Including a QR code on your product packaging, your direct mail messages, flyers and other printed messages adds and additional point of contact between your brand and your target audience — but only if it is scanned by your potential customers.  Today, we are going to share with you a few techniques on how to strategically use QR codes and ensure that more people scan your codes.

Provide Instruction.  Even though QR codes have been around for awhile, they’re still relatively new technology to many of those in your consumer base.  Have a small area dedicated to instruction on how to scan the 2D barcodes, by doing so, you’re enabling more people to use the codes.

Tell them what they’ll get when they scan the 2D code.  Don’t keep what’s behind your QR code a complete mystery.  Give them a little incentive to scan your code — if you have an offer, let the consumer know there’s an offer available when they scan the code.  By letting your consumer in on at least part of  the secret, they’ll be more likely to take the time to scan to receive the additional information, redeem the offer or sign up for your newsletter/product information registration.

Include the right incentive for the portion of your target audience that will most likely be exposed to the message.  This comes back to personalization.  If you have the ability to know what portion of your target audience will be reading or interacting with your printed message, then you can personalize the landing page content, just as you would personalize the printed content.

Use a mobile landing page. Desktop landing pages viewed on a mobile screen not only take longer to download, but they’re also extremely hard to read without zooming in on the mobile phone’s screen.  With the average mobile viewer only willing to wait five to seven seconds for a page to load, it’s important to use a mobile landing page instead of a desktop landing page if you want to engage your customers for long periods of time.

Print is a powerful communication tool that can cut through the clutter of digital messages and when combined with the use of QR codes you’re able to reap the benefit of both print and digital communications.

Timothy Freeman
President
Print & Graphic Communications Association