Today’s consumers have access to countless entertainment options. They can choose from various streaming services, each offering hundreds of series and movies. They can scroll endlessly for short-form social media videos or binge long-form programs on TV. And don’t forget about local movie theaters or attending concerts and theatrical performances, too.
While there’s no shortage of competition for attention these days, fans aren’t afraid to go all-in when they do engage. From immersing themselves in the stories and characters they love to buying merchandise and watching their favorite shows over and over, once you have your audience hooked, it’s easier to keep them coming back. That’s why capturing and retaining attention is a top priority for media and entertainment brands. Luckily, technology is making it easier than ever to directly connect with consumers wherever they are—from the couch to the arena.
Let’s explore how QR Codes have emerged as an essential tool for media and entertainment brands and how you can start using them to connect with your audience.
Did you know?
According to Bitly’s QR Code usage data, there was an 18 percent increase in QR Code scans during football’s biggest weekend in 2024, highlighting the growth of QR Code adoption within the advertising landscape on our television screens.
The challenges and changes in entertainment
Year after year, the media and entertainment industry raises the bar for immersive experiences through technology. From new filming techniques and cutting-edge special effects to evolving streaming platforms and interactive virtual reality experiences—as innovation grows, so do consumer expectations.
Simply enticing people to watch a show or attend an event isn’t enough anymore. For brands to stand the test of time, they need to cultivate a loyal, devoted fan base that eagerly anticipates their next move. Achieving this level of fan engagement, however, is easier said than done!
Every minute of the day, your audience is taking in information and entertainment—and they’re probably doing it via multiple screens at once. For instance, a recent eye-tracking study found that TV viewers were only looking at the screen 53% of the time, with their phones being one of the top reasons they looked away. Most people rarely give their full, undivided attention to what they’re watching, so media brands need to work hard to capture and keep an audience’s focus with more exciting and engaging content.
When you do have their attention—whether they’re zeroed in on an exciting show or attending an in-person event—you need to make sure they can take the next step with your brand or get inspired to consume more of what you have to offer. And QR Codes are a great way to make it happen!
With a quick scan, audiences can learn more, find support, or gain access to digital experiences, which adds up to more real-time engagement for your brand. QR Codes pave the way for deeper connections in a world of instant, fast-paced entertainment, making them an essential and innovative tool for the entire media and entertainment industry.
Why use QR Codes in media and entertainment
QR Codes aren’t just another tool in your marketing belt. They’re the perfect fit for the media and entertainment world because of their versatility to reach anyone in your audience, no matter why (or how) they’re tuning in. Here are some key benefits of QR Codes for media and entertainment.
Flexibility
QR Codes are one of the most adaptable marketing tools for reaching your audience in real-time with your entertainment offerings. You can seamlessly integrate QR Codes across both physical and digital mediums, ensuring accessibility as long as your audience can scan with their smartphone. Whether it’s a poster or sign at a live event or on-screen within a digital ad or TV series, QR Codes provide endless engagement opportunities for media and entertainment brands.
You can also tap into the adaptability of QR Codes through design elements by incorporating a logo and your brand colors into each one. Your codes will stand out to your audience as distinctly on-brand, building trust and making them more likely to want to scan and learn more.
Finally, flexibility comes in the form of behind-the-scenes, strategic changes. When you use dynamic QR codes, you can change the link destination whenever you’d like. Whether an offering sells out or a seasonal call-to-action expires, dynamic QR Codes let you adjust your landing page destination as needed, so your audience gets the most up-to-date entertainment details.
Omnichannel experiences
We’ve already addressed how challenging it can be to capture attention these days, which means more exciting, immersive, and omnichannel marketing tactics are in high demand. While delivering a compelling story or media experience on one screen can maintain engagement, extending the interaction across multiple screens or transitioning from in-person to digital spaces enhances the likelihood of sustaining conversation and fostering a loyal fan base. This is where QR Codes come into play!
You can use QR Codes to provide your audience with additional value, invite them to their next experience with your brand, or even add new levels of personalization—all from their smartphones. Best of all, you can create an omnichannel journey that connects and integrates their experiences across touchpoints so they feel known and engaged from the moment they scan.
