QR codes are a tool that are often underused and misused as a tool to integrate print marketing with social marketing. Marketers often struggle with what a good use of a QR code would be. QR codes can be a great way to boost website traffic, convert more leads, and grow your social media presence using direct mail and flyers. When Astronaut Abby needed help promoting her #SoyuzAdventure (see above), we tied together print media and online media with a QR Code. But getting a QR code on your print materials requires learning how to set one up. Guess what? It’s not that difficult and it’s free!
4 Steps to Create a QR Code:
1. Find a QR Code Generator QR code generators are not hard to find, but ensuring you pick one that fits your purposes is important. Some things to look for when choosing a QR code generator include:
- Are you able to track and analyze performance?
- Does it allow you to design a code that is unique to your brand?
- Is the generated code compatible with the most common QR code readers?
Here are several generators to consider when making your choice: Kaywa: Allows customizing of design for free, and the premium paid version allows you to track performance. Tago: This is our preferred QR code provider. We love the easy to use interface as well as the ability to track codes and change them as we need to. The premium version is worth the extra fees if you need all the bells and whistles. 2. Create Your QR Code The first time I created a QR code I didn’t think it would be much much fun. Anything new requires research and the time to figure it out. But creating QR codes can be a lot of fun because if you use the right QR code generator you can design the code to look like your logo or website design theme or whatever you want The most important thing to consider when creating your QR code is what your goal is for using it. If you want to use it on business cards you may want to link it to your Vcard so it’s easy to share contact information, or perhaps you are looking for sales leads which may require linking it to a landing page to allow for someone to have a free download. Whatever call-to-action you have it take the user to, make sure it is valuable to the user. This is where marketers often get it wrong. If you are just leading someone to your general website why not just give the URL in the ad, there is nothing worse than taking the time to scan a QR code and having it lead you to something with little value. By doing that you are simply creating a bad image of your brand. 3. Test Your QR Code Just like any asset you create for online consumption make sure you test the QR code and it “reads” correctly. Make sure you try it on more than one reader. Google Goggles and QR Code Reader are free and available on your smartphones. 4. Track and Analyze The importance of tracking and analyzing your QR code campaign cannot be overstated. Just like any marketing campaign you want to know how successful your efforts are and what you can adjust for future compaigns. Tracking how much traffic comes each QR code, identifying if the QR code is converting into actions from your customers and even if people are compelled to scan the code in the first place are all important aspects of analyzing your efforts. This information will help you troubleshoot and adjust QR codes to work more effectively in the future. QR codes can be a great, low cost way to get into the mobile marketing game. It’s ok if you have not jumped into them yet, getting started is easy and with some focused planning and efforts you can be successful in integrating them into your social marketing plan. What are the best QR code marketing campaigns you have witnessed? Have you integrated any QR codes into your marketing campaigns? Share your thoughts below.
