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What’s the Deal with QR Codes?

qrcode.blogtrepreneurIf you’ve been anywhere recently – online or in the real world – you’ve seen them around. They look kind of weird, and if you don’t know what they’re for, they make no sense. They are Quick Response (QR) Codes, and they’re quickly becoming a mainstay of marketers everywhere. If you have a business and want to reach almost any audience, QR codes can help. I say ‘almost’ any audience, because these codes work with smart phones, and while it may seem like everyone has a smart phone these days, there is still a good chunk of the population that’s catching up.

If a large percentage of your customer base is made up of people with smart phones (and if it’s not now it will be soon enough), it’s time to make QR codes work for your business. Why? They’re versatile, easy to use, and they have an element of fun that not many marketing tools provide.

QR codes can be placed just about anywhere you can imagine. Sizes ranging from the side of a building down to a 200 square pixel image on a website are effective. Users just need to be able to scan the code with an app that’s available for free from anywhere smart phone apps are offered. They simply take a picture with the phone, and the code does the rest.

Example: You have a local club, and you want to promote a band that will be playing this weekend. Your usual marketing method is to display posters around town. Before, people had to try to remember the dates and location of your event, take your poster down, or write or type the info to take with them. Now, they can simply scan your QR code from the poster, it takes them to a landing page for your event, and they can buy tickets or add it to their calendar then and there!

Why You Should be Using QR Codes

All signs point to QR codes being here to stay. They’ll undoubtedly be replaced with something else down the road, but they’re not just a flash-in-the-pan fad either. So now’s the time for you to put them to work for your business. In case you still aren’t convinced, here are three good reasons to implement QR codes into your marketing strategy:

Your Audience is Mobile

Mobility is everything today. The smart phone isn’t the way of the future – it’s the way of now. And people are doing more and more with their mobile devices all the time. They expect to be able to interact with your brand via their phone, and QR codes give them the ability to do that.

Your Customers are Impatient

It’s not just your customers – it’s everyone. People are used to getting their information instantaneously. Having to enter a web address or – heaven forbid – actually perform a search to find your company will soon become ‘the old way’ of doing things. Give customers what they want by providing instant access to your promotions and company information.

It’s Free!

That’s right! Creating a QR code that links to your site or social media accounts, or that displays text, an email address, or even a ‘buy now’ link costs you nothing. Just go to a QR code generator like QRstuff.com and make one in seconds. You can even brand your QR codes with some tools, allowing you to incorporate your logo into the code design.

The bottom line is that there aren’t many good reasons not to use QR codes for your business. They might look weird, but they’ve got amazing potential. Have you used QR codes in your marketing? Share your experience in the comments below!

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