14 smart ways to use QR codes for your business

More people than ever are using their smartphones to instantly connect to the world around them. This connection goes beyond social relationships and into the consumer world, where customers interact more regularly with their favorite brands through their smart devices.

An example of this is the recent growth of QR codes, designed to give users a seamless interactive experience with a product or service. Although QR technology has been around for decades, the pandemic has inspired many brands to use these codes for a contactless experience when checking in for appointments or viewing restaurant menus.

Want to use QR codes in your business, but don’t know where to start? Read on for 14 smart ways to integrate this innovative technology into your next marketing campaign, as shared by the members of businesskinda.com Business Council.

1. Allow customers to reorder automatically

When we launched our hair care line, we put a QR code on every product bottle. The QR code takes people to the website so that they can automatically order the product directly from their phone. No need to go to the salon or do a Google search because it’s all on the bottle! – Chelle Neff, Urban Betty

2. Make presentations interactive

Recently I discovered a new way to use QR codes during long presentations, trainings and seminars. QR codes with questions built into presentations can create a very interactive way to deliver a boring or long seminar or training. And when people answer questions, it can create real-time surveys that show results right away. – Dina Russia, Codify

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3. Integrate into video

With businesses of all sizes building QR codes into their marketing campaigns as a new way to communicate with customers, QR code usage has increased in the first half of 2022 from the previous year. Some smart uses of QR codes according to our research include coupon sharing, creating virtual business cards, promoting events, and integrating into a video for product placement and cross-promotion. – Toby Gabrieler, bitly

4. Capture leads from offline sources

I like the idea of ​​using QR codes in a book page or a magazine article. You can invite the reader to scan it to download a free resource or watch a video. It’s a great way to capture leads from offline sources where it’s hard to measure the results of your marketing. – Matteo Pittaluga, Marketing genius | Allinners LLC

5. Provide comprehensive, detailed information:

A smart way to make use of QR codes is to provide comprehensive, detailed information (related to a product, service or item) that can be edited and updated on a regular basis. This provides companies with cost savings without having to reprint updated material. QR codes allow consumers to actively engage in real-time and generate statistics based on scans. – Malysa Lec, PANYA FABRICATE WELDING AND MACHINE

6. Eliminate steps in the user journey

QR codes have become the new go-to marketing strategy in many ways. In a world where convenience is paramount, we’ve found that using QR codes reduces extra steps in the user journey and eliminates the need for logins, discount codes, and fraudulent navigation. With smartphones at the fingertips of every consumer, QR codes create a frictionless experience by giving users what they need with a snapshot. – Ravi Swaminathan, Task Human

7. Streamline payments, transfers and identification

The use of QR codes in the US is at the beginning of its development. Service providers and consumers have not learned how to offer services with fuller use of QR, while others are quite slow to get used to it. However, payments, transfers, identification, transportation, quick links and more are in line to fully enter the market. – Andrey Kovalev, BusinessInvitee Consulting Group

8. Link to App Downloads

QR codes have a place in almost every campaign because they enable trackable metrics that customers want. Using QR codes for app downloads has proven to be highly effective across all industries including hospitality, travel, healthcare and others. – Laura Silver, Blue door communication

9. Share discounts and community events

QR codes are great and can be used in some very creative ways. I usually use them for discounts, community events, and in online campaigns where trackable metrics are particularly important to my customer base. – Tevin Jackson, Stellar Service Group

10. Make sure codes are traceable

Don’t use QR codes in places that discourage consumers from scanning. If you use QR codes to replace menus in restaurants, that’s great! If you’re using QR codes on a billboard, it’s not that great. Regardless of the application, the smartest way to use QR codes is to make sure they’re traceable and then use that data to understand how they’re being used and which ones contribute the most to the desired outcome. – Ty Allen, SocialClimb

11. Make it a social experience

From my perspective, the best way to use a QR code is to include a visual call to action and use the technology as an educational opportunity. Collecting insights, ratings and feedback, including making the QR code a social experience by encouraging social sharing and driving reordering, are essential ways to improve this. – Michael Ede, Uplift11 Sport

12. Put sources behind QR codes

Use QR codes to enable customers to delve deeper into your brand. Whether you’re selling cannabis or car insurance, people would love to hold the keys to an information-rich kingdom. Use a QR code as that key, keep the branding within the label requirements and streamlined with the simplistic designs preferred in modern packaging. Think of QRs as an opportunity to increase brand engagement and loyalty. – Chris Gerlach, Synergy Life Science

13. Collect data

Consider using QR codes to help collect data to sell to a target market. For example, you can collect information from college students about their favorite restaurants during and after school. Then you can partner with the restaurant to take multiple angles. Data is king. – Saye Sathiyakumar, Power Staffing Solutions

14. Direct to Mobile Friendly CTAs

QR codes can be used to direct customers to a mobile-friendly landing page where they can sign up for a newsletter, download a free ebook, or purchase a product. This allows companies to track the success of their QR codes and see how many people are taking action after they are scanned. – Matthew Ramirez, reformulate