Thursday, February 17, 2011

What Technology Beams You Up, Scotty? QR Codes!

Real life stories are the best examples, so here are a few that tout the value of QR codes.

Perfect for social medial: TDN recently featured a post by Heidi Tolliver-Nigro, “What Are You Doing To Compete with Email?” Richard Munoz, one of the commentators, noted that “more and more personal messages are reaching me via social media rather than through my primary email address .. Perhaps it’s time for printed direct mail to do the same. 2D barcodes that link a direct mail piece to aFacebook profile are one way.”

Great for print ads, too. QR Codes popped up on my radar in another way this week. Target Marketing asked me to participate in a survey evaluating ten of their advertisers. Only one of the 10 featured a QR code in the ad. Why? Where’s the response vehicle? Ads used to feature 800 numbers, but everybody knows that meant talking to a salesperson. QR codes are different. These can lead straight to information, not marketing … and information is the new marketing? Right?

Superb for mobile. And then there was my email exchange with a friend who owns a successful small biz in D.C. Here’s his message to the coupon pitchers: Get a QR Code: “Maybe it's the guy in me, but I hate having to remember coupons. Starbucks sends me the free drink coupon for my loyalty. Yaay. Except when I'm in Starbucks, the coupon is always at home. I put it in my bag, then I don't go to Starbucks. Now I'm worried that I'm gonna lose it before I use it. I like online coupons that I open purchase and use from my phone. I know my phone is always with me.”

There’s more. A lot more. So how ‘bout it? If you’ve got a story to tell, queue up!

-- scrubbed by Marketing Brillo

2 comments:

M Nauman said...

totally agree with on using QR codes for rich information. i am trying to test these on a job ad for geek writers. there needs to be a targeted ad.

Unknown said...

Would be interested to hear how QR codes for a job ad turn out. Thanks for stopping by!