QR Code Marketing Basics

I've had several great conversations lately about using the open platform QR (or Quick Response) code in some integrated marketing campaigns. First, let me begin by saying that QR is one type of non-proprietary 2D barcode-- but there are others.  Microsoft's Tag platform is a great example of what I would want to stay away from.  You need their reader, their software, and the platform directs via their site. Not very open. But I digress-- here are some basics you need to consider when evaluating a mobile call to action using a QR code.

1.  Think about the content that you're going to provide. If I scan your code and it goes to your regular website, I'm less likely to convert to a customer, but I'm also likely to have a negative brand experience if the site is optimized for mobile.  Don't forget, these are people snapping photos of codes from their phones.

2.  Consider the location of the code. If it's on a subway, people can scan it, but they won't be able to go to the intended mobile site (since there's no service in the under-tubes). Did I just make that up? Under-tubes? cool. But also-- don't put it at the bottom, if the bottom is going to be at shoe level. Not bend-friendly.

3.  Think about the creative for the campaign and how that integrates with the code.  Tell your creative team ahead of time, so the big checker-board QR code doesn't entirely look like an afterthought. Contrast is important, but the codes don't have to be black and white to work. Experiment. Just make sure you test everything before it's printed and posted all over the city.

4.  Putting the same code on a product for more product information? Make it easy for the customer-- they've gone to the trouble of scanning your code, and you should know which code is on which product, so tailor the experience. Go right to that product, and if you can, even make assumptions about location. (Maybe you're a multi-national and you print different labels for different regions?)

5.  The more data, the larger the code, the trickier to focus and scan. If possible, use short links.  Part of the purpose of 4QR is to provide a very short link that can be re-directed, but that encodes into QR as a very readable code.

6.  You don't need a smart phone to read a QR code, so be careful not to make assumptions about your audience. A standard flip phone with a camera can read the code, so this goes back to #1-- making sure the content you deliver is optimized for mobile.

7.  Are people used to interacting with ads like this?  Nope.  In Europe and Japan, QR codes are a known commodity, but here in North America, the average person has only every seen a code on their FedEx package, and doesn't even know what they're for.  Don't forget to incorporate some instructional copy in your calls to action, if you want to maximize response.  (If you know anyone at Rogers/Telus/Bell--- ask them to start putting reader software on phones as standard).  Pretty soon Facebook's 400 million users will be educated on the QR phenom, so that should help too.

8.  Deliver Value. Make sure that when someone scans your code, on your ad (or whatever medium) that they get something for it. More information is boring. Get them to enter their email on the mobile site for a chance to win something. Ask them for their opinion via comment/forum.  Give them a chance to complain, if that's what you need.  More information will get stale pretty fast, so think about what the call to action is.

8b. This is not the web (sort of). These people are walking around, reading the paper, standing in a bus shelter, reading a poster at the movies, picking up your product off the shelf-- what do you want them to do?  Usually digital marketers are stuck saying "Check out stores for details" and that sort of thing, because their audience in online (read: at the computer).  Now, they're out and about.  Tell them to BUY!  Give them a coupon they can show at the checkout! Show them something in real life like when the next bus is coming, or what the trailer looks like for the movies they're deciding on in the theatre.  There are lots of things you can do, but the gist of it is that the user is mobile.


There are lots of things I'm sure I've missed.  Leave a comment with something that Marketers should keep in mind when they use QR codes in their campaigns...

Locations on Twitter

Twitter just launched their Geo-API for the rest of us...  What does this mean? It means you need to be careful about where you're tweeting from, or change your settings.  Remember FourSquare's problem?

Codes for Life: 4QR

I'm working on this side project that I'd love to get some feedback on. I caution you, it's slightly nerdy, and will most likely only interest marketing/advertising/research people and geeks.

The site is 4QR.me and it's essentially the marriage of Quick Response codes (those 2D checker-board things you see on the FedEx label) and Short URLs (like TinyURL, Bit.ly, etc) except with a reusable component making the effort more long-term, and with built-in analytics, to make it more attractive to marketers.

