Save Money Using QR Codes on Your Next Postcard Mailing
During July and August of 2012, the USPS will offer a Mobile Barcode Promotion that rewards contractors who use direct mailers launching campaigns incorporating QR Codes with an upfront 3 percent postage discount on qualifying Standard and First-Class Mail letters, flats or cards. This has brought a lot of questions about QR Codes and how to implement them and ways to use them.
First off QR (Quick Response) codes have been around since 1994 used by large companies to track products. In the past few years, small businesses have started using QR codes to direct consumers to a specific URL, such as a web page offering discount coupons, a YouTube video, or more information about a product on display. Smart phones, with a simple download of a reader application, and can read your offer in seconds, directing interested prospects to countless amounts of information and special offers.
The matrix QR barcode consists of square dots in a square pattern against a white background. When you scan a code with a smartphone QR reader app, you're automatically taken to a designated URL on your device. For example the QR code listed above, goes to our contractor marketing program.
Creating QR codes is the easy part. You can simply go to sites, like www.qrstuff.com to create a simple QR code. The more difficult part though is where do you want people to go, once they scan the QR code.
Listed below are some ideas on where to direct QR Codes that you create:
- Have a hidden page on your website that can only be accessed via the QR code. The page can give clients special discounts or tips. Always make sure that the page they are going to view is mobile-friendly, as majority of QR readers are using a smartphone.
- Have it directed to a video promoting your company and services.
- Business Cards: You can actually set up a QR code to download your contact information directly from the QR code, which allows people to store your information faster.
Much like any marketing opportunity, make sure that the landing pages you are creating have some kind of tracking on it, so you can know the success of using QR Codes. Specifically, if you are using multiple QR codes on different pieces. Much like direct mail marketing, continue to test, test, and test again to get the best results in using this strategy.
About Aaron O'Hanlon
Aaron O'Hanlon is the CEO and Co-Founder of Footbridge Media, a digital marketing agency, specializing in the contracting industry. It is his mission to create awareness of marketing online to the home improvement industry and to educate, inform, and assist contractors in taking over their own online presence.
