Per ScanLife’s recent 2012 quarterly report consumers are scanning a lot more now, by about157% from this same time last year.
Today, more consumers are attached to smart phones and other such devices than they have ever been in the past. This has created an opportunity that businesses have been unable to ignore. QR codes have been identified as an effective way to reach out to these consumers, and many companies have begun using the black and white barcodes to promote goods and services. These companies have found that using QR codes can be tricky, however, with many failing to utilize them effectively.
For the newbies they are just the strange lines forming a square but once known they are an effective part of the marketing strategy to easily grab the attention of the potential customers.
Connect with the Physical and Electronic world effectively and efficiently using QR codes. The new emerging technology that arrives in almost all areas, attracts the customers greatly.
If you haven’t yet heard of Apple’s Siri, a feature of the iPhone 4S, you may not be aware of how this new technology could transform Search Engine Optimization, especially on the local level.
What can the tools of sales 2.0 do for your small business? Well, if you or your sales team are already effective, the Web tools offered by Sales 2.0 will likely make you better. But be warned. These tools will not turn a bad sales team into a good one. Proven techniques must exist behind the technology.
Online marketing can be effective even for local business and such a campaign need not be expensive if set up correctly.
As more and more Americans turn to their mobile phones for information, the potential for QR codes grows ever larger. (Smart phone proliferation surged above 50% in early 2012). So, rather than wait for QR codes to die or, conversely, assume they’ll be just fine, marketers should take proactive steps to use QR codes more effectively right now.
First, businesses need to have offers that are QR code-specific.
Second, there is a difference between using QR codes in unique ways to get noticed, and using QR codes in unique ways just to be weird.
Third, put QR codes in places that smart phone users will see. Remember that 100% of QR codes are scanned by smart phones.
Fourth, sometimes marketers make it too difficult on themselves. They try to force a type of engagement they want.
When someone scans a QR code it should automatically call your business. (This helps businesses too because phone calls produce substantially higher close rates than web visits).
There have been many attempts to create a WORA platform but none has really succeeded. WORA stands for Write Once Run Anywhere. Some progress was made in the pre iPhone era where platforms were getting developed which could support majority of the feature phones. It tackled the challenge of different screen size and varying user interaction standard reasonably well.
Here are 3 possibilities:
1) Tablet usage expands to significantly eat into the desktop and laptop usage
2) Voice technology becomes robust and usable enough to offer a new dimension to user interface design
3) The Metro UI from Microsoft effectively manages to create a uniform container for application to run in smartphone, tablet and desktop
Recouping even the typically modest investment needed to deploy a QR code often depends on a few key steps. One is offering those who read the code something they can use. "The codes are a bridge," Strack says. "When the user crosses the bridge, there needs to be something of value." That might be useful information, a coupon or another promotion.
Similarly, the site to which the code leads should be developed specifically for mobile phones. A website designed for computer monitors usually is difficult to view on a phone, Pinto notes.
Finally, in order to reap the full benefits of a QR code, you want to find some way to gather information from the user, such as an email address, so that you can contact them again. The QR codes and the scanning applications don't capture this information.
Done right, QR codes are another tool for reaching clients and customers. "They're not the Holy Grail, but they help us measure the effectiveness of a marketing campaign," says Strack.
Why are U.S. retailers slow to adopt NFC payment technology?
One reason is the expense and effort required to install NFC-enabled point-of-sale equipment in stores and to integrate it with merchants' systems.
It's a bit of a chicken-and-egg dynamic: Retailers typically don't invest in offering a new payment option until they see widespread consumer demand; but few consumers are likely to prefer a payment option that's not yet widely accepted.
Another Open Mobile Summit panelist, PayPal's VP for mobile, David Marcus, made this point: "Today, retailers learn about customers at the least effective time -- just when they're leaving the store. They'd like to know about you when you arrive at the store, so they can customize your shopping experience and treat you properly."