Scanning your way to new business with QR Codes

by Joe Birkedale

You've probably noticed the emergence of Quick Response codes (QR codes) on pizza flyers from Dominos, on shelves in electrical departments of Tesco's and perhaps on the back of buses and billboards. QR codes are here and are expected to achieve widespread use this year – and for good reason. Consumers want immediate access to what’s relevant and QR codes are being used to make that possible.

If you’re not familiar with QR codes, they’re similar in principle to the traditional barcode - the key difference is the amount of data they can hold or share. And QR codes can hold much more.

Bar codes are linear one-dimensional codes and can only hold up to 20 numerical digits. QR codes on the other hand are two-dimensional (2D) matrix barcodes that have the ability to hold thousands of alphanumeric characters of information. This ability - and their ease of use makes them practical for marketing your businesses.

When you scan a QR code with your camera-equipped Smartphone, you can link to digital content on the web; activate a number of phone functions including email, IM and SMS; and connect the mobile device to a web browser.

This ability to connect people with each other and to multimedia digital content is very useful for businesses and consumers alike.

How it works

(1) Generate the QR code (this is unique and specific to you or your advert or product)

(2) Add the QR code image to your campaign

(3) The user scans the QR code to access your content

Applications for QR Codes

Your business, regardless of sector, could use QR codes in a number of ways. You might auto generate one for every product you sell - for POS materials where space is a premium, but where you want to add more information containing all the product details, the number to call and the URL link to the page so they can show their friends on their cell phone. You could add one to your business card containing your contact details so its easy for someone to add you to their contacts on their cell phone.

Furthermore, you can add them to any print advertising, flyers, posters, invites, TV ads etc containing:

• Product details

• Contact details

• Offer details

• Event details

• Competition details

• A coupon

• Twitter, Facebook, MySpace IDs

• A link to your YouTube video

Want to know more? Scan our code with your QR code reader (don't have one? Search for 'QR Code Reader' on your particular phones app store - most are free) or click here and get in touch.