QR Codes – What You Need to Know

January 16, 2012

Seen those fuzzy little symbols on products and packaging, and have no idea what they are?

Well, they’re called Quick Response Codes or QR Codes (if you’re a cool kid) and when scanned with a smart phone app, they bring up additional information or enable interaction in order to convert to sales. Basically, they’re another way for marketers to market, and, they provide a platform to measure consumer behaviour.

They’re popping up all over the place at the moment – some companies are using QR Codes well – Account Director Jasmin, during her recent trip to the USA noted that American Universities are using QR Codes on their bus shelter/billboard advertising – when scanned they produced University library tours, and others – not so well; we recently scanned a real state ‘For Sale’ sign and it offered nothing more than photos that were already on the sign. In order to take advantage of QR Codes, the agent could have included an internal floor plan; recent sales around the area; additional photos, and upcoming inspection times. Aside from ‘selling’ the property even more by providing this information, doing so would also have saved the agent time by not having to provide that same information to interested buyers over email/phone.

QR Codes can be used to direct people to social media sites to encourage likes/follows; to deliver gift discount vouchers direct to the customer at anytime, recommend complementary products to encourage further sales; link to platforms such as YouTube to provide event previews and interactive content, and can even be used on business cards to link to websites and LinkedIn profiles. And that’s just the beginning.

Like many aspects of interactive media, QR Codes might not be appropriate for all businesses, and adopting them without understanding the potential advantages for the consumer, will do little more than annoy your customers and potential customers.

QR Codes are gaining popularity with savvy marketers, so if you want to know more, be sure to get in touch!

QR Codes - What you need to know