QR Codes in Marketing

QR Codes might be all the rage today, but this is a technology that’s been around for years and years. The advent and rapid adoption of smartphones have transformed this once, strictly utilitarian tool into another highly useful marketing tactic.

Learn more about QR Codes. Start with an history lesson with QR Codes at Wikipedia.

QR is short for Quick Response. While these 2-dimensional bar codes have been used in inventory management applications, they now help customers get connected to the information they seek using smartphones.

How QR Codes work with smartphones:

If you have the latest and greatest smartphone, chances are quite good that your phone has two required components:

1. A camera
2. A scanner application. Be sure to check that your scanner software can read more than UPC codes in the grocery store. If you’re not certain you can get a QR code reader – usually for free – in the iTunes Store, the Android Marketplace or by searching for a QR Code Reader. My preference is the NeoReader.

Marketers can create QR Codes for (FREE) using any one of the QR Code Generators found around the Internet. I prefer Kaywa QR Code Generator. QR Codes interact with a smartphone by telling the phone to do one of the following:

• Open the phone’s web browser and enter web page address
• Open the phone’s dialer and enter a phone number
• Send a text message to get more information
• Deliver contact information like an email address, street address, phone number, or more.

How QR Codes and Smartphones work together:

A smartphone and a QR code interact to provide information to the user. The QR code can deliver a text message, open the phone’s dialer with

Savvy marketers realize consumers are constantly on the go. They have had their mobile phones surgically attached to their hands. And, QR codes open up new opportunities for customer engagement.

Consider how various industries have utilized QR codes to connect with their customers:

QR Codes have obvious and immediate application for real estate professionals, FSBO’s, and more. For instance, potential home buyers who scan a QR code on a sign-rider might receive detailed information about a home or they might be able to schedule a viewing with one simple click.

With home builders or construction contractors, QR codes might be used to send smartphone users to a project-specific blog about with before and after photos, job stories, etc.

QR Codes can also be used in tradeshow and home shows. Rather than receive business cards or contact cards in a fishbowl, invite visitors to your booth to scan your QR Code to enter a sweepstakes, to sign up for email messaging or to request literature by mail. This process keeps contact data purely digital and eliminates transcribing handwritten forms after the event.

QR Code

QR Codes can be printed used on:

• Signs
• Billboards
• Brochures
• Business cards
• Clothing
• Temporary tattoos
• Vehicle graphics. One of our clients uses these on his van (see image at right).

An ideal application for QR Codes is to integrate them with mobile websites. An improper usage would be to connect visitors to a full website that might cause them to download large files, images, etc. Instead, send smartphone users to your mobile website where they can obtain your contact info, phone number, driving directions, hours of operation and more.

If you have questions or would like us to help you with QR Codes and a mobile website for your business, please contact us today! (Just scan the QR Code at the top of this post.)

Regards,

Mike

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