Should you use QR Codes to promote your business?
(This column first appeared on RIMOFTHEWORLD.net on July 18, 2011.)
Overall, I’m a very safe driver. In fact, if you ask my kids, they’ll eagerly tell you how irritating it is that I so closely follow the rules of the road. I drive the speed limit, observe stop signs, obey traffic signals, use my turn indicators at intersections—the works!
But I have to admit I have a pet peeve while driving on San Bernardino Mountain roads. My husband explains it like this:
If you can’t run with the big dogs…get off the dang road!
While I was on Grass Valley last week, I had the misfortune of encountering a woman who chose to ignore the posted speed limit of 35 and opted, instead, to drive 5 MPH…for several miles. But heck, this is a free country. So she has the right to drive whatever speed she prefers. Let’s face it—few and far between are the drivers who are ticketed for driving under the speed limit. But I have one small request: if you insist on driving at a snail’s pace, please have the decency to turn out so others, who actually have a pulse, can pull ahead.
When the slug finally reached her destination and turned right, I made the critical error of accommodating my passengers’ requests to lay on my horn. As soon as I did, the turtle finally discovered the location of her gas pedal and made a 180-degree hairpin turn until her silver BMW pinned my green Kia to the shoulder. For several minutes, we rode two astride in the very narrow right lane, like battling chariots in Ben Hur.
I finally pulled into a driveway and jumped out of my car to face my nemesis. I tried in vain to raise my voice above the cacophony of obscenities she yelled so I could tell her to learn how to drive! In hindsight, I realize that both of us were at fault…she for driving under the speed limit and I for using my horn to communicate road rage. The entire situation would have been avoided if we had followed the rules of the road.
As licensed drivers, we can either make sure we understand and implement changes and updates to California DMV Code or suffer the consequences of our ignorance. This is also true when it comes to advertising in the digital age. We have the choice to bury our heads in the sand and refuse to adopt modern marketing strategies or do whatever it takes to stay informed.
Case in point? Mobile Tagging. As a business owner in 2011, do you know what it is? Do you care? Should you take the time to figure it out?
Initially designed as a method for tracking inventory at a Toyota subsidiary in Japan in 1994, the most popular form of mobile tagging is the QR Code. These codes are similar to the barcodes used by retailers to track inventory and price products at points of sale. QR Codes store addresses and URLs and may appear in magazines and newspapers or on signs, buses and business cards—in fact, virtually anywhere.
Users with a camera phone equipped with the correct reader application can scan the image of the QR code to display text, contact information, connect to a wireless network, or open a webpage in the phone’s internet browser. QR Codes are free and easy for advertisers to create and customers to access.
I should also mention that Microsoft has created a convoluted, personalized mobile tagging platform called Microsoft Tag which has yet to take off. But unless makers retool the complicated instructions, I doubt it will threaten the QR market.
To create a QR Code:
- Create a call to action so people know what to do once they access your advertising content.
- Use a free QR Code Generator to enter a destination URL that connects to your content.
- Out pops a personalized digital two-dimensional matrix barcode consisting of black modules arranged in a square pattern on a white background. Post the barcode anywhere you want existing or potential customers to find it.
- That’s it. It’s really that simple.
To access a QR Code:
- Download a free Apple or Android QR Code Reader application to your Internet-enabled mobile camera phone.
- Scan any QR Code with your QR Reader.
- Enjoy the content.
- That’s it. It’s really that simple.
But is the relative ease of creating a QR Code reason enough to do so?
Consider this: in the United States, the total population of mobile device owners (cellphone and/or tablet users) is 84%. Since QR Code Readers are free and hip and trendy (for the time being, at least), mobile tagging is an efficient method for marketing on virtually any advertising budget. In fact, the Social Media Examiner reports:
Storage capacity and ease of use makes QR Codes practical for small businesses.
If you remain undecided and would like a few moments to consider whether the use of QR Codes is right for you and your small business, I have only one request: please don’t ponder it while driving on Grass Valley Road.
Until next time, I’ll be Bowling for Business.