QR Codes and Marketing Your Business – Part
One
July 22nd, 2011
Two months ago I had not even heard about QR Codes and now I’m
writing a blog about them. Such is life as a business owner in our modern age; and I love
it!
Since we offer a full line of promotional products and decorated
apparel like screen printed t-shirts, I thought I’d better do some research so I can advise my
clients about this new marketing tool. I was talking to someone in LA last week and she said that
an acquaintance of hers was in Japan recently and said QR codes are everywhere. They are everywhere
in Asia but almost non-existent here. Let’s see, a new trend is upon us!
I went looking to find out all I could about this subject and what
follows is a compilation of five different blogs I read. By the way, this will be a three part
series. I believe blogs should be short and there is too much info to do this subject justice in
one blog.
I have to credit one of my friends who is also a small business
owner for introducing me to QR codes and showing me their importance. His web site has a QR code on
it. Go check it out by scrolling to the bottom of his home page to see it.http://www.arizonacameracrew.com
So what are QR codes?
QR is short for Quick Response code. They're used for encoding
information in two-dimensional space, like in the pages of an advertisement, and putting it in to
your cell phone. Once it is in your cell phone, it will give you details about that business. This
could include listing nearby locations, display a URL, show a trailer for a movie, or give you a
coupon which you can use in a local outlet, all without typing in a long
ULR. You will soon see (if not already) QR Codes printed on an
advertisement, on TV and billboards, on a pizza box, on web sites and yes, even on t-shirts
(see why I’m doing this?). If you start looking for them, you will see they are popping up
more and more. So the role of the QR code is getting someone with a smart phone to be able to
easily access information in the real world.
Here is what the 3-D Promotions QR code looks like. You can scan
it with your phone right from your computer monitor. Do it and see what happens.
How does the cell phone read
the code? Technically, the viewer needs a smart phone with a QR reader. The QR code
reader is a camera that can connect to the internet. Most smart phones come equipped with the
reader already. The QR code reader app is readily available to download to your phone.
How can you generate a code? It’s easy and free. You go to a web site that generates the codes, fill out
the information about where you want the QR to point, and the site will generate the QR artwork.
You then download the QR code and place it in your marketing material. Here is the web site I
used,http://quikqr.com/ but there are many other sites that generate these codes as well.
Why would your customer use a QR
code? Since QR codes are a quick and fun way to
get your marketing information into someone’s cell phone, well, it’s obvious. Here is an
illustration I read online: "Imagine yourself walking through a retail area and seeing a
poster for an event you’d like to attend. The poster designer may have added a web site
address so you can get more information, order tickets online, etc. And if you want to access
that web site with your phone you’d have to enter the URL using the keyboard. For many of us,
that’s a bit of a pain because of the small keyboards on our devices. So the poster designer
includes a QR code and gives you a direct link to the event’s web site, ticketing
information, etc."
I hope I have at least grabbed your attention with the importance
and potential of QR codes. If your customer base uses smart phones, or may be in the future, I
suggest making your first QR code and start testing it in your business.
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