Tag Archives: QR Codes

CNN Says Marketers Use QR Codes, For Better Or Worse

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Just came across this article on the CNN site that provides numerous examples — some successful and some not so — of various businesses using QR codes in their marketing.

(Click here to read the article on the CNN website)

As is the case with any other marketing tool, you can profit from adding QR codes to your mobile marketing arsenal or you can lose money. It’s all about the right approach and implementation.  It makes you money if it adds value to your customer. Otherwise it becomes just another cumbersome and useless technological doohickey that was put in place as a tribute to the latest fashion in technology trends with no real connection to the sales conversations from the customers that is supposed to take place in that business.

You’ll find both types of examples (good and bad) in this article.

Here’s an interesting stat that I gleaned from it: Over 32% of cell phone users already have QR scanning software installed on their smartphone. That number grows every day. Over half of those people have used their QR Code scanner to get a coupon or a deal.

Now, ask yourself how many businesses right now, in your town, are marketing QR Code-based coupons to prospective customers? The answer is, hardly any.

If those stats are true, simply adding QR Codes to your marketing may potentially give you almost exclusive access to about 16% of the population.  If this is not shooting fish in the barrel, I don’t know what is.

And if you’re still not a believer in QR Codes, you should at the very least add SMS Marketing and SMS List Building to your advertising efforts.  The more channels you use to reach your customer, the better your chances of getting the sale are.

Small Town in Texas Uses QR Codes to Save Money, Increase Tourism, and Manage Projects

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QR (Quick Response) Codes are a relative novelty on the North American continent. However, in Japan, they have been around for over 20 years and have been successfully used for… like, everything. They are just a part of everyday life.

This is about to happen here as well. (You could be reading this post just a few months after I have created it and it may all seem old news by then.)

While many businesses are looking for more ways to use QR Codes in their marketing, here is a great example of a local government using QR Codes creatively and smartly to save money, attract more tourists to their town’s landmarks, and better manage their projects.

What makes QR Codes so useful is this:

  • Everyone can generate them free
  • Everyone can read them, also for free, with their cell phone
  • And you can assign practically any function to it. After all, all you need to do is associate it with a link to a website, and then the website can do whatever you want)

We are going to be covering a lot of ways to use QR Codes in small business marketing. Some examples will be obvious and some less so. If you come across a great example, or have a personal success story to share about how you use QR Codes in your small business marketing or operations, drop us a note and we’ll be happy to give you a moment of fame on this website.

11 Easy Local Marketing Ideas (Part 1)

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Here are some easy-to-do local marketing ideas.

1. Lawn Signs

Put a sign outside your store or in the window of your office and provide some sort of incentive to lure the passes-by in. This could be a coupon or an offer to receive some valuable free information. Think about using a QR Code on that sign. These days, almost everyone walks around with a smart phone in their back pocket.

2. Cork boards

Print out a simple flier with a tear-aways at the bottom. Make it easy for your prospects to take the information about your offer with them. Now take these fliers to local community centres, hockey arenas, libraries, swimming pools and anywhere where there would be a “community” cork board. Who said local marketing has to be super high-tech?

3. Give Away Flyers for Other Businesses

And have these other businesses give away your flyer to their customers. Once you set up a deal like this with one business, go talk to one or two more. Then rinse and repeat. Imagine how many people a bunch of local businesses can send to you.

4. Create or Sponsor a Contest

Contests are fun and are usually hugely profitable. The best part is that the topic of the contest doesn’t really need to relate to what you do. They position your business and you as an active member of the local community and offer great opportunities for media placement. Pumpkin Carving contests, Best Halloween Costume contests, Karaoki contest, you name it… Just make sure to get the schools and local community groups involved and don’t forget to distribute a coupon or a special offer that everyone that shows up to the contest may partake in.

Start with these easy local marketing ideas and will give you a few more next time.

QR Codes: If You Were Asking For A Break, You’ve Just Got One

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Have you seen these big ugly square things around? They are called QR Codes and they have the potential of creating the biggest growth in your sales in the next 6 to 36 months.

Here’s why.

You are about to see a lot more of these QR Codes around in a very short time. If you have a business and are not using them to build you mobile list, get your name into more people’s cell phones, push out specials and promos, and lure in the passes-by, you’re missing out on a lot of sales.

Right now it’s still a novelty and many people don’t know what this is all about. However, this situation is about to change is it’s going to happen rapidly.

I already see parents on my son’s hockey team “scan” each other with the BlackBerry’s. The other day, I happened to drive by one of the Liberal candidate’s signs in Toronto that featured a QR code. And there is a realtor on my street that has a sign for the house with a QR code on it!

The sooner you jump onto this bandwagon the bigger will be your reward. There are so many things you can do with them. The possibilities are only limited by your imagination.

If you are a restaurant, you can set up some table tents with QR codes and the people could load the information about your establishment or your food into their smart phone by just pointing it to the QR Code. You can give them specials, have them join your VIP Club, or simply provide them more some information about the ingredients and the recipes you use.

If you are a salon owner, put out a sign in the window with your QR code on it. A passer-by may want to scan it, join your mobile list and start receiving special offers from you. And who knows, maybe the offer you will immediately send to their phone will be the one and makes them change their plans and walk into your store.

If you are a photographer, instead of just dropping off fliers and postcards at local copy shops, you can add you QR Code and have your prospects immediately go to your website and check out your work.

As I said, the only limit if your imagination. I predict that the QR Code explosion is coming. It’s almost here, it’s just around the corner. Don’t let it take you by surprise. Surprises are good when it’s a nice gift you get on your birthday. Surprises are typically not a good thing in business.