Many companies today are successfully engaging customers in all aspects of social media. From Facebook to Twitter to YouTube, these interactive channels are making it easy to meet customers halfway. Social media gets a positive response because it entertains as well as informs, and one of the newest forms of this interaction can be found in QR codes. These codes—short for quick response codes—allow businesses to provide customers with a new way to access information.
So how do companies get the most out of QR codes and debunk the myth that the technology is dying out? The key is to intelligently incorporate interactive marketing techniques with print ads and utilise cross media marketing strategies. In this way, not only do customers become more interactive with your business, but they become another online source for potential positive feedback and word of mouth to their friends, family and colleagues.
In addition to enabling businesses to capitalise on print ads seen by customers in the real world, QR codes create online interaction with those customers with a simple scan of a barcode and the press of a button. Now you have customers engaging with your ad physically and simultaneously viewing various links on your website that your QR code has directed them to – we don’t need to mention how great this is for SEO and organic search results.
A business that does not recognise the value of creating a fully encompassing print marketing campaign is in danger of being left behind as the rest of the world gravitates more and more towards online media each day. The more interaction you have with your customers in both the real world and online, the more likely they will be to develop a longstanding, loyal relationship with your business that proves profitable for years to come.
Let’s look at the various functions QR codes can perform:
10 rules to remember when creating a QR code print marketing campaign:
1. Assist consumer in the use of the QR code
2. Drive to a mobile friendly page
3. Be wary of cell reception
4. Add value to the consumer
5. Track the performance of your codes
6. Test offers and landing pages
7. Make the promotion unique, creative and entertaining
8. Test the codes in the field
9. Keep the links fresh and accurate
10. Consider your print ad placement
In order to use a QR code successfully, it’s important that potential customers have an incentive for scanning – go back to the points listed above as well as the various functions QR codes can perform to give you an idea. The sky is the limit, and we strongly suggest, as any advertiser would, that you study your customers to find out what their interests, what they want, how they interact, when and where they are likely to engage with your campaigns, etc.
Ensure that you place your ads in a suitable environment where customers have the time or means to scan your mobile barcode. Users are much more likely to scan barcodes in a restaurant or window shopping setting than if you have had your codes printed on a moving car. Also ensure that there is a direct link between the QR code and the resulting page – after scanning, your customer should end up on the exact page, product or promotion you’d like – we are in an era of instant gratification and you cannot afford to lose customers by wasting their time or being ambiguous.
