QR Code Overview

There are many people that haven’t heard of QR Codes, but the number of people who are in that bucket is becoming increasingly less.  For those who have heard of QR Codes, there are many that just don’t understand what they are.  The intent of this blog post is to help clarify what QR Codes are, and how they could potentially be used to help your business.

By definition (and quoted from Wikipedia), a QR Code (Quick Response Code) is “a type of matrix barcode (or two-dimensional code) first designed for the automotive industry. More recently, the system has become popular outside of the industry due to its fast readability and comparatively large storage capacity. The code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on a white background. The information encoded can be made up of any kind of data (e.g., binary, alphanumeric, or Kanji symbols).”¹

What does this mean?  It means that you can generate a custom barcode that allows everyday users (with the appropriate technology) to scan and get information about you, your business, a promotion, etc.  You can “embed” information such as phone numbers, text, emails, unique website pages, and more within a QR Code, which makes your marketing opportunities virtually limitless, with the exception of not being fully accepted by everyone.

With every great technology comes some risk and hesitation, however.  Remember that since you can put in URLs to website pages, etc. that the QR Code could potentially lead you to a malicious website that has a script that hacks your phone (for example).  While this probably is a low-level risk, it’s something to be aware and conscience of nonetheless.

Requirements for using QR Codes

There are no technical requirements for setting up a QR Code, outside of having an internet connection, and the ability to do a Google search.  If you Google you can see how easy it is to find a resource that allows you to generate them.  As mentioned, you can include text, URL’s, phone numbers and more.  The only major technical requirement is on the user side of things (your customers).  They are required to have a QR Code reader, which is in the form of a qr code reader app for smartphones.  If your customer demographics excludes the use of smartphones on a larger level, then this probably won’t be the best marketing tool for you (this is not a 100% certain statement; you can only find out the viability of these solutions by testing it out).

Ways to Use QR Codes

As mentioned, I’m going to give you a couple simple examples for how you could use QR Codes in your business.  These probably will not be revolutionary examples, but I really just want to start generating ideas for how you, as a business, business owner, etc., can stay on top of some newer marketing tools.

Example 1:  Digital Business Card

Are you in the business of giving out and receiving a lot of business cards?  Do you find yourself having to try and log in hundreds of new cards per month?  Per week?  Or perhaps even per day?  A great way to reduce your filing efforts can be done by creating a digital version of your business card via a QR Code.  For example, take a look at the QR Code image to the left; it contains my (Kyle Faber) business contact information.

If you, as the end user, has the capabilities to scan a QR Code with your phone, you can have my information stored quickly and easily using this technology.  Conversely, you can apply this tactic with your potential contacts as well, thereby increasing the percentage of possibly having your information added into their contact list for future recall (as compared to forgetting about it, the card getting lost, etc.).

Example 2:  Specialty Coupons

Running specials, promotions, and sales is an long-used tactic for increasing traffic to one’s business and ultimately, increasing brand awareness and sales.  Integrating these efforts with QR Codes, regardless of whether your sales are taken online, offline or both, is a great way to heighten the effectiveness of those efforts.

So, how do you do this?  Functionally, it’s relatively simple.  Create a new QR code that contains a coupon code, or a URL to a page on your website.  Share that QR Code via your social media networks, such as Facebook or Twitter, or post up a table tent, for example, inside your store.  People will scan the code, retrieve the URL or coupon code, and redeem accordingly.  If this effort is tied directly into making a sale, not only will you be able to potentially increase your sales (with relatively little effort), but you will also be able to track and infer whether your efforts are successful, and improve or revise accordingly.

Example 3:  QR Codes for driving Social Awareness

So, here’s an interesting one – how do you increase your brand awareness and other business goals (such as increasing sales) in a social setting (a.k.a. Facebook, Twitter, etc.)?  First, you must have those properties established and you MUST be actively maintaining them.  I won’t get into creating social media strategies right now, that’s what hiring us and our partners is for, but I will tell you that just because you tell people to “Like” you on Facebook, doesn’t mean it’s actually going to do anything for you.

Ultimately, if your goal is brand awareness, you will be able to pull and analyze metrics such as “Likes”, “re-tweets”, “shares” and more to see if your friends and followers are paying attention to you.  If your goal is increasing leads or sales, then you’re going to need to get a little more creative.

If your goal is the latter, then we would recommend integrating QRs with your site instead, as that’s where a great deal of your best information will probably reside, and there is no sense in putting extra steps between the sale and your customers (a.k.a. sending them to Facebook only then to send them to your site).

If your goal is to increase brand awareness, however, then it makes complete sense to send them to a social setting where they will feel comfortable, and be able to easily return to (social media is constantly changing, probably more so than your website, and thus will typically have a higher interaction rate).

So to accomplish this, we recommend that you create a new Facebook canvas app, and a new custom page tab to house that canvas app.  Basically, the canvas will contain whatever information you wish it to, via an external HTML file or web page.  You can put in graphics that may direct higher “Like” conversion rates, you may stream in a custom view of your product catalog, or maybe even a fun interactive quiz.

Either way, it’s all about engaging your users, in an easy and “non-sales-y way” (think of it like a first date; you don’t want to come on too strong).  Use the QR Codes to drive traffic to your social media profile and then engage them with interesting, interactive, and possibly even some fun things.

Summary

This type of marketing won’t necessarily be effective for everyone, however, it’s always important to stay up to date on all the new ways you can connect with your current and potential customers, so there’s not problem in testing it out.

Here’s a list of pros and cons, just in case you were still wondering:

Pros

• QR stands for “quick response”, and can help you get just that, a quick response from your users
• QR Codes are a unique and interesting way to get interaction from your users; people like interesting when it comes to interaction with businesses (this is a general statement, it probably won’t apply to everyone)
• QRs can make it easier for people to save information about you, your business, or promotions that are being run.  Ease is key and a definite advantage when trying to communicate with your customers – take advantage of it