Wednesday, June 22, 2011

QR Codes - Ideas for your business

QR Codes are simply another way of using a "bar code", of sorts, to engage your customers and partners. When a user scans a QR code on their handheld device the action can spur an assortment of activities on the handheld. You can have somebody scan a code and it can send the user to a URL on their mobile browser. Or, it could spawn a text message or put a calendar appointment on their calendar. Lots of possibilities.

We've been called on to do a few QR code implementations recently and I wanted to post a few quick ideas on how you can use QR codes in your business. Hopefully, this will get the juices flowing for you on how you can use this simple tactic to impact your business. Here are some thoughts:

* Retail: So many ideas. Use QR codes to provide coupons or remind customers about sales dates.

* Manufacturing: Use QR codes in your tradeshow booth to obtain contact information and give out incentives to prospects.

* Hospitality & Lodging: Big tie-ins between QR codes and loyalty programs.

* Restaurants: Good engagement tactic to get users to connect to you via SMS for deals, specials and loyalty program.

* Apparel: Exclusive notifications of new styles for users that engage with you via QR codes in print/online/offline media channels.

* Airlines: Scan the QR code in the terminal and in exchange for giving up your contact info, get a free beverage or frequent flyer miles or something similar. Lots of ideas here.

* Non-profits: QR codes can assist with reducing costs for events/seminars. Just did this for ITSMF (Information Technology Senior Management Forum) where we used QR codes in place of printed conference materials. Saved them a lot of money and the members loved it.

Shoot me an email if you want to discuss some low-cost ways of using QR codes to engage users, reduce costs or streamline processes. scott.burkey@macquarium.com