I made a nice picture to help explain it.

I'd love to get your feedback about how this early concept works, so if you'd like an invite to this private beta, just go here and get one.  If you want a bit more info, check out the blog I set up to explain it.  Cheers.

Possible Facebook Page Spammers

People think that all of these random, albeit funny, Facebook pages are harmless. You can always hide or un-Fan, right? Yes and No.

Here's the trick:  You create a page that people rally behind, because it's timely, funny, etc.  You get people to share with their friends, and spend most of your effort on your quest to a number (Most fans than Stephen Harper, or more Canadians than Americans, etc).  You end up with possibly hundreds of thousands of people who are fans. I watched the "Sidney Crosby's Goal" fan page go up by tens of thousands in under a day after his amazing gold-medal winning goal. But why? It's a rally-point, but not something/someone you want to hear from again and again. Once you have all these fans, you can un-publish the page.  It won't be found in search by anyone except admins, and somewhat disappears from the site.  So now what.

Well, as the spammer that you are, you have have the ability to inject marketing into the streams of your fans. This is the key to any Fan Page.  The ability to inject targeted messaging, images, links, video or any combination thereof into the feeds of fans is a dream for a shifty marketer.

Now the rub is that with every deployment, if it's too spammy, you'll get hidden, you'll get reported, etc.  If it's just commercial enough to get the point across, but not piss anyone off, you're golden.  You also can't change the name of your page, so it will always say "Can this Pickle get more fans than Nickleback" before all your messages, however you can of course change your profile picture and thumbnail to anything else.

I have a feeling the spammers know this.  I have a feeling the average person does not (which is why we see some many of these pages spreading like herpes).  You're not likely to ever see a trusted brand pull this kind of move, because it would get eaten up in the media, and would lose a lot more than fans-- however, it's average joe's that have made most of the viral pages, and they may not have the same code of conduct.

Beware.

Organic Growth vs. Social Ads

 

One of the side benefits of doing campaigns on Facebook using social ads, is that if the ad copy and image and headline are crafted properly, and the landing page is relevant, and the fans are engaged by what you're doing, you can actually grow a fan base in addition to marketing your campaign.

The graph above is my approximation of two curves relevant to this discussion. The first is ad spending, and this can be across all campaigns, regions and internal stakeholders, as long as the ads are all going to the fan page.  The second is showing the growth of the fan base.

Stage 1) You have very few fans. Your social ads are targeting lots of different groups for various campaigns and of all these people, a percentage will stick around and become a fan. Anything you put in your news feed (and thus push out to your fans) is generic, because you don't have very many fans.

Stage 2) You're starting to get a fan base. You are targeting ads more and more, but your existing fans are still seeing everything you push out to them.

Stage 3) Fan base is starting to take off. Now you are starting to target your posts so that you push more relevant offers, events, etc.  You still have some generic content for everyone, but that's brand-building stuff, and only engages on the surface.  You're still doing highly targeted ads, but your fan base is starting to cover almost all of your market (who are on Facebook anyway...)

Stage 4) This is where you want to be. You have a huge fan base now, and can get a huge lift in sales or community engagement for event (or any other action) just by targeting posts in your feed.  Almost everything you're doing now is targeted. (You're using a spreadsheet just to keep track of what your posting, because there are some many stakeholders and groups involved.  Ad spending can now start to be scaled back (see graph). You're reaching so many people (who are telling their friends, who tell their friends) that you only need to spend on social ads to get the buzz started, or to launch something out of left field, or to find a new audience (for example when Dove started marketing harder to men: Their existing base was likely a high percentage of women).

We all want to get to my Stage 4.  Huge fan base. Lots of eyeballs, lots of engagement, comments, interaction and conversation-- but to get there, organic growth isn't enough.

Consider your next marketing campaign, and examine the marketing mix. How much are you allocating to digital, and of that, how much are you spending on clicks from your exact audience.  It really puts it in perspective when you compare what kind of conversion you can get from $5000 in social ads vs. that same $5000 spent on the radio...  

Agree? Disagree?  Let me know.