For those unfamiliar with QR codes, they are a type of barcode that users can scan with their smartphone to access digital content. They are often added to marketing material, such as magazine ads or billboards, but they can also be found on clothing and product packaging.
The reason for its use may not be immediately obvious; however, they have many commercial benefits. For promotional products, adding a QR code means that customers can scan a product and be taken directly to your website or special offers page. There is no need to manually enter the URL as the data is stored in the QR code. So no more typos! Often curiosity and spur-of-the-moment decisions are the natural result of seeing these codes and can greatly increase website traffic.
Creating a QR code is inexpensive, and adding it to a promotional item often costs no more than any other brand. For such a small expense, the results can be overwhelming. When placed on the right promotional product, QR codes can be valuable to both B2B and B2C. The only limitations are those of the product itself. The printing area must be flat and large enough to allow a legible code to be printed. Even allowing for this, there are hundreds of suitable products: mugs, key rings, rulers, calculators, to name just a few.
The other advantage of using QR codes in your advertising is the ease with which they can be traced. Promotional item codes can be tailored to track the origin of website visitors, which is especially useful for determining ROI. For example, if you distribute promotional products through trade shows, conferences, and direct mail, you can add code that captures channel distribution. Without this, you would need to add unsightly URLs to the product (such as yourdomain.com/tradefair) to identify the source. Users often don’t bother to type the full URL, so a QR code offers a more convenient way to accurately capture tracking information.
Beyond a facility to bring users to your website, QR codes can be used to direct customers to a Facebook or Twitter page, a discount coupon, or a competition. By allowing customers to interact using these links, your brand is reinforced, which helps bring your business to the forefront. In fact, if your advertising goals are to engage with your audience in an innovative way, consider QR codes as part of your next campaign.
