According to Nigerian Tech Analyst and Start-up mentor, Oluwole Ogunlade,
“One of the best marketing strategies in the world is to give away your products for free.”
He cited the two biggest websites in the world as examples, Google and Facebook [both are worth almost $900 billion], who are giving away their services for free to billions of users, yet between them.
The obvious “secret” of this business model is that when you give people free things on your platform, you can ask others to pay to reach that audience.
Music Maestro, Don Jazzy and Tech Genius Dele Odufuye launched Flobyt, a free WiFi service platform in February, disrupting the internet market by giving for free what many users pay for.
Flobyt is not the first free WiFi programme in Nigeria. For instance, CafeNeo uses free WiFi as an incentive to drive patronage to its stores while iROKOtv offers free movie downloads for its users at some of their kiosks and at least 2 Nigerian banks [Zenith Bank and Union Bank] have launched free WiFi programmes at some of their branches.
However Flobyt has initiated a near-perfect solution to the problems the others may encounter. By expanding the service to reach more people via their partner network, Flobyt is positioning itself to generate more leads to drive traffic to their paid products or any third party services. There is also possibility for data capturing, survey response collection and much more.
Since the service is free to users who are willing to be exposed to advertising in return for free WiFi, this works especially well for eCommmerce platforms that want to expand their distribution to a bigger audience.
It is very likely that more providers will jump on this trend so users should get ready for a year of free WiFi. This is because while Flobyt is still setting up for a full launch, SWIFT, a leading ISP responded by offering free WiFi too.
While putting free WiFi in specific locations is a great idea, the biggest traction may lie in hooking up the service with the transportation sector. To use this strategy at scale, one of the best demographics to offer free WiFi deals to is commuters. Imagine hooking up free WiFi with a bus service that transports up to 160,000 people in Lagos everyday.
What if you could instantly turn those “bored” commuters to your potential market audience by giving them free WiFi while they travel or wait at bus stations? It’s an instant win-win as the BRT becomes more appealing to commuters. And aside BRT services, there are over 16 car hailing services in which a provider can hook up with as distribution partners.
