Topic 6 - ICT & Business

• Ease Of Use

What’s great about QR codes is that they can be added to virtually anything you can imagine, from cereal packets to advertisements on the underground. This level of versatility can prove immensely helpful for advertisers and marketers.

• Range Of Uses

QR codes can be used in hundreds of different ways. QR codes can also be used to provide a better user experience in museums, restaurants, on display printing and in other manners.

• Easily Trackable

The use of web analytics and unique codes for different purposes enables marketers to gain valuable insight regarding the performance of their marketing campaigns, making it easy to figure out what works and what falls short of expectations.

• Send Mobile Users To Promotional Content

As the name implies, QR codes are meant to offer a quick response mechanism to point users toward the right direction, saving them the time and energy required in typing a URL.

When used effectively and alongside other mobile optimization strategies, these codes can pique the attention of users at the precise moment when they have shown interest in a particular video or advertisement. This usually translates to higher conversion and opt-in rates, enticing users to subscribe to an email list and receive promotional messages in the future.

• Playing With The Curiosity Of Mobile Users

Perhaps this is a result of QR codes being relatively new, and this effect may wear off once they become widely used by brands. But right now, mobile users couldn’t help but scan a QR code, simply to find out where it would lead them.

• Extremely Cost-Effective

QR codes may seem too complicated, but creating them wouldn’t put a dent in businesses’ marketing budget.

• Each code is unique

These types of QR codes are generated via variable data technology and are often used to track responses to direct mail campaigns. Since the QR code is unique and tied to a specific recipient, the marketer will have the ability to see who responds to a marketing piece and when.

• Speed

Gives you information quicker than having to type it in Holds more information than a bar code

• Alternatives Abound

There are plenty of alternatives to QR codes, and some say that these can provide a higher level of user experience. One such example is Blippar, which utilizes the creative itself such as a product image or brand logo as the trigger for interaction.

• A QR Code Reader Is A Must

For many, this is the biggest downside to using QR codes. Mobile users have no choice but to download a QR reader before they can start scanning. Although there are a lot of free apps out there, this can still limit the number of users who can access the codes.

But this may not be a problem in the near future. Many brands have started to incorporate QR readers in their mobile apps. It also shouldn’t be a surprise if smartphone manufacturers start offering devices with a built-in reader.

• Scanning Can Take A Long Time

Mobile users have to take out their phone, launch their reader, scan the code, and wait for it to direct them to the landing page. Those with a fast and stable internet connection shouldn’t have any issues with this, but those who only rely on 3G may prove to have a less then optimal user experience.

• Lack Of Awareness

An increasing number of businesses make use of QR codes, but only a handful of the population uses them. According to comScore, 14m US consumers use QR codes, but this only represents 6.2% of the total number of mobile users in the US. This figure also includes barcode scanning. Consumers have different purposes for scanning barcodes compared to scanning QR codes, making the seemingly huge figure rather misleading.

• Damaged

Torn or damaged codes will not work and users could get frustrated