QR Code and Mobile Marketing Q&A

We’ve all seen them and they are gaining popularity quickly. Known as QR codes, those small, black and white patterned squares that appear on packaging, flyers, posters and even TV, and provide a fantastic way to draw people to your website. Here are a few common questions and answers which may help you to best decide how QR codes could benefit your own marketing methods.

What?

QR Codes are a modern take on the traditional barcode found on most products in the supermarket. However, the patterns of squares allow for extra information to be embedded providing a great opportunity to reach out and connect with customers.

When scanned, the code should automatically direct the customer to a mobile-optimised webpage which provides them with additional information about your products and services. You can also give the person a quick and easy way to contact you or to share the information with their friends.

Scan this QR code with your smartphone to access the mobile version of this webpage

Scan this QR code with your smartphone to access the mobile version of this webpage

How?

When scanned with a smartphone (Android, iPhones and Windows phones all support QR code scanning), the user is generally directed to a special mobile webpage or provided with a simple text message. There are many QR scanning apps available for free in the Android marketplace and Apple App Store to help customers access the info.

The QR code on the right contains an embedded URL for this webpage – if you scan it with your smartphone now, you will see a mobile-optimised version of this blog post. Try it!

If you don’t have an app installed yet, you can try QR Pal for Android, or Scan for iPhone/iPad.

Why?

QR Codes act like a traditional webpage URL although you don’t need to rely on someone remembering or typing your website address – a process which is fraught with problems and errors. Instead they just snap the code and their smartphone does the hard work for them.

QR codes are also incredibly space-efficient, requiring a very small space on your corporate literature yet potentially providing access to far more information than can be fit on a single page. It is possible to create coloured versions with custom designs, but the standard monochrome output is simple, efficient and very cheap to reproduce.

Is it expensive?

No. There are a number of online QR code generators which allow you to create your own downloadable images for free. You can then use the codes on your websites, email signature, printed materials and beyond.

QR codes are also completely free for your customers to scan. Although paid-for QR scanners exist in the various mobile app stores, they offer nothing over their free counterparts. You should consider offering some basic instructions on use of QR codes as you deploy them however to ensure the highest level of customer take up.

What do I need?

Aside from a QR code creator, (QRStuff.com has a great tool for creating custom codes), you need to have a mobile-optimised webpage. There are many ways of achieving this depending on your existing website set-up including smartphone-targeted templates or a completely separate mobile site. If you are confident in your coding skills several excellent tutorials are available (remember, Google is your friend). Otherwise you should probably seek professional advice.

If you are going to use QR codes for serious marketing purposes you should also consider the need for gathering analytical data to see just how well the campaign is working and to help decide where it needs improvement. QR-Reactor offers a comprehensive tracking and analysis suite, not unlike Google Analytics, which provides a vast amount of useful information on each and every code that is scanned by your customers.

Do you want to know more? Do you want to know how your business could use QR Codes effectively? Drop us a line!