If you’ve taken a walk down any city street in the past 12 months, you’ve likely noticed the existence of quick response (QR) codes. These square barcodes are littered all over print advertisements and on the products we use. Additionally, you can even pay with them at select stores. While they certainly offer a variety of benefits, many marketers are failing to use these codes effectively, which is driving traffic away and leaving bitter tastes in the mouths of consumers. But how can such a simple concept be so detrimental to a print campaign? If they’re just there with no complementary content, they’re eyesores and unnecessary.
Here are two ways to improve your use of QR codes in your direct mail and print marketing campaigns.
What does your QR code lead to?
The biggest problem with QR technology is that the codes are required to have certain proportions, which can take away from the message an ad is attempting to convey. Many professionals overlook these characteristics when they post the two-dimensional codes to their printed content – these marketers assume people will just scan them. Unfortunately, consumer curiosity doesn’t always come through, and the QR codes simply interrupt the overall look and feel of the advertisement.
In order to generate any positive return on investment from these QR codes, marketers must figure out ways to encourage and entice consumers into engaging with the information behind the barcode. This can be done easily by developing an effective call to action. When marketers take the time to create incentives, more people will interact with the printed content, read the supplementary information they’re provided after they scan the code and maybe even make spontaneous purchases if the offers are good enough.
It’s important to provide a reason why readers should bother scanning these QR codes, or else they’re just getting in the way.
The content better be worth it
In addition to creating incentives, marketers need to make sure the information these consumers are presented with is worth reading. If people are sent to broken links, unorganized landing pages or poorly written sales pitches, they won’t want to spend any significant amount of time engaging with the brand. In some cases, they may even choose to ignore all future promotional pieces they receive from the company.
Marketers want to utilize the emerging technologies to improve their direct marketing efforts, but they also need to remember the basics of engaging with prospective customers if they want to see any success from their efforts.
Social tagging: Direct Mail
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