QR codes

Quick response or QR codes will likely play a significant role in the future of your green industry business – and for good reason. They give your prospects and customers immediate and local access to you and your multimedia content on the Web via their mobile devices – and they are free.

The basics. These square codes are similar to the barcodes that retailers use to track inventory and price products at the point of sale. Both are graphic representations of encrypted data. The key difference between the two is the amount of data they can hold or share.

When you scan or read a QR code with your iPhone, Android or other camera-enabled smartphone, you can link to digital content on the Web, present a text message up to several hundred characters long or activate a phone call.

You can attach a code to any number of physical objects, such as your business cards, brochures or yard signs. Creating a QR code is simple – just enter the appropriate data (such as a website URL) into the QR code generator.

Applications for QR codes. Sharing information that is useful to your prospects and customers is a great way to build interest in your products and services. A blog is one method of accomplishing this that has worked well for me. If you don’t have a blog, you could help your customers with an informative YouTube video.

You build community when you share, and one of the popular arenas for doing this is Facebook. You can use Likify (likify.net) to create a QR code that actually brings a fully functioning LIKE button of your Facebook page to any camera phone with a QR code reader. PingTags (pingtags.com) does the same thing with your LinkedIn profile.

One of the most effective uses for QR codes is special offers. You can even alternate special offers by simply updating the landing pages. The QR code doesn’t change, just the information it links to.

Practical uses of QR codes. Here are some ways QR codes are being used now, as well as some suggested ideas that are just waiting for you to give them a try.

Where QR Codes could be used:

• The back (or front and back) of your business card
• Your brochures and marketing materials
• Yard signs
• Lawn care flags
• Tree tags
• Irrigation controller panels

What QR codes could link to:

• Installation instructions
• How to reach the repair service or contact a technician
• Safety instructions
• Directions to your business
• Recommended upsells or add-ons

The potential application for QR codes is limited only by your imagination. You can count on this area of social sharing and Web marketing to continue to grow. One key reason is QR code capabilities are being enhanced to provide analytics that will allow you to learn more about the behavior of your prospects and customers.

How to create and scan QR codes. There are a number of sites for generating QR codes and they are all free.

My favorite QR code generator is Kerem Erkan (keremerkan.net) because it offers many capabilities, which includes generating the code in color. Another site that is basic and simpler to use is Kaywa (qrcode.kaywa.com).

Once you have created  another free software application.

Scanning a QR code requires you to download a QR reader or scanner to your mobile device.
One that works well on my iPhone, as well as many other brands, including BlackBerry and Android, is i-nigma (i-nigma.com).
 

Jeff Korhan is a speaker, consultant and top-ranked blogger on new media and small business marketing at jeffkorhan.com. He’s on Facebook at facebook.com/jeffkorhan, on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/jeffkorhan and on Twitter at @jeffkorhan.