Digital Marketing

Clever Ways to Promote Your Business Using QR Codes

QR codes, or Quick Response codes, are everywhere. We scan them in restaurants to see the full menu and advertisements to learn more about a brand.

With most people using smartphones, scanning QR codes is quick and easy, making QR codes highly engaging tools to connect to your audience.

We spoke with several companies to learn new ways to use QR codes to promote your business. But first, let’s go over why QR codes are so useful.

Why QR?

Generating QR codes is simple, and usually, it’s free. There are many QR generators available, and you can update the information you log into each particular code.

“Unlike traditional advertising methods, QR codes are easy to update,” says Dan Bladen, Co-founder and CEO of Kadence. “It’s challenging and expensive to update printed advertisements such as billboards when your prices, offerings, or location changes. QR code solutions allow you to maintain relevant, accurate information as customers scan the codes. You can produce simple, black-and-white QR codes at no cost, or if you’re willing to allocate some of your budget towards these codes, you can make their designs unique and on-brand.”

Yashiki Tangri, a writer for Scanova Blog, points out some distinct advantages QR codes hold over more traditional marketing methods.

Tangri claims that QR codes give business owners actionable and measurable data. While we can never know how many people engage with pamphlets or brochures, we can see how many people scan our QR codes and where and when they scan them. Tangri also mentions that QR codes have the unique ability to bridge online and offline marketing. Trey Ferro, CEO of Spot Pet Insurance, agrees.

Ferro claims, “While you can place URLs on printed advertisements, they are unattractive, and they’re a hassle for customers to input into their phones and other devices. QR codes are small, but they can direct your customers to longer-form content that provides more information than would fit on a webpage or flier. You can also place QR codes on digital and physical spaces, directing customers to websites, social media pages, videos, and products.”

There are many ways to use QR codes to promote your business, and we have a few listed below.

Product Information

As customers, we’re becoming more aware of the products we’re consuming. We want to ensure that ingredients are healthy and reliably sourced. We want to keep companies accountable for their actions and promises. To accomplish these goals, we conduct research. QR codes allow customers easy access to the desired information.

“Using QR codes can demonstrate brand transparency,” says Justin Soleimani, Co-Founder of Tumble. “Physical product labels provide limited space for descriptions. By placing QR codes on product labels, we can guide consumers to in-depth information on the ingredients, sources, potential allergens, and testimonials. We can connect consumers to the producers. We share stories behind the product and how it has benefited others in the past. If you give consumers easy access to this information through QR codes, it shows that you want to inform your consumers. It builds trust, and it makes consumers more likely to purchase your product.”

You might include QR codes that lead consumers to installation or care instructions. These QR codes are more interactive than complicated, printed manuals.

Scan to Order and Pay

Mobile and contactless payment options are on the rise. Since mobile wallets keep data encrypted and secure, many people prefer to use them in-store and online rather than using their physical cards.

Michelle Hodgen, Chief of Staff at Kinoo, claims, “QR codes streamline the ordering process for customers and allow customers to pay your business more quickly. Customers can utilize QR codes for discounts and coupons without manually inputting any information. Once they’ve placed the order, they can use a code to set up contactless deliveries and pick-ups, which have become increasingly popular since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Customer Engagement

Contests and promotions are effective marketing strategies. They encourage customers to opt-in to mailing lists, follow social media accounts, and share brand information with others. They’re excellent for increasing brand awareness and customer conversion. Customers can use QR codes to participate in these offerings.

Patricio Paucar, Co-Founder and Chief Customer Officer of Your Navi, states, “We can use SMS marketing to keep leads updated and engaged with our brand. Through mailing lists, we send information on deals, contests, and giveaways. QR codes can act as a substitute for SMS text chains. Some clients may be wary of subscribing to these mailing lists using their phone numbers, and some might grow tired of receiving consistent messages in their text inbox. QR codes remove these hesitations. They make joining these lists easy, placing the power to subscribe in the customer’s hands.”

To increase customer interaction, you can also use QR codes to send customers to surveys and review sites. You can place these QR codes on products or storefronts and in email or SMS mailing lists.

Location

Michael Guta, a Staff Writer at Small Business Trends, claims that you can generate QR codes to take customers to a Google Map that provides directions to your storefront. Often, Google searches for business locations are frustrating, and sometimes, the results are out-of-date.

Dr. Payel Gupta, CMO and Co-Founder at Cleared, claims, “By giving your customers directions to your business through a QR code, you cut down on time spent searching for and inputting location information into a GPS. Additionally, customers might find inaccurate locations, or your location may change. Since QR codes can be updated, you avoid the possibility of your customers receiving the wrong information. When your storefront is easy to find, customers are likely to visit and purchase your products and services.”

QR codes are growing in popularity. Whatever your business, you can start incorporating QR codes into your marketing strategy in unique and innovative ways.

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