QR Codes – Driving Higher Response Rates for Your Print and Direct Mail

In case you’ve missed it somehow, the use of QR codes – those odd, boxy little black and white grids you see on all kinds of things – has skyrocketed. Bitly, a company that shortens URL links, said QR code downloads have increased 750% in the past 18 months. Why? If you guessed the pandemic, you’d be right. They’ve also been helped by the fact that users no longer have to download an app to their phone to use them.

What QR codes Do

It’s really simple A user “reads” a QR code by scanning it with his or her phone. Then it takes them wherever that QR code has been set to link them online. No remembering or entering a URL. And it’s all touchless. Hence their popularity in the pandemic.

How Marketers use QR codes

Since QR codes offer you a touchless way to take someone wherever you want to online, potential uses are just about endless. The most common application historically has been to link a user from some type of offline ad to a website, a landing page, a product page or lead generation form. And most of us have used QR codes as replacements for paper airline tickets. The fastest growing use in the U.S. is probably in restaurants – who put them on tables – allowing diners to connect to the menu and sometimes even order online. No more paper menus, and in some restaurants, no more wait staff too.

Other creative uses are also growing. Here’s just a couple of examples:

• Schools use QR codes to connect home bound kids to study materials
• Food marketers put them on packages to take users to recipe ideas
• Museums put them next to artwork to take interested viewers to more in-depth information on the art and artist
• Marketers who want you to download an app use QR codes to connect you directly to their app downloads

How About Print Collateral and Direct Mail?

Good question. The opportunities here are also endless. A lot of marketers, including many we work with, are leveraging codes creatively – typically to do one or more of these three things: –

1. Make it easier for possible buyers to take the next step and keep moving through the sales funnel
2. Seamlessly connect printed materials with exciting, dynamic online content
3. Gain more insight into what print strategies, tactics and content are most effective at driving target audience action

To unpack these opportunities a bit more, we’ll share a few examples of how QR codes can support these goals.

Driving Higher Response Rates

Imagine your typical QR-less brochure or direct piece program. The call to action is probably to get the reader to type your URL into their browser, or to use their phone to call your number. Sounds simple enough, but you can still lose potential customers expecting them to do that much. Add a QR code and you reduce the friction.  When the code is scanned you can take someone directly to your website or landing page. Codes can also be setup to launch a phone call, send a pre-written email or text from the users phone to your business. In short, they can make the next step just that much easier.

Connecting Your Print with Your Digital Universe

We’re big fans of the power of print – particularly in today’s digital world (read more). QR codes let you seamlessly connect your print and your online world by linking people easily to more information and more exciting content online. For instance:

• Informational or how-to videos
• Maps showing your business locations or local retailers selling you product
• Your social media pages
• Promotional offers or sweepstakes
• Your podcasts

This also means that instead of including detail in your print – like specific product information – you can save the space by using a QR code to link people to it. You get a better, less cluttered print piece. Your potential customer gets more exciting, harder selling content.

Eliminate Outdated Print Content

Your marketing programs change. A printed piece can’t. But where a QR code on your print takes someone can change endlessly. How does this help? Banks, for instance, with changeable interest rates don’t have to put their rates on their print. Instead they use a QR code linking people to their latest rate info. So, if you have prices, product lines and promotions that are in flux, using codes on your print ensures people always have access to the latest information.

Understanding What Strategies and Tactics Work Best

QR codes offer you an easy way to learn more about what creative works best, and what marketing tactics are most effective in driving leads and sales. Simply use different QR codes on each element – direct mail, collateral, packaging – and then track which codes pull the highest response rates.

In summary, QR codes are hot. And familiarity breeds comfort. You no longer have to worry about whether your audience is willing to use QR codes. Most are. And the  opportunities offered by codes to support your print collateral and direct mail programs are limited only by your imagination. Still, if you want help getting started with codes or finding creative new ways to use them, we’re ready to help.