QR Codes: What's the Marketing Buzz About?

In the hot space between the technology and marketing worlds, there has recently been a lot of talk about the effectiveness of QR codes. QR-Quick Response Abbreviation-The code is a square black pattern on a white background. These are codes that many airlines use to check in their flights using their smartphones.

The information that is encoded is text, URL, or almost any other form of data. When these barcodes are posted in public or private spaces, they can be scanned on a smartphone, allowing users to quickly and directly access websites and other online data resources to promote business, offer transactions, You can distribute information or just advertise. The advantage is the speed and efficiency that smartphone scanning can provide to users who don't have time to remember or write down website addresses, browse the web, and access sites with advertised information. It is huge in Japan [conceived as a manufacturing tracking device in the 90's] and has spread rapidly in Europe, with the QR code heading to the United States. It's hard to tell if this is Beatlemania Stateside or just another technical trend that doesn't play in Peorias between cities like New York and San Francisco.

Not surprisingly, some of the domestic “hip” industries—fashion and rock music—are the first to reveal the topic of QR codes to the fullest.

South by Southwest, an annual music and technology festival in Austin, Texas, is known for introducing the latest technology to the mainstream [& # 39; 07 Twitter and & # 39; 09 FourSquare the same as]. The QR code is missing. There was a QR code throughout the festival, including the festival's official badge. According to Evolver, “The QR code is SXSW 2011 more“ everywhere ”than last year, for good reason. Because the crowd carrying smartphones is streaming past posters of bands and high-tech startups, there is a code to guide them to links to websites, apps, videos and free stuff. This has become very popular since the last crowd in the city of Austin soared. "

Obviously, this technology has several significant advantages. It is fast and made for people on the go. Integrate web technology and the virtual world with real physical space. It's eye-catching and perfect for companies that want to attract new customers and markets that can't be found otherwise.

What you can do with QR code

Web site bookmarking, making phone calls, sending SMS, sending emails, creating vCards, creating vCalendar events, Google maps, iTunes app URLs, Foursquare venue URLs, playing videos, sending tweets, etc. Format. You are limited only by your imagination.

From building a whole new paradigm in marketing and advertising to the over-reporting of the high-tech era that has already peaked, Americans don't fully understand how effective QR codes are. Could become a tool. Advocates say it is absolutely necessary for the United States to catch up with Eastern and European opponents in the technology scene. If you do not intend to lead, it is best to stay in the game as a follower and as a peer. And the United States is overwhelmingly a car commuting country, and the QR code points out the fact that it performs best in places like Tokyo, Paris, London ... and most common American cities like New York and San Francisco. Some people do. Almost all categories of countries.

Others still say smart money is in context. No, there is no purpose to post a QR code on a signboard along the highway in the Midwest suburbs. But what about the Midwest mall? Small and medium-sized businesses with low-level brand recognition can win new customers by first adding this exciting new technology to small towns and suburbs where few cutting-edge ideas are found. At the mall-type store that sells sneakers, mobile phones, and concert tickets because attracting a market for young people is most likely to enable QR codes in areas that otherwise would not receive many lip services Earn a lot of business This group is one of the most coveted and sometimes whimsical demographics in the world of advertising and marketing. With time and reputation building, senior users and less-educated companies use QAR codes to trade everything from mediocre to novels, from car services, grocery coupons, public service information to movies You can expect to provide trailers, music downloads, and recreational events. It may replace a basic business card.

From the business owner's point of view, it goes without saying that QR codes are relatively simple, free, and hard to create. There are a number of "creation tools" that can create QR code analysis, such as MyOR.co and QReateBuzz. Some of these provide tracking devices to check the number, frequency, location, and device of people scanning your business code. You can also brand by style and color. Phone apps such as QR Droid and QR Code Scanner Pro for Blackberry are already in the game for some smartphone owners with these features.

Of course, like other marketing tools, the hard part is not finding where to place ads, but knowing who you are advertising with. Regardless of the technical aspects of the QR code, this is just another marketing device and it is important to remember how to talk to customers in terms of brand, voice and location, and what they know As with building another sign on the side of the road, we are still looking for an application. Does QR code bring new customers? perhaps. But do they change the demographics your business is already talking about? Well, it depends on you and your business. What new windows offer today is that, unlike other qualities, in terms of expanding the customer base, the brightness and brightness of a new one is only valid when it is new. Therefore, the uniqueness and cutting-edge topics of QR codes may not be interested in the product in any other way, and may attract customers like the edgy cash that QR Code currently offers If you beat it while the iron is hot it is the best.