ITI Marketing

Everyone who has taken a trip to the supermarket knows what a bar code is — those cryptic black on white zebra-like lines that the cashier uses to scan your purchases and tally your shopping order. Quick Response or QR codes utilize a similar concept, but carry far more information than a traditional bar code.

QR codes are placed on offline materials such as print advertisements, brochures, posters, direct mail pieces, billboards, or even clothing to direct people to online media like mobile landing pages. Due to their nature and the way in which they are used, these codes allow a high level of interactivity with consumers, integrating print media, the web, and mobile communication to enhance marketing campaigns for all types of businesses, products, and services.

How QR Codes Work

Say that your destination is running an online sweepstakes campaign giving away an awesome trip to your awesome destination. You run an advertisement on a sign at your partner restaurant establishment  and include a QR code. Along with the code, you encourage readers to scan the code with their mobile phone for a chance to win. As long as the phone is equipped with a free QR Code Reader application, a smartphone such as an iPhone or Android can read the code using the device’s camera and translate it into information such as a text message or mobile landing page providing more information on the giveaway and a great chance to opt-in to win. The code can also trigger an email, capture contact information, dial a phone number, connect with a social media profile, or perform a variety of other tasks that marketers find valuable.

Benefits of QR Codes

1. Convenient.

QR codes are a convenient, one-step process for directing users to your website, getting their phone number or email address, providing directions to your business, notifying people about promotions, or pushing out other valuable marketing information. Codes are very cost effective to produce, as they are just ink on paper or cloth, and are environmentally friendly.

2. Versatile.

The fact that they can be printed anywhere and included with all of your existing advertising campaign media also makes them versatile. They can be placed on billboards, in magazines, newspapers, on T-shirts, on direct mail, or virtually any other piece of marketing collateral created by your company.

3. Accessible

You don’t need a special device to read them either. Any smart phone or mobile device with a camera and the QR Reader software can be used to take advantage of the codes. With more and more people upgrading to smart mobile devices worldwide, QR codes will become more and more valuable to advertisers.

4. Track-able

Another great benefit of QR codes is in tracking your marketing campaigns. Different codes can be used for print ads, direct mail, or outdoor advertising to track where users are coming from. This data can in turn be used to determine which types of advertising are providing the most benefit or best Return on Investment (ROI).

5. Inexpensive

Lastly, QR Codes are relatively easy and inexpensive to try. Most printers or direct mail firms have the software and equipment necessary to get you started.

Source: Say Cheese Writers; Lillian Okado (http://www.saycheesewriters.com)