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What on Earth is a QR Code?
By Sally Ormond of Briar Copywriting
I don't know about you but recently I've been seeing a lot of curious boxes about. They look innocent enough, filled with their strange digital pattern, but what on earth do they mean? They're popping up as Twitter avatars, printed on flyers, appearing on websites and packaging. But why? What are you meant to do with them? Apparently these little chaps are called QR Codes,or Quick Response Codes, and are the next big marketing thing (I obviously missed that memo). The draw back with them is that you need a smart phone and an app to be able to read them. Once scanned, they'll take you to a website, special offer or even a customer service video - something that should add value to your relationship with the business that produced it. I must admit to still be in the "sounds like yet another gimmick to me" camp especially as their potential audience is limited to those: a) Who own a smart phone
b) Have downloaded the necessary app ( and know what to do with it) In theory they should help you grow your email marketing list because you can use it to offer a new report or white paper by taking the QR Code 'scanee' to a sign up form. You could also ask for their mobile number so you market through texting. You could even add the QR Code to a poster/flyer and whoever scans it gets access to an exclusive offer. So they can really be used anywhere to enhance your marketing. How do I get one? If you've been blown away by the marketing possibilities and want to get your hands on one of the little fellas, it's quite easy. There are several ways to generate one, for example through Goo.gl which is a URL shortener combined with a QR code generator. The benefit of that is you can track the number of visits to the page where the QR code was read. Just log into your Google account, type in the URL you want to direct people to (this can be your website, landing page etc.) and you'll get a shortened URL. Then cick on "details" and your very own QR Code will be generated for you. Then all you have to do is right click on the QR Code, save it as a .jpeg file and you can use it on all your marketing materials. Because the generation of the Code is free it be worth trying out - if nothing else you'll discover how tech-savvy your customers are. Being trackable, you'll also be able to compare campaigns to see which works best with you. Personally I don't think I'll be dabbling in them. How about you? Have you already started using QR Codes? Are they working for you? If you have any stories it would be great to hear them - who knows they may be able to convince me that QR is the way to go.
Sally Ormond is an international copywriter. She has been writing commercially since 2007 with her company Briar Copywriting Ltd.
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The copyright for this content entitled "What on Earth is a QR Code?" has been specified by the contributor as:
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0
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