Marketing With QR Codes

QR codes (quick response codes) have been around for almost 30 years. They were created in 1994 by a Japanese engineer to track components in car factories, but have since evolved into a highly effective marketing tool.

Although QR codes have been around for a while, their use increased during the Covid-19 pandemic. Restaurants used them as an easy way to create contactless menus at a time when we were all afraid to get close to one another.

However, the buzz hasn’t died down; the use of QR codes are still on the rise. While it appeared that QR codes were on their way out prior to the pandemic, 75.8 million US smartphone users scanned one last year, up 15.3% from 2020. QR codes are expected to be used by 99.5 million people in the United States by 2025.

Why Use QR Codes In Your Marketing?

The advantages of QR codes are clear-cut: They are a quick and easy approach to omit some steps from the consumer journey and direct potential customers to the precise internet location you desire. This might be a website, a landing page for contests and promotions, or even a page where you provide a free download to boost interaction and attract repeat visitors. Additionally, you can use QR codes to provide instructional movies, how-to videos, and even unique event-only content.

QR codes make it simple to assess the effectiveness of a campaign or a specific ad, such as a magazine ad. They can also assist you in gathering first-party data, which is critical as marketing behemoths like Google shift away from third-party data.

A good example of QR code use is at Whole Foods, where you can scan your QR code for a 10% discount if you’re a member of Amazon Prime.

Nature preserves are even providing QR codes for visitors to learn more about the location, all the while reducing paper usage.

Best Practices For Using QR Codes

There are a number of free resources available to help you create QR codes—just search for “QR code generator” and you’ll find plenty of options. But, before you add these scannable codes to your marketing collateral, you should understand how to use them effectively.

• The days of black and white QR codes are long gone, as you can now add your brand colors and logo. Just be careful not to go overboard with the customization. The more you personalize your QR code, the more difficult it may be for phones, particularly older ones, to scan it.

• Avoid inverting colors on your QR code (for example, using a black background with a white QR code), as some phones will not recognise them. The same advice applies to pixelated or blurry codes—make sure they are crystal clear and easily readable. Isn’t the whole point of them to be accessible?

• Try to keep the density of your QR codes as low as possible. In other words, ensure that the link you use to generate the QR code isn’t too long. The longer the link, the darker and more complex the QR code becomes, making phone scanning more difficult.

• Leave enough white space, also known as quiet space, around the QR code. On all four sides, we recommend at least a quarter-inch of white space.

Final Thoughts

A straightforward yet effective approach of marketing your business is by using QR codes. Although it took them a while to break out into the public eye, they are now an integral aspect of marketing and technology. Not entirely inevitable, as it took a pandemic for many people to actually engage with them, QR codes have nonetheless become a standard in efficient corporate operations, going hand in hand with every company’s main objective: enticing in new clients.

Do you want to include QR Code in your Marketing strategy? Feel free to contact us at support@sunnydayconsulting.com or call us at (+91) 79777 31552.