I am a big fan of QR Codes and SMS Marketing simply because they have the power to transform traditional advertising into a multi-media experience. They build engagement as users are able to interact with the brand through the use of mobile technology as opposed to only seeing or hearing advertisements.
For example, Nike embedded this QR Code into one of its magazine ads. By scanning the code, you can see the actual tv commercial for this ad. Abracadabra! Traditional advertising instantly transformed into a multi-media experience! Such an innovative and entertaining way to increase brand favorability on a low budget.
It is great that marketers are starting to incorporate QR Codes or SMS into their marketing strategies. I have seen text ‘this keyword’ to ’90210′ on billboards, newspaper ads and even on online display banners. More and more people have adopted text messaging, so naturally it makes sense for marketers to favor an SMS marketing strategy rather than choosing to display QR Codes on their traditional media (billboards, posters, magazine ads, postcards, etc). However, there is one major benefit that QR Codes provide that an SMS campaign does not…
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The Real Benefit of using QR Codes
Sure QR Codes can be displayed just about anywhere like on t-shirts, packages, statues, stickers, etc. After scanning a code, a user can see a mobile web page, watch a video, make a call, and more. If you use a QR Code service provider, you will even be able to track how many people scan your code, where people scan it, how long people spend on your site after scanning your code, total number of website pages individuals view after scanning your QR code, etc. However, although this information is cool to know, the real insight is actually measuring your offline media and discovering which media channel actually reaches more of your target audience.
Lets go back to our magazine example. Suppose you are a marketer and have decided to run ads in two magazines: GQ and Mens Health. Both magazines reach your targeted audience – males ages 25-45. Mens Health has a larger reach and costs a bit more to advertise, but that is alright. QR Codes can help determine which magazine generate a better ROI by simply creating a distinct QR Code for each magazine.
Assuming the ads were the same and the data (number of scans) were taken in the same period, we can calculate a QR Code scan rate (QR Codes divided by the number of magazines distributed). As you can see from the table above, GQ performs 23% better (16.23% vs. 13.19%). If we want to include cost in the matter, we can even say that GQ is also more efficient as it has a ‘Cost per QR Code Scan’ of $0.41 to $0.48.
Can this be done with SMS?
No, unless you want to create a different sms keyword for each publication you are running ads on, but no marketer in their right mind would do that.
I like QR too but there are some issues…
1: Many ads I see do not disclaim price? Mobile is not a free channel.
2: QR does not offer number discovery – SMS captures a mobile #?
3: QR is free to set up? But its only one way – usually taking people to WAP.
4: WAP sites + content are blocked on some carriers – T-Mobile etc.
5: WAP can capture user info but does not offer a LIVE trigger to validate the users number. .
This is why QR is not that ideal if you want to communicate back to customers and build a valid database.
@Rozzer
It really comes down to the QR Code or Mobile Provider you work with. If you use a free QR Code make like Beetag, you will not capture any data. However, if you are willing to pay to utilize a platform like Scanlife, you will be able to capture all sorts of information. However, although you will capture phone numbers, you will not be able to market to them because they did not opt in (they simply just scanned the code). In short, I agree, QR Code is not ideal if you want to communicate back to customers if you want to build a database, but it can be used to measure which offline channels (print, magazine, posters) work best.
Thanks for the comment.