A Quick Response Code, or QR code for short, had its beginnings in Japan in 1994. It was where automobile companies first used it to store information about various items.
And due to its capability to contain larger volumes of data, it soon gained traction outside the industry too.
Brands quickly made good use of this, too, to engage customers and offer them discounts and special promos through QR codes. Through those codes, they were also able to gather information about their customers and potential consumers. With this, they experienced a sales pipeline boost. You can also use an affordable CRM software to manage your sales, projects, team, clients, and marketing on a single platform.
However, there is more to QR Codes than black-and-white images and promotions. Below, we discuss some of the reasons why your business should think about integrating QR Codes into your operations.
Also read: All About QR Codes
1. To create actionable and measurable media
Traditional advertising media abounds wherever we are–billboards, newspapers, pamphlets, brochures, and many others.
While it can catch the attention of numerous people, it is not exactly actionable and there is no way for the marketers to gauge its effectiveness when it comes to engagement.
Enter QR codes. While you need to generate these digitally, it does not mean that they are confined to digital spaces. Brands, like Target and Walmart, are capitalizing this to engage customers while inside their stores.
They entice people to scan the codes to access promotions and special discounts.
Whenever an individual scans your code, you can see this reflected in the dashboard of your QR code generator software. It will also tell you the date, location, and device associated with the scans. This way, you can determine where most of your engaged audience members are and their device preferences, which can aid you in strategizing for future marketing campaigns.
2. To spread visual marketing and brand information
When you see QR codes, do you only see black and white ones? In that case, how did you react? Did you act on it or did you just pass by it? If your answer is the latter, it may have affected the way you perceive QR codes especially when it comes to marketing.
However, codes do not have to be bland and unattractive. Take for example the visually appealing specimens created by Stupid, a UK-based advertising agency. In a campaign for Apple to increase the app downloads of Angry Birds, Instagram, and Shazam, they generated QR codes using pigs and bricks, photos, and speakers, respectively.
In 2011, Stupid, a UK-based advertising network, produced unique QR codes for Apple for apps like Angry Birds, Instagram, and Shazam.
Even if you do not have the budget for codes like the ones created by Stupid, you can still have your own unique codes. You can count on a dynamic QR code generator in this regard. While they commonly produce normal black-and-white codes, you can customize the settings so that you can communicate your brand even before your audience scans the QR code.
Have you ever thought to combine QR codes and multimedia content? If you are an SMB on a tight marketing budget, you can take advantage of this tool to lead potential consumers to your website or social media pages where they can find engaging content. It can be an audio, video, or moving image or GIF.
When you have a trustworthy QR code generator, you can produce ones each time you have targeted content that you want to share with members of your audience.
But you may wonder, why should you use QR codes when you can simply share links? Plus, you can track links, too.
While that is true, QR codes can bridge the offline and online. Even if you generate short URLs and publish them on traditional print media, people may not have the time or patience to enter it into their browsers. Scannable codes are more convenient because customers can just launch an app and read the code. If you wish to lead them to a web page, the code scanner will automatically take the audience there.
4. To provide directions to brick-and-mortar locations
There are moments when shoppers would rather go to a brick-and-mortar store rather than browse for goods online. There are also instances when they would choose to pick up their orders from a shop rather than have them delivered to their doorstep.
But what if they do not know your business’s location? Even if you have your complete address on your website, social accounts, or print advertising materials, people who are not familiar with the area may get lost. Or they may keep calling your office for directions, which could disrupt your sales or critical support activities.
To make it easier for customers to find you, you can provide QR codes that are designed to bring up their map app and give them directions from there. This is handier than having to type in the address or look for it in the map manually.
But what if you had to change addresses? Do you need to regenerate a QR code? With a QR code solution, that is not necessary. Since it stores information about the QR codes you have generated, you can simply go back to the one containing the location of your business. You can configure it with the right address and make sure that customers do not get lost. Plus, you get to save some bucks because you do not have to take down materials and replace them with updated information.
Here’s a quick video on how to create a Google Map QR Code:
5. To lead the audience to long-form content
Ever encountered packages like those of food items that have QR codes? If you have tried scanning them, then you know that they lead to a web page explaining more about that product such as its ingredients or the brand’s corporate social responsibility. These are things that are not likely to make it into the packaging itself because of limited space.
You can do the same thing with your products or services, too. Any QR code scanner online would be able to process the code you have on your packaging so you can keep your consumers informed. What’s more, you can use this strategy to make people aware of your entire line of offerings. You can even utilize this tool to show people how they can incorporate your items in their lives, such as in recipes or arts and crafts.
6. To modernize financial transactions
Mobile and contactless payments are becoming a popular form of payments these days. Statista even forecasts that it is likely for the revenue of these methods to go over 1 trillion US dollars this 2019. One of the main reasons that these are people’s preferred payment methods is security. Digital wallets store credit cards and bank cards’ information and encrypt them to prevent unauthorized access. Because of this, there is no need for the consumer to allow other people to handle their cards.
The global mobile payment market is bringing in billions in revenue for organizations.
But where do QR codes figure in this? Digital wallets have started partnering with brick-and-mortar stores to promote cashless transactions. You may have seen display cards on counters that inform you that you can use digital wallets to pay for your purchases. These have QR codes unique to every cashier so buyers can know that they are sending your money to the right POS. They only need to launch their digital wallets and open the QR scanner tool to begin the payment process.
In this regard, a solid QR code platform can help, too. It would allow you to manage the cashiers or locations where you have set up codes for cashless payments. And if ever you need to, you can disable the use of the code right from the solution to prevent transactions being made through it further.
7. To secure tickets
Fake tickets are a bane to any event organizer because they translate to losses and security nightmares. However, there is one way to make tickets more secure: QR codes. If your company has an activity, you can generate unique codes for every participant, an approach that can modernize event ticketing. This makes sure that a ticket admits only one person, thus, preventing fake tickets from going rampant.
Though QR codes are popular for ticketing for events only now, buses, airlines, boats, and other modes of transportation can also use them. This is advantageous for transport companies that have online ticketing modules. They can provide QR codes to passengers, which they can scan at turnstiles, instead of sending them PDF tickets that they would still have to print out.
8. QR codes remain relevant
In the early days of the consumer use of QR codes, they were all the rage. However, their use quickly fizzled because of insufficient planning and implementation. Their popularity rose again, though, when Apple added a QR reader feature to iOS 11 in 2017.
This time, marketers and brands know better so they are incorporating QR codes into campaigns that engage people wherever they are. They also use them together with solutions that can track how many individuals have scanned the codes. Thus, they can create a better profile of their audience to enhance their future marketing campaigns.
Now you know why should a business use QR Codes. You can do the same for your organization, too. QR codes are a less cost-restrictive marketing tool. That is why they can become your ally in expanding your business operations.