Qrazy for QR codes!
3pop.com QR Code
If you’d like to share printed information quickly, without burdening others with the task of transcribing your information into their phones, contact lists, and browsers, you might want to get familiar with QR (quick response) codes. Created by Toyota back in 1994, they were first used to track auto part shipments. They’ve seen widespread use in the far East and recently they’ve begun catching on here in the West. They’re quickly gaining popularity in marketing circles for their ability to hard link printed materials to online content using smartphones. You can do a lot more with these little 2-d codes than track auto parts though. Here are some basic examples–you can:
- Share your contact information with others (great for business cards)
- Share website addresses that will automatically open a browser window on the website
- Share phone numbers that will automatically dial a call
- Generate preformatted text and email messages that can instantly be sent to the recipient of choice
- Share GPS location information for instant lookups using online mapping services
- Encode plain text messages for a variety of things, like providing:
- Details regarding products or services
- Details regarding offers or sales
- Details regarding upcoming events or activities
- Details regarding competitions or promotions
- Coupons or raffle information
- Social network information such as Twitter or Facebook names and addresses
- Access to customer loyalty programs
We’ll talk briefly below about a few other ideas for QR codes that you might find interesting but first, if you’re going to get “qracking” with QR codes, you’ll to need two things: a code generator and a code scanner. Let’s start with the code generator. If you’ll look below you’ll find a simple QR code generator to help you get started. It can of create simple QR codes for your contact information, website addresses, and brief plain text messages. If you want to save the codes you generate just right-click and select the correct option to save it locally. (You may have to refresh the page in your web browser if you want to create more codes.) If you’d like to find some other online QR code generators out there just Google it!
Now let’s talk about QR scanners. By far the most popular uses for QR codes revolve around smartphones. We won’t go through the dozens of QR scanners available for all the smartphones on the market. Just know that if you have a smartphone with a camera, there’s a scanner out there for you. Visit your phone’s application market and search for the keyword “QR”–you’re bound to find an app that suits you. Most are free, but if you do pay for one you’ll only be out a few dollars. For what it’s worth, there are two in particular (at least for the iPhone) that are feature-rich and seem to work more consistently than others: OptiScan and QuickMark. Check them out. Different scanners often yield slightly different results even when scanning the same QR codes. You’ll just have to experiment a bit and find one that works best for you. Most scanners will do several things for you automatically, such as:
- Import contact information directly into your phone
- Open web pages on your phone
- Generate pre-populated text and email messages ready to be sent
- Pull up maps to specified locations
- Initiate phone calls
- Allow you to save the code to your phone or into your contact list for future reference or additional sharing
Some scanner apps (including the ones we mentioned above) also let you create your own codes using contacts in your address book or by manually entering information to be encoded. Once created, the codes can be saved with your photos or emailed to others. This is a particularly handy feature that allows you to generate codes on the fly without the use of web-based QR code generators.
There are many good resources out there that provide comprehensive information on QR codes, what they are, and what they can be used for (just Google “qr codes” if you’d like to browse several million results). Here however, we’ll just provide a few brief possibilities for QR codes to stimulate a little thought on their potential, for instance:
- Business cards and marketing materials: This is perhaps the most obvious application but it’s also one of the best. Transcribing business card information into your contact list is inconvenient and sometimes forgotten. QR codes provide a convenient way to make sure others can easily absorb your contact info. Also, if you have a gifted business card designer, they can even integrate a transparent image of your logo over the QR code itself. Further, the possibilities for imprinting QR codes on marketing materials are vast. Qurify a hat, a frisbee, a coffee cup, a t-shirt, notepads, bumper stickers, windows signs, vehicle wraps, and on, and on, and on…
- Get money!: If you’re familiar with online payment services such as PayPal, then you know you can send or receive money via text message. Why not embed that in a QR code? If you scan the QR code to the right you’ll queue up a text message that will send $5.00 to 3pop! (Scan it if you like, but don’t send it unless you’re feeling particularly generous today;)
- Sell real estate using on the spot virtual home tours: Slap a big QR code on the realtor’s sign in front of the property for sale linking to a YouTube video featuring the interior of the home. The potential buyer can view the video while standing in front of the home even if the realtor isn’t available for a showing.
- Get liked and tweeted more: The correct QR code can become a Facebook like or Twitter tweet in a jiff.
- Track the effectiveness of your latest marketing campaign or materials: Google has a very interesting new site (http://goo.gl) featuring a URL shortener that includes QR code generation. Simply visit the site, enter your URL and use the resulting QR code to promote your efforts. The twist is this: every visit generated from the QR code is recorded by Google and the statistical information about those visits is presented for your use. Simply put, if you want to know how effective specific marketing campaigns or materials are, then slap a Goo.gl QR code on them and watch the numbers–they won’t lie.
- Augment your direct mail, greeting, and thank you card campaigns: Let’s say you’re a photographer and you have a large portfolio that you’d like to use to promote your talents. It’s not economical to launch a direct mail campaign containing the entire portfolio, however you could send out a single photo with a conspicuous QR code printed in the corner that would send the recipient to your entire online portfolio. Similarly, a realtor could send out a card containing information on a single property with a QR code on it that would send the recipient to an entire collection of homes in a similar price range or in the same zip code.
- Track attendance at events and/or earn loyalty rewards: Have your attendees sign up online for your event and then print out the QR code that is created when they register. When they arrive with their “ticket” you scan it and automatically register their attendance to an online database, building up your leads for future events and promotional activities or perhaps earning them credit for use in some type of loyalty program. And don’t forget about the trove of information you can gather when participants sign up for events–that’s direct marketing gold!
Send $5.00 to 3pop via PayPal
In summary, QR codes are essentially real world links to online content. They bridge the “transcription gap” and provide new opportunities for driving commerce in your direction. All it takes is a little creativity to make them work for you and your business. Get in touch with us and we’ll help you brainstorm about how this increasingly popular two-dimensional gadget can benefit you and your business. Call us today and let us help you get qurified!
