Are you currently using an Apple iPhone?
Do you feel as if you’re missing out on the thrilling new digitally enhanced marketing opportunities dished up by NFC Technology?
Or perhaps you use an NFC-enabled device at the moment but you’re reluctant to invest too heavily in snazzy NFC Marketing Tools in case some of your target audience are using incompatible Smartphones?
Any niggling worries you may have right now about missing the NFC Party could well be resolved in the very near future, as the signals seem to indicate that Apple is getting ready to jump aboard and push NFC Business Marketing to a whole new level.
But as ever, it will certainly pay to keep one step ahead of your competition by developing your strategy right now and arriving early at the party to grab the biggest results of all…
I nearly missed a party myself this week, down at Smokey Joe’s Small Business Bar.
Smokey Joe was celebrating twenty years in business by throwing a huge party with the promise of fun, laughter, and free drinks for all.
I’d been working late in the Martin Print office, and my invitation to this special event had completely slipped my mind until the very last minute.
Fortunately, I found that the party still hadn’t really got going by the time I came breathlessly bounding through those doors in blind panic.
I think that the celebratory mood had been slightly punctured by the revelation that Smokey Joe was only offering certain types of free drinks for all;
Mostly non-alcoholic drinks with chunks of fruit and meat floating about in them.
Still, I soon managed to liven up the atmosphere by passing around some of the brand new NFC Business Cards which my team had cooked up that very day, and showing everyone exactly how they worked.
Many of the party guests were quickly reaching out for their Smartphones so that they could join in the fun as I passed the cards around.
I’d actually encoded all the cards with completely different digital features.
So, for example, one particular card would open up the main Martin Print website on a Smartphone screen with just a single tap.
Another would import all my details directly into the contacts list of the lucky recipient’s phone. Another would open up this very Blog!
And so on and so on.
The vast majority of my fellow business owners were happy to have a little play around with them, and I could tell that many of them were taken by surprise with this NFC marketing magic.
If nothing else, it took everyone’s mind off those awful free drinks.
I even managed to take several new orders from shrewd entrepreneurs who wanted to buy a full set of their own.
However, I got a rather stern reception from Wonky Alan as I approached him with one of my new cards.
He made a blocking gesture with his hand and shook his head in disapproval.
“You can stop right there, Martin,” he warned. “I’ve got an Apple iPhone, so none of this stuff works for me. I’ve already considered buying my own full set of NFC Cards or Key Rings from you in the past, seeing as you’re always banging on about them. But until this NFC technology becomes compatible with iPhones, I’m not remotely interested. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m having a private chat with my Grandmother, so I’ll say goodbye for now.”
Hmm.
Well, I could certainly sympathise with this viewpoint.
Although that didn’t stop me from having a little chat with Wonky Alan’s Grandmother and eventually taking an order for 500 NFC Cards of her own.
She’s got a keen eye for business, that one.
But even if you don’t currently own an NFC-enabled Smartphone, or you’re worried that some of your audience won’t be able to access your exclusive digital features and functions with their incompatible iPhones, it’s still a very bad idea to shut the door completely on this winning new marketing tool.
I’ll explain why in just a moment…
But firstly, if you’re particularly frustrated about Apple’s current lack of support for NFC Technology, let’s take a quick look at those exciting new rumours which suggest that NFC-compatible iPhones are finally on the horizon…
According to various officially unconfirmed sources – some of which are allegedly very close to Apple – the next generation of iPhones will most definitely be equipped with NFC technology.
This follows on from a leaked entry in a reputable online database which seems to indicate that ‘4G Lte Nano Nfc Sim Cards’ are now in development.
Don’t worry if that all sounds a bit too much like technical gobbledygook.
Essentially, these NFC Sim Cards are only ever used in NFC-compatible Smartphones, whilst the ‘nano’ term strongly suggests that the Smartphone in question will be an upcoming version of the Apple iPhone.
All these hushed whispers are backed up by older but perhaps stronger evidence which revealed that early prototype units for the Apple iPhone 5.1 and the Apple iPhone 5.2 both included NFC support.
The signals are certainly looking very promising indeed.
It has to be said that Apple has something of a reputation for taking a long, long time to embrace any new technology that they didn’t actually invent themselves, no matter how much business sense it might make.
In this case, they may be getting ready to join the party a little late – about two years late if we’re counting – but they certainly have the power to really propel NFC Business Marketing into the mainstream for the first time.
So, why should you be cooking up your own NFC Marketing strategy as soon as possible?
Do you really need a set of customised NFC Business Cards or Key Rings if you can’t even use them on your own iPhone yet?
At the moment, NFC Marketing is still a relatively new concept, largely undiscovered by the wider world.
Any pioneering business owner who is already experimenting with this creative new tool still has the power to take his or her audience by surprise with a slice of NFC Marketing magic.
But if and when Apple jumps aboard with a range of NFC-enabled iPhones, this innovative marketing tool is rapidly going to sky-rocket in popularity.
So, it will naturally be a smart step for the forward-thinking business owner to ensure that they’re already prepared for the next big trend, and not a single opportunity has been missed by arriving slightly later on the scene than your competitors…
Even if you’re concerned that you won’t be able to encode your NFC Marketing products yourself as you don’t currently own a compatible phone, it’s worth bearing in mind that the Martin Print team can happily encode your full sets of custom-crafted NFC Business Cards and Key Rings on your behalf.
It’s also worth remembering that even if you don’t own a NFC-enabled Smartphone yourself, a big chunk of your target audience certainly will.
For the best of both worlds, I would always recommend including a QR Code in your design, so that everyone’s a winner;
Your recipients with NFC-enabled Smartphones can unlock the digital content with a single tap, whilst those users with older or incompatible phones can still access similar content by scanning the QR Code.
If you’re still relatively new to the concept of NFC marketing, then check out the Martin Print Quick Guide to NFC for further information, quick tips on encoding, and a general look at the options available.
It’s actually much easier and far less scary than you might imagine…
But in the meantime, I’ll look forward to seeing you at the NFC Party.
Just try not to be late.
Oh, and it might be an idea to bring your own drinks…
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