Be Smart With Your Smart Phone Advertising: QR Codes Gone Right…and Wrong
December 15, 2011
QR codes are a quick and convenient way to transfer information to smart phones (or any digital device with a reader). The information encoded might direct users to a website URL, add contact details, offer special discounts and much more. They are often seen in
magazines and on posters and flyers, where details on an event or product can be transferred. More specialized codes involve supplying extra details on name tags and business cards, free content, menus and more. Either way, they make for some fun interaction.
During a recent business trip, I came across a few QR codes advertising various businesses. Upon study of these QR codes, I noted ones that were genius in their use and ones that, well, weren’t. Let’s go over a few do’s and don’ts when it comes to using a QR code in your marketing campaigns.
1. Be visible…literally. QR codes should be incorporated into most digital and traditional media so the consumer has 360-degree exposure to the mobile campaign. However, putting a tiny QR code on a billboard might not be the best use of your mobile marketing for a couple of reasons. First, if your QR code is too small for your mobile device to scan from a distance, you will only confuse and frustrate your audience. More importantly, drivers are bombarded with advertising on the road; why risk causing an accident while your potential customer frantically tries to scan your billboard sign while driving down the highway? Best practice? For outdoor ads, place the code at eye or arm level. In print, the barcode should not fall over a fold and have some white space around it. On TV or on screens such as movie theater screens, be sure you’re leaving the code up long enough for the consumer to launch their scanning application and scan the code. There’s nothing worse as a consumer to be interested in a product, scramble for your phone to scan a QR code, and miss the opportunity to learn more because your phone was playing hide-and-seek.
2. Compel your customers to interact. Giveaways, discounts, free tickets and exclusive access will encourage your customers to interact with and scan your code. If your code simply offers the customer a chance to view a TV commercial or links to a website, you’ll have a hard time getting any action from anyone but your already loyal customers. Your code should provide a new customer with a brand experience that is exclusive, dynamic and interactive.
3. Make it useful. Boost sales, increase customer engagement, build brand loyalty, or educate your audience. Whatever the campaign objective, be sure to define its goals before integrating a QR code. For example, at a mall in Ohio, I came across a giant QR code on a large directory display. When I scanned it, I realized it was a take-along directory of the mall, enabling me to easily locate my favorite stores without having to walk all the way back to the directory display. It was genius. It was USEFUL. If the intention of your QR code is simply to take someone to your website, then make a landing page or other interactive feature for your site that has a purpose for the curious consumer. Most of all, make sure your QR code works. “Dead links” (codes that go nowhere or deliver the wrong information) are the equivalent of a slammed door — the consumer will not try again.
There are endless possibilities with QR code advertising. It’s affordable, it’s easy and most of all, it marries multiple types of traditional advertising with new and emerging technology. The most important thing to remember when asking customers to use their smart phones to interact with you is to be smart yourself. After all, you wouldn’t want to end up in a study on what not to do, would you?
