Are you wondering what new marketing technology you should test in your next direct mail campaign? QR codes with their robust uses, make a great option! QR codes have been around for some time but recently resurfaced during the pandemic.

As restaurants navigated the effects of the pandemic, they found safer ways to provide menus to customers by scanning a QR code. QR codes rapidly popped up in place of menus as they serve as a great alternative to quickly and easily accessing information.

So why stop at restaurant menus? How do we take this technology that gained traction over the last few years and apply it to marketing?

According to Statista, 75.8% million smartphone users in the U.S. scanned a QR code on their mobile devices in 2021. Now that many smartphones are equipped with QR code scanners, consumers no longer have to take the extra step to download a scanner app. Making it easier than ever to pull out a phone and scan a code. Thanks to these updates and new use cases, the usage of QR code scanners is projected to experience constant growth, reaching approximately 99.5 million users in the U.S. by 2025.

It’s time for marketers to test this technology in their campaigns and use QR codes to create a bridge between direct and digital media.

What is a QR code?

Let’s start with the basics. What exactly is a QR code? A QR code, commonly seen as a black and white square, is a barcode that can be scanned by a smartphone. These codes are attached to data that provides more information to the consumer. In most cases, QR codes are linked to URLs. This information can be the company’s website, a specific product or service, or it can take the consumer to a landing page with an offer or coupon. Darwill’s QR code capabilities direct consumers to specific websites, prompt a phone call, or send texts while collecting data on the overall usage of QR code scans.

How Do QR Codes Enhance Your Marketing?

Adding QR codes to your marketing efforts can help differentiate you from your competition. Plus, they encourage engagement between your brand and consumer and work as the perfect call-to-action to guide consumers further down the conversion funnel. Consumers are looking for ways to interact with brands. Recent statistics show that 45% of consumers are using QR codes to access marketing or promotional offers. Scanning QR codes are a simple way for them to learn more about the business, product, or deal. This interaction creates a memorable experience for the consumer which positively impacts brand sentiment – how they feel about your business – and their likeliness to convert.

QR codes also help connect your direct marketing efforts to your digital efforts. By scanning the code on a piece of mail, the consumer then is brought to a digital experience. This connection can help build a better omnichannel marketing experience for the consumer as it allows them to interact and gain information from multiple channels. Once they are on your website from the initial scan, you can further direct them to other services or products and hope that they explore more online. Bridging these two marketing efforts by QR codes helps to create an overall consistent consumer experience.

How QR Codes Help Your Business

Here are a few ways that QR codes can help your business:

• Better brand visibility
• Wider distribution of your content
• Quick and easy access to your content
• Direct consumers where you want them to go
• Connects your direct and digital marketing efforts
• Engaging and actionable for the consumer
• Increase website traffic
• Measurable and trackable results

Using a QR code on your direct marketing pieces can help you easily see engagement by the number of scans. Through tracking, you will be able to see if the QR code was scanned, if a conversion was completed after the scan, if it was scanned and no conversion took place, and changes to your website traffic in relation to the campaign. From the insights gained, you may consider leveraging QR codes for additional capabilities such as directing the consumer to phone calls and texts.

Start Tracking with Darwill

Engage your prospects and customers, create an interaction, and drive conversions with the help of QR codes. Darwill can help you add QR codes to your campaigns and connect them with your website or landing pages. Let’s get the conversation started! Contact us to learn more about our QR code capabilities.