How QR Codes work and how you could use them in your marketing
Scan this QR code to be taken to my homepage
What is a QR code?
You may well have seen QR codes (QR stands for Quick Response) and you also may wonder exactly what they’re for, how you can use them, or how you get one.
Well, just in case you’re not familiar with them, a QR code is a type of two-dimensional bar code, except it carries a lot more detail than a barcode and is more versatile. And here, on the right is an example of a QR code – this one simply links to the homepage of my site.
A QR code is typically scanned by someone using their smartphone. They do this using an app on their phone – for example, I use “QRReader” on the iPhone, available for free in the App Store. Scanning the QR code can take users to some sort of electronic resource such as a webpage or a vcard (a type of electronic business card).
What can a QR code do?
A QR code can be used in print media (like flyers, brochures etc) or on a website (like my example here). As well as sending you to a website or a vcard, you can also send users to any of the following:
- A phone number (which they can dial immediately, or save, using their smartphone)
- A piece of text (which they can save in the note-keeping app on their phone)
- A geographic location (which they can then use in a mapping or GPS app)
- An email address (their phone will then open up a new email to that address)
- An SMS code (allowing them to send an SMS text message to that number – for example, for a competition)
- A link to download an iPhone App – to do this simply link to http://itunes.com/apps/appname (replace ‘appname’ with the name of your app obviously! This will also only work on an iPhone of course)
Now of course, adding a QR code to your website is not all that revolutionary. After all, if you’ve got a customer on your website, it’s always been easy to send them to another website anyway – that’s what links do! So you never really need one on a website (unless like me you’re writing a blog post about them), but in print media, QR codes really come in to their own.In the past, if you gave out flyers or brochures at an exhibition, you had to include your web address on them, and just hope that people remembered to look at your website later. And invariably, they forgot.
QR codes change that – they allow your customers to move from offline to online almost instantly. That allows you to capture people’s interest while you’ve got it and get them to take some sort of action before they forget.
How QR codes are being used
Here are just some of the good ways that I’ve seen QR codes used in the last year or so:
- At an exhibition, a QR code next to each product, taking you through to a webpage with full details of that product.
- Estate agents increasingly use QR codes next to property details in their window, so people walking past out of office hours can scan the code to see the property online.
- A QR code on a business card – scanning it allows you to quickly upload their contact details straight in to the contacts section of your smartphone.
How to get a QR code
Getting a QR code is easy, and usually free. Just search for “QR code generator” on Google and you’ll find plenty of sites where you can generate a QR code for free. Be careful though, because there are some sites out there that generate a QR code for free but will incorporate an advert in to the process, which will be seen by people scanning your code. This looks a bit tacky and should be avoided.
I recommend delivr but there are many good sites out there generating ad-free QR codes. To find out if you’re dealing with a reputable one, simply generate a code and do a few test scans with your own phone to see if you see any ads.
Another way of generating codes is through the code reader app on your phone. As mentioned above, I use QRReader for iPhone, and this generates codes very easily.
Some QR code mistakes to avoid
QR code useage is on the increase. I see more of them all the time, and I can’t help but look at what companies are using them for out of professional curiosity. Here are some mistakes I have seen recently:
- Linking them to pages that require a Flash Reader – given the popularity of the iPhone and the iPad, this is a bad move, because Apple devices won’t display Flash.
- Printing QR codes straight on to a black background – they need a certain amount of white space around them to be scanned correctly. Without this, they are completely useless.
- Broken links or obsolete web pages – this mistake is surprisingly common.
All of the above mistakes can be avoided by testing. If you don’t have a smartphone yourself, you surely will know someone at home or in your office who does. Borrow one if you have to, with a free QR Reader app, and double check that your QR code actually works, before you go to the expense of printing.
Give QR codes a try
The only way to find out if QR codes will work for your marketing is to give them a try. It’s still early days, and an estimated two thirds of consumers don’t know what they are according to a recent survey so if you’re targeting an audience that’s not very tech-savvy, you may be as well to avoid them.
Otherwise though, QR cards are growing fast in popularity and have every chance of becoming part of the mainstream, so give them a try as part of your marketing communications and see how successful offline marketing can be in driving people to your website.