We all can agree that marketing and advertising are a significant part of all business domains whether it is corporate, retail, legal, healthcare, or even media. Marketers are always trying to come up with something new to effectively place their ideas and pitch new products and solutions to as many people as possible and the QR Code technology is one such new tool for advertisers and marketers, a rather effective one, at that.
Well, the QR Code is not exactly new since it was first invented in 1994 in Japan, by an engineer named Masahiro Hara for keeping tabs on products moving through the assembly line in a Toyota manufacturing unit, at Denso Wave. Back then, one needed a specially built Barcode scanner device to scan these 2D barcodes and it continued until smartphones and the internet came into the picture.
With increasing smartphone penetration across the globe, and given the fact that most people spend a huge part of their daily lives on these small screens, it only makes sense that advertisers and marketers now target consumers with QR-based ads on their smartphones. Though print ads and billboards still rule the world, if you remember the large picture of Carrie Bradshaw on a New York bus, the use of QR codes on print magazines, newspapers, and billboards is becoming a trend and there are several reasons for that as we’ll discuss below.
Quick Response Code
QR code, short for quick response code, is a 2D barcode image that can store information both horizontally and vertically. A QR Code can be encoded with a large amount of text and numerical data, image, URL, PDF, Google form, etc.
The rise of QR Codes in various applications such as promotions and advertising campaigns, restaurant menus, QR-based ads in newspapers and magazines, as well as asset tagging and inventory management is due to the high readability of QR Codes, which can be scanned with great efficiency with a smartphone camera.
QR Codes are designed in such a way that they offer quick scanning with a dedicated focus zone, with 360-degree alignment of the mobile scanning device, which is not possible with 1D traditional barcodes.
QR Code-based Marketing and Advertising
The use of QR Codes for promotions is not a new trend, as previously in the 2010s, QR Codes were part of various events and movie premiers (QR Codes were also used in the promotion of the movie Inception, 2010). Ad agencies and promoters used QR Codes on brochures billboards, and office buildings to run specific QR code-based campaigns but post-pandemic, QR codes find increasingly high use in promotions.
At present, QR Codes can be encoded with a landing page URL to engage users with the webpage of a particular brand, highlighting new products, services, and initiatives. Users can scan the QR Code with their smartphone and directly visit the website of the brand where they can shop, avail discounts, and even join as a member if prompted.
The use of QR codes in newspapers and magazine ads is mainly due to the fact that QR codes can contain lots of information and graphics while utilizing a small space in print ads and that not only reduces the cost of advertising in newspapers and magazines but also allows brands to successfully put their ads out there.
Managing QR Code-based marketing and advertising campaigns
While QR Codes can be shared physically as flyers and business cards as well as digitally on social media and through email newsletters, a new trend of using QR Codes for time-bound promotional campaigns is on the rise.
QR Codes are a great tool for running a measurable marketing campaign. Various businesses such as banks, retail brand owners, hospitality and tourism businesses, etc. can use Dynamic QR Codes to run a time-bound promotion where they can measure the impact of their campaign whether it is successful or not, and if not, they can add corrections and modify the advertisement as required.
Creating a Measurable QR Code Campaign with UTM Parameters
When it comes to running a time-bound campaign, QR Codes are the new trend. URL QR Codes can be created to execute a measurable ad campaign efficiently while allowing one to accurately track each scan, the location of the scan, time, etc.
The use of UTM parameters in Dynamic QR Codes is quite popular in this regard. UTM (Urchin Tracking Module) parameters are used to track the effectiveness of a campaign across traffic sources and publishing media. UTM parameters are supported by Google Analytics 4 (GA4) and allow users to see the impact of their campaign directly in Google Analytics.
To create a dynamic URL QR Code, one needs to insert various UTM parameters such as campaign source, campaign medium, campaign name, campaign term, and campaign content in the URL and encode this URL in the QR Code as follows:
How to Create a UTM URL QR Code?
To create a UTM-based URL QR Code, one can create a URL as follows:
http://www.ruddersoft.com/?utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=paid_social&utm_campaign=member_discount&utm_term=social_media_tool&utm_content=brand_ad
You can simply use different values for each UTM parameter as per your requirements.
1. utm_source=instagram (It could be X, Facebook, TikTok, etc. )
2. utm_medium=paid_social (Name the medium of your campaign here)
3. utm_campaign=member_discount (Your campaign name)
4. utm_term=social_media_tool (Use terms to specifically classify your campaign)
5. utm_content=brand_ad (Mention what your campaign entails)
Benefits of using QR Codes for Advertisements and Promotions
QR Codes have become a great tool in the hands of advertisers and marketers but their uses are not just limited to specific ad campaigns, designed and executed by various advertising brands. Any business looking to use QR Codes for promotion can do so, simply by encoding the information in a QR Code. These QR Codes can be used on walls and billboards just as easily as on a flyer and brochure pasted on a lamppost or published in a newspaper or magazine. Let’s see some of the benefits of using QR Codes, dynamic and static, in various businesses, as follows:
1. QR Codes in a Restaurant
In the restaurant business, QR Codes can be used for creating digital menus, just as we saw during the pandemic in 2020. QR Codes are printed on a QR Code standee and placed on each table where customers can easily scan the QR code for the menu and place orders.
QR Codes also allow restaurant goers to pay for their meals by contactless payment options where users can pay for the billed amount by scanning a QR Code at POS and easily checking out of the restaurant.
Restaurants also use QR Codes for their special menus and specials, and to promote their brand through discounts and membership benefits.
2. Using QR Codes in Hospitality and Tourism
The hospitality and tourism businesses can use QR Codes to promote their tour packages, various season discounts, attractions, etc.
3. QR Codes for Events
At events, QR Codes can be used to advertise venues, guests, entertainers as well as ticketing offers to event goers. Event managers can create QR code-based flyers and put QR Codes on billboards to advertise upcoming events.
4. QR Codes in Healthcare
The use of QR Codes in healthcare is for various reasons, ranging from access control, and asset tracking to promoting various awareness campaigns run by hospitals and doctors.
QR Codes can also be used to spread information on accessing various parts of a large healthcare facility, registering for blood donations, and running various campaigns against events and training sessions for nurses and doctors.
5. Retail brands and QR Codes
QR Codes have also found great use in retail marketing and promotional campaigns. Many retail brands like Zara, H&M, Channel, LV, etc. are using QR Codes not only to update their consumers on various new products and apparel but to also run specific, time-bound, measurable promotions using UTM QR Codes.
URL QR Code-based advertisements have become a huge part of their marketing strategy and a great tool to engage and attract consumers during various sales and discount periods.
To conclude, the use of QR Codes in marketing and advertising is fetching amazing results. More so, when users can plan and execute measurable QR-based ad campaigns remotely, right from their Google Analytics panel. Ruddersoft is a prominent QR Code solution provider in India, offering all kinds of QR-based solutions, UTM QR Codes, dynamic URL Codes, static QR Codes, and QR-based applications and necessary integrations for getting the best out of QR codes for our clients. Contact us for any QR code-based solution you might have in mind.