The QR or two-dimensional codes have been circulating in the market for years, in fact its creation goes back to 1994, when Denso Wave, subsidiary company of Toyota, decided to create a module of storage of quick response information or “quick response”.
In the beginning, these codes were used in inventories and parts identification in production chains especially in the automotive sector, however, they are currently positioned as an interesting marketing tool, aimed at providing information of interest to the consumer, Which will motivate your purchase decision and do interactivity with your brand.
Many are the allies of the QR, who affirm with certainty that its operation is infallible in any area of business while in contrast, the detractors of the tool maintain that its indiscriminate proliferation has only generated a reactivity to them by the consumers. Who is right?
We must say that the two parts. On the one hand, it is true that the use of QRs can be extended to any type of business, given the variety of information they allow to transmit to the consumer. However, it is also true that its use must assume a correct integration in the marketing strategies of the company. That is, that its adoption must keep in line with the intended marketing objectives and in any case, it must follow some basic guidelines to prevent a bad user experience from marring its effectiveness.
In this sense, here are five basic rules that will ensure a correct integration of QR codes into our marketing strategies:
Consider your target
The profile of your customers is that of people oriented to the technology ?, are frequent users of the mobile ?, have a disposition to adopt new ways to access the information of a brand or product? This does not mean that the use of QRs is restricted to a particular audience, but it is true that there are targets more receptive to this type of actions as the younger audience.
Consider Your Marketing Goals
Actions with QR codes must meet our marketing objectives, it is not about putting QR codes to look more innovative, but about getting the action to meet our marketing objectives. Whether attracting customers to our point of sale, providing interactivity the shopping experience by offering additional information about a product or rewarding the loyalty of our customers via offers or coupons.
Focus Context
Once the objectives of the action are defined, it is necessary to think about the context and the content, the two most important components of an action with QRs. In terms of context, QR codes should be placed in places that are conducive to scanning. The user should always be given time to get their phone out and scan the code, so it is not advisable to place the QR codes on fences, buses or moving vehicles. You should also think about the size and contrast of the code to make sure it can be properly scanned.
Content is the key to success
Offering content of interest to customers is crucial to the success of QR actions. It is necessary to provide really useful information such as the closest shops or product characteristics and it should be taken into account that the value does not always come from economic rewards such as coupons or promotions, but from the utility of the information to the customer according to the context In which this one is.
Also, all content must be accessible. The mobile minisites that are redirected to the user when scanning the QR code must be visible with quality in any type of smartphone. Redirecting a QR to a non-mobile optimized web results in a bad user experience and a bad reputation for the brand.
Motivate the user to participate in the action
A good action is not worth anything if you do not get scans. Remember that QRs offer additional information, they are the complement of a larger action, they expand the main message. You must motivate the scanning by making clear what you offer and why someone should scan your QR and offer a concise, clear, direct, contextualized and especially useful message to the user, as well as motivate their participation in future actions.
All these steps may seem complicated, however, you can use a specialized tool in the creation and management of campaigns with QR, such as Promobi. There, in addition to creating a mobile mini-site and a personalized QR you can count on scan statistics that will give feedback to your action and allow you to efficiently measure your results.