QR Codes
Posted by administrator on Friday, June 17th, 2011
QR Codes
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Chances are you have seen these images scattered all over your world: in magazines, on cereal boxes and everywhere in between. These are Quick Response Codes, or QR Codes, which are two-dimensional codes that grant consumers immediate access to information that they want. QR codes are two-dimensional matrix
barcodes that can hold thousands of alphanumeric characters of
information, which trumps the 20
numerical digit capability of your average one dimensional bar code. Similar to
the way that bar codes work when they are scanned by retailers at point of
sale to track inventory and product price, QR codes can be scanned by an Android, iPhone or other camera-enabled smartphones and hand-held devices. One QR code can encode the entire text of the Gettysburg Address three times! |
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The ability to hold more information and ease of use make them a great marketing and functional tool for small businesses. Instead of tracking inventory and price, your customers can email you, be linked to your website or facebook page and more!
How To Create Your Own QR Code
There are several free sites that will allow you to generate your own QR code, and they all range in complexity. A basic search for "QR code generator" will result in several choices to select from.
My personal favorite is http://createqrcode.appspot.com/. A popular simple code generator is Kaywa, which will allow you to create codes for landing pages, sms, and email. If you want to change the color of your QR code itself, along with other formatting capabilities, the QR Code generator Kerem Erkan may also spark your interest. Some free QR code generators will track some statistics as to how many times the code has been accessed.
Benefits to Generating a QR Code for your Business
Building a Customer Base
There’s no limit to how much you can share using QR codes, allowing you to find your publics and easily bring them together to build a community. Along with sharing a video or landing page, ebooks and even multiple pieces of content that share a common link can be shared just as easily. Invite your customers to "like" or send a friend request to your facebook page, to contact you, or to receive a special coupon code for attending quilt market or visiting your grand opening for any online purchase.
QR Codes grant immediacy to customers who are interested in learning about you and your business at the moment they hear about it. For example, if you have a brick and mortar store you could create a code which would take your customers to a map displaying your store location. Convenience and readily available information allow you to call your customers to action to help you build your customer base and help your customer easily find the supplies they need.
Having QR Codes for blog posts and newsletters that demonstrate your expertise around your community or at popular gatherings for your customer base can also assist you in building a strong offline community as well.
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Practical Examples for Using QR Codes |
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Happy QR Coding!
Comments
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I have two websites that you might find useful if you want to make QR codes. http://googleqrcodegenerator.com and http://googleqrcodegenerator.net If I violated your rules, please delete this comment.by Frank Maximchuk on 23 November 2011 at 11:51 a.m.
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