5 Pieces of Advice for New QR Code Users

QR codes present a unique opportunity to connect your offline customers with your online presence, but as uncle Ben famously said, “with great power comes great responsibility”. As adoption rates increase and consumers begin generating more QR codes, we’re going to see more QR code malpractice than ever before. So how do we make sure that this new wave of QR code users are implementing best practices?
1. Make QR codes that benefit your customer…not yourself!
If you’re mindset is “how will my QR codes help me” then you may need to reconsider the goals of your QR code campaign. Your campaign should provide users with something of value or something that will make their life easier. By using QR codes to excite, delight, and engage users, you are effectively insuring that users will continue to engage with your business and scan your future QR codes.
2. There is a difference between the free and paid QR code generators
Yes, you can generate a QR code for free just about anywhere these days but do you really know what you are getting? Free generators can be great when you’re simply trying to quickly generate a low resolution QR code file to use digitally but where they lack is in the features that should matter the most to people looking to use QR codes for business or marketing purposes. These features include high resolution vector image files, the ability to change error correction levels, a history of your generated codes, and analytics.
3. Never pay for a black and white QR code without analytics
Paying strictly for a “one off” high resolution black and white QR codes is a classic rookie mistake but a costly one that should be avoided. I’ve seen sites on the web charging as much as $85 for a simple high resolution black and white QR code that doesn’t include analytics or the ability to change and manage your QR code. The only reason websites like these can even continue to exist is because of the naivety of consumers looking to get started with QR codes. The bottom line is that you can generate a bare bones QR code for free all over the web, there is no need to shell out cash for one.
4. Use dynamic QR codes now or prepare for upset later
Dynamic URLs have been around for a while, but using dynamic URLs to create dynamic QR codes is a relatively new concept, one that many first time QR code users fail to take advantage of. It’s also something that we have written and talked about numerous times in the past because it is one of the biggest hurdles we try and help our clients get over. So why are dynamic QR codes such an important part of a QR code campaign? They’re so important because at least half of the people that generate QR codes will end up wanting to change the data encrypted in their QR codes at some point down the road and once you’ve printed your QR code on your business cards, flyers, and that snazzy magazine ad, there is no way you’re going to want to reprint all those materials just to swap out the QR code. You need to be able to change the data encrypted in the QR code without having to generate a new code and repring everything. This where the power of a dynamic QR code comes in. Making your QR code link to a shortened dynamic url (example http://qrs.ly/g41brpa instead of http://twitter.com/QRlicious) allows you to change the shortened dynamic URLs destination URL at anytime through your dynamic URL providers back end.
5. Gather analytics for continued QR code success
As with any form of marketing you need to be gathering as much data and analytics as possible to determine if your QR code campaign is working for you and your customers. Having insights into when, where, and who has been scanning your QR codes can help you learn who your users are and what you need to tweak in your campaign to get even better results. Most analytics platforms include data on each scans time, device type, and relative location.
Getting started with QR codes can be exciting and people tend to jump into generating and deploying their QR codes without doing much research beforehand. If nothing else I hope these few pieces of advice help you get started on the right foot.
As always, feel free to leave questions or other pieces of advice in the comments below!
by QRlicious