Printed materials are a great way to build relationships with customers at any stage of the funnel but, print advertising has some downsides. If you want significant reach you must compete with other ad buyers for limited space in national publications, which often leads to exorbitant costs. An ad in a national magazine can cost up to $500,000. It is not wise to be pennywise and pound-foolish in the advertising game, it is often worth it to spend that much if the ROAS justifies it. However, measuring the ROAS of print advertising is difficult. Unlike digital advertising, which makes attribution easy, print advertising relies on more unreliable metrics like circulation. QR codes solve this problem by fusing the digital and physical world by acting like a physical hyperlink.
What are QR Codes?
Scan the QR code below with the camera app on your phone before we explain what QR Codes are and how they work.
If you scanned the code, you were directed to our contact page. QR codes are two-dimensional barcodes storing information that can be read by "machines". They were first used in manufacturing to track vehicles and parts, but recently marketers have adopted them. QR codes are used in marketing to store URLs that can convert visitors to the next stage of the marketing funnel.
- Website URLs
- Social Media Profiles
- Contact Forms
- App Download Links
- Event Information
- Product Information
- Surveys and Reviews
QR Code Marketing Benefits
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QR Codes Help Advertisers Deal With Limited Space
The biggest disadvantage of marketing in the physical world is limited space. QR codes have a massive advantage over text in physical ads because they store information in a compact space. In print marketing the smaller your advertisement, the lower your advertising spend. A QR code that directs users to a webpage filled with information metaphorically increases the size of your ad. The webpage your QR codes redirect to becomes an extension of your advertisement.
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QR Codes Increase Engagement
Attention spans are shrinking and shrinking fast. Smartphones have created a world where you are constantly competing for your target audience's attention. QR codes give you a huge advantage in this environment by reducing the time it takes to engage with your message. The customer does not have to enter a URL manually, they are automatically redirected to the appropriate page when they use their QR code reader.
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QR Codes Allow Tracking In Print
Traditional print media guesstimates ROI because you can never tell how many people viewed your ad and what actions, if any, they took. Dynamic QR codes allow you to collect information about where, when, and who scanned your QR code. Once you can measure performance, you can manage performance.
How Can I Use QR Codes In My Business?
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Generate A QR Code
If you want the full benefits of QR codes, use a QR code generator subscription service to create your QR codes. We aren't going to make any recommendations in this blog post for neutrality, but you can use Google to find a provider that suits your needs.
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Communicate With Customers At Every Touchpoint
Print marketing isn't limited to newspapers and magazine advertisements. Any physical item related to your brand can be transformed into a powerful instrument for marketing. Do you give customer receipts? Do you ship your product in branded packaging? Do you have business cards? If you answered yes to any of those, you should implement them into your marketing strategy.
A coupon is a great place to inform customers about your loyalty program. The product packaging is a great place to give customers the option of sharing their purchases on social media. Every piece of paper you hand to the customer should move your relationship forward.
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Choose QR Code Intent
What action do you want your customer to take? What stage of the funnel is the target in? These are things you need to take into consideration when you decide what information to store in your QR code. Here are a few examples of some common QR code use cases.
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Collect Customer Feedback
At Growth Cowboys, we have the philosophy that conversion rate optimization (CRO) is the main pillar of digital marketing. This approach allows us to look at the marketing funnel holistically, unlike many of our contemporaries who employ a more top-of-the-funnel-heavy approach. The ideal relationship with a customer doesn't end after a purchase. We want the customer to make purchases repeatedly and to sell our products and services to people in their network.
Gathering customer feedback is one of the most effective ways to do this. Customer feedback allows customers who like your product or service to give your brand credibility, making it easier for audience members in the consideration phase of the marketing funnel to make a decision. The second benefit of customer feedback is discovering the customer's pain points during the customer journey. For every potential customer who perseveres through a pain point, multiple customers are frustrated and drop out of the funnel.
Was your ad copy uninspired? Was your product description difficult to understand? Was the checkout process confusing? Is the information on your website easy to find? Customer feedback allows you to answer those questions, increasing your conversion rate.
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Collect Customer Contact Information
Do you have a CRM provider? Do you have an email marketing strategy? If you do, a well-optimized contact page is a perfect destination for a QR Code. Use this as a starting point for developing a relationship with a customer.
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We hope this guide makes things easier for you as you use QR codes to boost print marketing. If you need additional help, Growth Cowboys is offering to execute a QR code strategy for free or you can contact us for additional information.