ Pan restaurant in Yankton, SD.
@Scott – great points and this touches on the social connections point that Jeremiah touches on in his post. The fact that you have wifi access somewhere inclines you more to
1) Tweet your location
2) Check into Brightkite, FourSquare
3) Post your satisfaction / location on facebook
4) Leave a review on Yelp, other travel sites
All of these mentions on social networks is only going to help increase your reach and improve your social profile… The possibility of exponential consumer generated PR should be all the ROI they need…
great post..
Yup its the fact.. As we know the inFeeds is an aggregator of the shared items from Google Reader users. It helps you to save time by reading more interesting information regarding the message to wifi hotels..
hotel deal