A free, reliable WiFi connection is now standard in most shops, restaurants and especially places like medical clinics, where people have to wait for any length of time. Providing free WiFi helps patients to relax and pass the time, or to keep working while they wait for their appointment.
So if you’re going to provide free WiFi, why not make it work for you? You can stretch your marketing budget further by using your WiFi to communicate directly with patients who are already in your office.
There are three main ways you can use your WiFi connection to help your practice - providing a landing page to promote your services, collecting email addresses for future marketing campaigns and analytics.
- Have a great splash page. The easiest way to connect with patients via your WiFi is to create a splash or landing page they are directed to as soon as they log in. This page could promote your practice and any updates you have, additional services or any of your team members. It’s a handy place to give reminders about basic healthcare too - flu shots, eye tests, blood pressure monitoring and dental cleanings are all examples of things patients may be prompted to book if they are reminded while in the waiting room.
- Collect email addresses for future marketing. Most WiFi connections provided by businesses require guests to log in and provide their basic information such as name and email address. This is a great way to grow your marketing database with email addresses of patients who have consented to being contacted for marketing purposes. Remember to always give the option to not receive additional content, as it’s a legal requirement you have permission from the patient before adding them to a marketing list.?
- Use the analytics. By providing a WiFi connection, you now have access to analytics for your practice. By seeing how many people are logged on at any given time, you can track the busiest times in your office and use the data to improve staffing levels and scheduling. Details on how long patients are logged in for will give you a good indication of real waiting times and will allow you to make improvements to keep the wait as short as possible. Foot traffic maps are helpful in a larger facility such as a hospital, and can show you where bottlenecks are occurring or where patients are getting confused about directions. This gives you the opportunity to improve signage and create the smoothest patient experience possible.??
With these added benefits, along with reducing perceived wait times for your patients, providing free WiFi is essential. With just a little effort you can cash in on the marketing and analytics side too, so it’s time to get your WiFi connection working hard for you today.
