Those odd shaped black and white squares that are popping up more frequently than ever deserve a double take, in particular for small business owners looking for every avenue available to reach possible customers. Simply put, a QR code (short for quick response code) is a 2 dimensional bar code that stores information. It can be accessed by any smartphone equipped with a QR reader
app which, if the phone does not already have one installed, can be downloaded for free. When the QR reader scans the code, it can bring the user to a URL, which is known as the landing page, that provides them with special content. At the same time that the customer is getting the content, the business is able to receive information about the person doing the scanning. It is the second benefit which should make integrating these QR codes into the marketing plan a serious consideration, particularly for small business owners.
When it comes to marketing for your business, the more information that you have the better your plan will be. This makes the fact that QR codes are trackable one of the strongest points of this tool. There are some sites out there where you can pay for tracking services but Google Analytics is a great place to do this, and it’s free. You might already be using Google Analytics to track activity on your website; in that case this will prove to be extra convenient for you, because the tracking information can be found in the same place. Google’s unique URL builder can be used to easily create a custom trackable URL for your landing page. Google Analytics will be able to provide you with the number of times your code is scanned, any new visitors, the number of minutes a person stays on the page, and if they click on another link that might be on the landing page. All this information can then be used to modify future marketing goals.
When designing a QR code landing page, think about the best way to provide the customer with content that will satisfy them. This may seem elementary, but ensure that the website the QR code leads to is mobile friendly. This means a clean and easy to read design that does not require much scrolling, the easier it is for a consumer to navigate the better. It would be quite frustrating – both for you and the customers – if people were brought to a page that was not functioning correctly on a smartphone. If you are leading a person to an email subscription list be sure to only have a few fields for them to fill out – having to type in ten different lines of information can be difficult on a small screen. Again, if the person is taking time to scan the code you want the information to be as clear as possible for them, no benefit on either side to muddled content.
Working this new trend into your marketing strategy is not to be overlooked. In addition to all I mentioned above, this technology is still new and hip enough to earn your business some street cred from the technology-obsessed crowd. Another plus for QR codes!