So, I was recently reading a message board thread where other photographers and wedding service providers were talking extensively about the use of QR codes in their advertising. I have seen QR codes before, but hadn't really paid much attention to them. Then a few days later, a fellow photographer submitted a copy of his newly redesigned business card, which contained, oddly enough, a QR code on the back of it, to a professional forum that I belong too, for critique by members.
Well, seeing this got me curious as to what the QR code thing is all about. A QR code is a "Quick Response" two dimensional bar code that can be scanned and read at a high rate of speed on most smart phones, with the appropriate "app," of course. Different types of information can be stored within the code, such as special offers, business card information, websites, brochures, packaging information, social media, and other advertising and marketing information.
More and more companies are starting to implement these codes on their product packaging and advertising, to draw people to their websites, or to other information about their products available online. Some codes are embedded with business card information and a user can scan a code on another person's business card and have their contact information uploaded directly to their smart phone. Companies are now also starting to make it possible to allow users to scan a coupon code into their smart phones and then scan it at the checkout scanner at a grocery or department store to redeem the coupon. Pretty neat!
These types of codes have been around since 1994, and lately I have started to see these codes appear on more and more product packaging, but never thought of using it in a marketing campaign, but apparently it is working for some companies. There are endless possible uses for this technology, it seems.
So, I thought I would play with them a bit and see what it was all about. Below are some QR codes for myself. You can even scan these codes with your smart phone right from a computer screen. So download an app for your smart phone and give it a try. It's actually kind of fun! :)
Here is the code to my website:
Here is the code to my Facebook page. Don't forget to "LIKE" me while you are there. :)
Or, download my business contact information as a VCARD VCF file to your smart phone for import into your contacts.
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