Do you look past the billboards on your way to the office? Do you ignore the print ads at the bottom of the newspaper? Do you switch off the TV or radio during commercial breaks? Do you skip banner ads on websites? As consumers, we all do this. For marketing companies, it is getting more difficult each day to reach customers.
The only way to reach consumers is by engaging them and focusing advertising campaigns on their interests. There is no technology more interactive than smartphones. Each smartphone represents a technologically advanced diary to its owner. These devices allow customers to write, save data, send and receive texts, make calls, check emails, set reminders, store contacts, save pictures and videos, browse the internet, and, with an increasing number of applications, do a lot more. This makes smartphones a marketer’s heaven.
QR Codes As A Marketing Tool
With the ability to store a lot more information than barcodes, QR codes can carry not just product details and prices, but also company information, URLs, coupons, and promotions. Using scanners on smartphones, all the information stored in QR codes can be read. To read a QR code with a smartphone you need only take a picture of the code, and the application installed in the smartphone will translate all the information for you. We’ve put together a list of the best QR code scanning applications.
With the accessibility of the internet on smartphones, it is easy for QR code marketing to engage customers. A QR code imprinted on the cover page of a magazine can link to digital extras for magazine readers, along with subscription order pages and the websites for the magazine’s sponsors. For this reason, QR codes are the best option in mobile marketing.
According to research conducted by Google, 90 percent of mobile phone users who are looking for a product or service visit the company’s website to get more information before purchasing. This is because smartphones allow users a great deal of control over information access. Websites allow users to access product information without deflecting pushy salespeople or avoiding overbearing marketing tactics. QR codes capitalize on this trend because ads that automatically link to QR codes make crucial information easily available to consumers.
Because QR codes have so many applications, companies can develop new ways to integrate the technology into their existing marketing plan as they become more familiar with the technology. For example, these codes can be displayed on brick-and-mortar storefronts to link consumers to location information and the online storefront. QR codes are gaining popularity throughout the world. Their applications are only limited by human creativity. Many companies are going beyond the typical black squares by creating custom QR Codes for their businesses.
