QR Codes and Your Business

QR codes come to us from Japan where they are very common. QR is short for Quick Response (they can be read very quickly by cell phone and other mobile devices). You see QR Codes in a magazine adverts, on billboards, web pages and even on clothing. Once it is in your cell phone, it may give you details about that business (allowing users to search for nearby locations), or details about the person wearing the t-shirt, show you a URL which you can click to see a trailer for a movie, or it may give you a coupon which you can use in a local outlet.

The reason why they are more useful than a standard barcode is that they can store (and digitally present) much more data, including url links, geo coordinates, and text. The other key feature of QR Codes is that instead of requiring a chunky hand-held scanner to scan them, many modern cell phones can scan them. The full Wikipedia description is here.

How does the cell phone read the code?

The cell phone needs a QR code reader, We use “Simple Scanner” on our blackberrys. It takes literally 1 minute for someone with an iPhone, Android, or Blackberry phone to find and install the reader.

How do you generate a code?

You can easily generate a QR code using a site like Kaywa.com or you can use the Open Source code to generate codes for you if you have a smart developer on hand. We like this one: http://www.qrstuff.com/

How could your business use a QR code?

Your business, no matter how small or large, could use QR codes in a number of ways. You might auto generate one next to every product on your web site containing all the product details, the number to call and the URL link to the page so they can show their friends on their cell phone. You could add one to your business card containing your contact details so its easy for someone to add you to their contacts on their cell phone.

Add them to any print advertising, flyers, posters, invites, TV ads etc containing:

Product details
Contact details
Offer details
Event details
Competition details
A coupon
Twitter, Facebook, MySpace IDs
A link to your YouTube video

QR Code recently featured in the TV Series “CSI Miami”

Posted Wednesday, May 4th, 2011
Categories: Online Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Traditional Marketing. Subscribe to the comments' RSS feed.
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