What signage does a tag need next to it?
Enough to answer three questions before anyone touches it: that something is there at all, what tapping will do, and what they get for it. A tag is invisible and silent, so without signage it is not a deployment, it is a hidden object.
Three questions, in order
Is something here? Nobody taps a surface that looks like a surface.
What will happen? People decline unknown actions on their own phone, and reasonably so.
Is it worth it? An action with no stated benefit competes with doing nothing, and doing nothing usually wins.
Signage that answers only the first produces curiosity and few taps. Signage that answers all three is a short sentence and does the whole job.
Announcing it exists
A visible target where the tag is, so the person knows where as well as whether.
A contactless symbol is widely recognised from payment and carries the idea of touching a phone without any words.
The sign can be larger and higher than the tag. Announce at eye level, tap at hand level, and connect the two with an arrow or a line if the distance is more than a hand's width.
In a visually noisy shop, competing with existing signage matters more than the design of the tag itself.
Saying what happens
Say the outcome rather than the mechanism. "See the full ingredients" is better than "NFC enabled".
Use the word hold rather than scan. Scan sends people looking for a camera, and hold describes the gesture that actually works.
Say it takes a second, because the objection is usually about time rather than interest.
And avoid explaining the technology. Nobody standing in a shop wants to know what NFC is, and the explanation is where the sign loses them.
Saying what it is worth
Name the thing they get. A price, a size guide, a recipe, a manual, a review.
Be specific enough that someone can decide. "More information" gives them nothing to weigh, and everyone believes there is more information.
Do not promise what the page does not deliver, since a tap that disappoints is worse than no tag: it teaches that your tags are not worth using.
And add the printed address in small type, which serves everyone whose phone will not tap and costs a line.
Frequently asked questions
Is a contactless symbol enough on its own?
It answers where and not why. Adding a few words about what they get is what turns curiosity into a tap.
Should the sign explain NFC?
No. Say what happens and what they get. The technology is not what a shopper is deciding about.
Scan or tap or hold?
Hold. Scan implies a camera and sends people looking for a code, and tap invites a gesture too brief to read.
Can the sign be away from the tag?
It can announce from higher up, and something must show exactly where to hold the phone. Connect the two visually if they are apart.