QR Codes: capture more customers with bar-code marketing

You may have seen the funny little black and white dotted boxes on print advertisements, posters, for sale signs direct mail pieces, etc. They are called Quick Response (QR) codes and they are becoming very popular with businesses and with customers who want information- fast. According to Scanbuy, a mobile marketing company, QR code usage grew 600% between Q2 2010 and Q2 2011.

QR codes are basically interactive bar codes which can be scanned by a smartphone or camera phone and drive people to your website or to any other place you want them to land. There are numerous free apps for QR code readers and it is simple to download one on your smartphone.

The QR code is programmed to take the customer to wherever you choose- your website, your Facebook page, wherever you think is best for your particular business. If you are a car dealership, for example, your QR code placed in a print advertisement when scanned could immediately take your potential customer to your general website or to your “deals” of that week. What you are looking for is a quick response to your advertising so you might want to consider offering a discount or something free to entice scanners.

The options are endless and it is neither difficult nor costly to create QR codes. At GA Voice, our sales team has QR codes for our media kit on their business cards. There are plenty of sites that offer QR code creation services and most are free. Be wary of those sites offering marketing services as you really don’t need to pay for something you are completely capable of doing yourself.

To decide if you want to get in the QRC game, scan a few QR codes yourself and see what the experience is like. Become familiar with the medium before you take the plunge.