NFC marketing: one tap, one clear next step

NFC (near-field communication) is the short-range radio behind tap-to-pay. The same technology lets a small sticker or card open a web page, a contact card or a message thread when someone holds a phone near it.

The appeal is obvious: no camera, no aiming, one tap. The catch is that the tag is invisible. Nobody taps a blank plastic card unless something tells them to. So half of NFC marketing is signage and wording, and the other half is making sure the tap opens the right thing.

This section covers digital business cards, review stands, counter and table tags, hotel room tags, event badges and product packaging. We explain what can be written to a tag in plain terms, how tags get locked so nobody can rewrite them, and why we almost always print a QR code next to the tag for phones that won't read it.

Nothing from Tap Talk is filed under this section yet. The CustomerThink headlines below will keep you company until our first piece lands.