Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic QR codes seemed a bit silly or superfluous.
QR codes were in worldwide use before the dawn of the new millennium, but never really took off in the U.S. because they required an app to do the scanning and many users – and marketers! — were left frustrated.
Two things, however, happened that prevented QR codes from solely winding up in early tech time capsules, nestled somewhere between flip phones and feeding instructions for virtual pets.
First, the process of using QR codes was finally streamlined when Apple’s 2017 iOS update made it easy to scan QR codes with the iPhone camera.
Then in the spring of 2020 the coronavirus crisis forced restaurants and retailers to creatively figure out new contactless ways to provide menus and other crucial information to customers.
Hello QR Codes!
Marketers Find New Uses for QR Codes
Almost overnight, QR codes became ubiquitous as businesses and their patrons embraced how useful they could be in a COVID world.
Forbes looked at the use of QR codes since the pandemic started and found the following:
- Takeout dinner menus and ordering
- App downloads
- Mailing list addition
- Office space rental information on suite number signage
- Used-car window sticker that connected users to CarFax reports
- Checking into a business, such as a law firm, instead of the traditional paper and pencil
- On for-sale signs in front of houses to provide detailed information vs. the traditional printed flyer in a slot.
And those were just the standard QR code uses, other outside of the box QR code usage, according to Forbes, includes:
- Wedding invites instead of RSVP cards
- Gameday rosters at major league ballparks
- At art galleries and museums next to exhibits to provide detailed information
- On cocktail napkins to promote businesses such as law firms
- In bathrooms to call for a taxi
- Temporary tattoo QR codes that connect people to a social media account
With QR codes not going away anytime soon, businesses need to figure out where the technology fits into their marketing plans.
Start using QR codes in your marketing strategy and see your results grow rapidly.
Click here to contact us and learn how we can help you use QR codes for your business.
from blog.adwhite.com
