It’s the Tech News Tuesday #TNT roundup. Here’s a summary of useful news we found for you during July.
How do you market to millennials?
Spending power is shifting to millennials as purchasers and influencers. There are now more Millennials (now 18-33) than Baby Boomers (age 50-68). Millennials adopt technology 2.5 times faster than previous generations, and have an average income of $61,000. They want two-way communication with brands and value experiences.
Do you know the demographics of your customers and prospects? Millennials grew up with technology and expect information to be at their fingertips. Are you using your online presence to reach them? A mobile-friendly website and an editorial calendar is a great place to start. We can help.
What ‘Chip’ Cards Mean for Business Payments
October is the deadline for merchants to upgrade their credit card readers to accept ‘chip-card’ technology. Also called EMV, this technology is more secure than the magnetic strip on the back of a credit card. If your business can’t accept a chip card, liability for fraud shifts to you after October.
Since you must upgrade your hardware anyway, make sure you look into a device that also supports near field communication (NFC) technology. This can give you the ability to also accept mobile payments like Apple Pay. Now is also a good time to check out newer payment processors like Square and PayPal. They may be a more cost-effective option than traditional merchant accounts for many businesses.
Review Sites You Should Track and Manage
If you are in the hospitality industry (hotel, restaurant, B&B, local attraction, entertainment venue), reviews are now the number one driver of consumers’ decision making process.Read on for which sites you should be actively monitoring in this industry.
Read more about it in this post on reviewtrackers.com.
Do you have a process in place for getting more online reviews and monitoring them? Start by claiming your business on these sites and asking your customers to submit reviews. Make sure you get a steady, consistent volume of reviews. Review sites tend to discount sporadic, batches of reviews as fake reviews.
Get Your Business on the Map
On July 28th Google will begin removing “inactive” or “unclaimed” Google local pages. They are doing this in an effort to improve the users experience as business pages without owners may have inaccurate data. A verified Google business listing is one of the best ways to get found in local search.
Read more about it here.
