With the rise in smartphones, QR codes have suddenly become very prevalent in marketing.  Are you already using QR codes in your email campaigns? Or maybe you’re asking, what’s a QR code?… (n.b. be sure to keep reading to see the two ‘best QR codes ever’ at the bottom of the post!)

“A QR code (short for Quick Response) is a specific matrix barcode (or two-dimensional code), readable by dedicated QR barcode readers and camera phones. The code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on a white background. The information encoded can be text, URL or other data”

QR code (Quick Response code) technology was invented back in 1994 by Toyota’s daughter company, Denso-Wave, to track parts in vehicle manufacturing. They offered a much higher data capacity than the bar- or UPC codes in use at the time, and was designed to allow its contents to be decoded at high speed. And while it was a big improvement over barcodes, its use was limited to consumer products at the time. Remember, smartphones were not common then, and had no scanning or camera capabilities, so there was no market for mobile QR applications.

Your business can benefit from QR codes because they enable customers to interact with your company and brand in real time, anytime. The QR Code experience is compact, takes place in seconds, and requires little more than a scan or a click by the target consumer. It’s virtually free to implement, except for a few minutes of labor required to create and code the data or links. And it’s 100% multichannel – from hard copy print to mobile, social media, email marketing, and the Internet.

Here’s an example of how this can work in email marketing: if you paste a QR code into an email, recipients can scan it with their smartphone, and they will instantly be able to perform the actions you intended using the encoded information, e.g. sign up, donate, share, “like”, etc. Depending on the coding, they would also be able to contact you (or your source page/site) in real time with their camera phone without having to type numbers or text messages in those tiny screens.

And you don’t need a “magic ring” to “unlock” the data. Many smartphones come with QR readers today. If you don’t already have one, you can download one of several that are available on the online app store. So anyone with a camera phone equipped with a QR code reader app can scan them!

QR codes are a great way to build your subscriber list from sources other than your website and email campaigns. The benefit is that customers can respond immediately and conveniently to your request − without having to type, change screens, scroll, or try to remember your website or landing page address. That improves your response rate. It is also a form of lead generation!

Here are some powerful ways for email marketers to use QR codes:

1) Offer QR Code sign up via email. What you do is encode an email message with the address of your campaign and an appropriate subject. When the user scans the code, their mobile email client will open in their smartphone and, once they accept to send the message, they will automatically be added to your campaign. It combines the best of the old and new to make it easy for any skill level.

2) Use it in follow up campaigns. Such a campaign could be a dedicated follow-up/auto responder series available only to those who sign up via a QR code and offering, for example, additional educational content. This could constitute part of a multichannel engagement strategy, and offer another incentive to new subscribers to become customers.

3) Link QR codes to exclusive content. Such as case studies, white papers, or product demos to help drive response rates and sales. Increase the value by segmenting your subscribers by interest, demographics, and purchasing history, for example:
“Segment a list of “high-value” subscribers who make larger dollar purchases or buy more often, and reward them with a “secret” QR code offering an e-book, exclusive sale, or 2-for-1 discount on their favorite items”

QR code can make it easier for subscribers, customers and prospects to contact your company, for a variety of reasons, some of which may be urgent are a few simple, but keep in mind there are some essential rules to follow in your QR code strategy to keep it relevant, useful and valuable:

• Good ad copy is essential. If you’re not a great writer, consider hiring one.
• Know why you want to use the code and where you want to take the user.Don’t make them do anything that will be perceived as useless. Lots of campaigns and companies are creating QR codes that simply link to their website.
• Instead, make sure you do something that gives the client something exciting, interactive, or exclusive.
• Give something that makes sense on the phone – and that can be delivered instantly.
• Tell people what they are going to get and how to use the QR codes to get it.
• Be sure the pages you lead people to are mobile-ready – load quickly, scale nicely, and are easy to navigate.

And finally, whatever you do, don’t waste the users’ time. Use this mini-course as your guide, then experiment, test, and only implement when you’re sure it’s going to work.

Tip: “It’s smart to link the QR code to a specific landing page to make it easier to track the links and identify the exact response provided by each mobile device. Furthermore, if you assign a reference number to a web form that is promoted by a QR code, you’ll be able to track the number of sign ups captured. You can then compare it to other ways of directing traffic to web forms (e.g. PPC campaigns, social media, surveys, etc.) and analyze the conversion rates”

When done right, QR codes can be a valuable tool for lead generation, and interaction with customers, however inneffective use will render it overkill or useless without a specific purpose or intent in mind.

Lastly, if you are not sure about using QR Codes in your email, you can try them in chocolate.  Yes, chocolate QR codes.

Update: As if chocolate QR codes aren’t cool enough, MediaPost has found a QR code made from Oreo Cookies – yes, Oreo Cookie QR Codes!