QR Codes - Smart Mobile Marketing

By Gerald Drumwright

The QR code tsunami is here. QR codes are those funny looking checkered square images you see on everything from restaurant menus to tatoos. QR code websites offer free app readers that can be downloaded in a matter of seconds. Just search Google for "QR code generator" to find either android or apple apps. My personal favorite is QRdroid since I have an Android smart phone.

Many websites offer free downloadable QR code readers. Once you have downloaded a reader to your smart phone, you can scan the code with your cell phone. I personally like a reader called QRdroid. With the QRdroid reader you simply tap the app to activate it. The screen will display an area to hover over the QR code, and the app automatically focuses and snaps a picture of the code. The information from the QR code will then appear.

You might wonder what all the fuss is. why not just put a link to your website. But if you think like that you are missing out on one of the most valuable features. QR codes can display anything you want including a name, a phone number, a special coupon, a secret code for a special discount, or virtually anything you can imagine.QR codes are used primarily when you have a small space with a larger message.

Your QR code message can be as simple as a name and phone number or as complex as showing product part numbers. You can embed links to websites or direct followers to a video of a virtual tour of your latest property listing. QR code uses are virtually limitless and are an extremely affordable marketing tool.

You can get creative with QR codes, they do not have to be the bland black and white version. With judicious application, there is ample room for creative use of color and branding within the QR Code. For example, this QR Code that we created for the PPI Christmas video. Some businesses get them made with their logo actually visibly displayed in the code itself.

A website called Mobibrix.com can be useful because for the first time, they provide the functionality of changeing the message of a QR code after it has been printed. This is efficient for people who have rotating stock such as real estate agents. They do not have to go back and reprint literature after a house sells and a new one is listed because the QR code information can be changed after print. They simply change the QR code links and the new information is current.

As a person in the printer business, the prospect of widespread use of QR Codes is exciting because they allow print to be directly and easily integrated with marketing on the web.

You are missing out on huge opportunities if you have not yet explored how your business can benefit from QR codes. Mobile devices are more and more becoming the favorite search tool for people who are doing business through the internet. People who owned smart phones for the first time in 2010 world wide outnumbered those who owned laptops or desktop computers.

The bottom line is that QR codes are inexpensive to provide and can be suited for any business. If you are not providing them your business is missing opportunities on a daily basis. I go so far as to say that all of your printed material should contain QR codes to engage your customers and attract more people to your business.

About the Author:

Gerald Drumwright has 25 years in all phases of the printing industry, currently focused on book, catalog, and magazine printing. Gerald is principal of PPI in Tupelo MS, Total Graphics Printing in Southaven, MS, and McNeal Graphics in Memphis TN. Contact Gerald at 662-680-4332.. Unique version for reprint here: QR Codes - Smart Mobile Marketing.