Trackability and analytics
For years, entertainment brands have had some access to audience data, like episode views and ticket sales. But knowing how many people took action because they saw an ad on TV was virtually impossible to track. QR Codes transform trackability for advertising in media, and they add new levels of analytics for other points of connection between media brands and their audiences.
Whether you’re strategically incorporating QR Codes into your programming and advertising or sharing exclusive content with your audience,, a dashboard like Bitly Analytics gives you real-time access to the performance of all your campaigns from one central location. Once you capture audience information like their location or device type through each QR Code scan, you can make adjustments to promote the content that resonates most with your audience for more effective, data-driven marketing decisions.
4 ways to start using QR Codes today
It’s time to get tactical! How can you put QR Codes to use in both the digital and physical worlds, during live events, or when someone streams their favorite show? These four potential QR Code touchpoints merely scratch the surface of how you can engage audiences through their favorite form of entertainment. Ultimately, the only limit is your imagination and strategy. The possibilities are endless!
1. Interactive advertising
Transform your ads from one-way conversations into dynamic omnichannel interactions by integrating QR Codes into your creative assets. By including a QR Code on your ads, you give audiences an easy way to scan directly to shop for the products featured while also offering advertisers concrete ROI data.
You can also share QR Codes on-screen as a unique way to take viewers straight to a product they might like to buy, much like how TikTok Shop allows consumers to browse products in their favorite videos. During a favorite home improvement or makeover reality show, for instance, audiences can scan a QR Code to browse featured products and buy them instantly. When the credits roll for your streaming show, consider sharing a QR Code to invite them to buy their next favorite piece of merchandise repping characters they love.
Through the integration of QR Codes across your advertising campaigns, both you and your brand partners gain valuable insights into audience interactions—all while audiences enjoy continuous engagement across multiple platforms.
2. Enhance event experiences
Nothing compares to the energy of live entertainment: the thrill of being in the same room as your favorite artist, the excitement of seeing a hit Broadway show, and the shared experience of reacting to a new movie with a couple hundred of your closest friends. You can enhance these moments and invite audiences to join using QR Codes every step of the way.
Months before your event takes place, offer QR Codes on physical and digital posters that let fans instantly grab their tickets or peruse tour dates. Make saying “yes” to your event as easy as possible with a direct channel to buy their tickets.
What about when they arrive for the main event? Beyond the now-common best practice of scanning QR Codes at the door as tickets, QR Codes offer plenty of ways to offer convenience or inspire them to start planning their next experience right away:
- Provide a QR Code to let attendees skip the endless merch line and pick up later or order an exclusive item online.
- Send them to the artist’s profile on a streaming platform or share a playlist of the evening’s setlist after the event.
- Connect them to your social media channels or invite them to share their experience with a unique hashtag for the chance to win a giveaway.
- Invite audiences to pre-order their tickets for a future concert (or concert film!)
Plus, Bitly Analytics gives you real-time data on every single scan, so you can see which of these offerings best connects with your attendees and create other similar points of engagement.
Concerts aren’t the only main events where QR Codes come in handy. Movie posters are also a major attraction in theater lobbies everywhere, so use a QR Code to invite filmgoers to watch a trailer or reserve their seats before anyone else.
3. Offer exclusive content access
Audiences love to feel like they’re getting something truly unique that no one else has access to, especially because exclusivity is getting rarer in a world of instant access. Whether you offer exclusive content or give your subscribers early or extra access, QR Codes are the perfect gateway to quickly and easily invite your audience to engage.
Maybe a music artist debuted a new song during their latest concert—share a QR Code inviting attendees to stream it before anyone else. Offering merchandise to attendees at certain events? Use a QR Code to take them straight to order. If you’re streaming a series or film that’s unique to your platform, direct them to cast interviews or behind-the-scenes footage that’s just for subscribers.
“Exclusive” also means being the first to know about upcoming events or announcements, so build a connection with audiences by making them feel special with each QR Code scan!
4. Provide personalized experiences
Each December, music lovers around the world get excited to watch, share, and discuss their year-end wrap-up from platforms like Spotify and Apple Music. They love seeing data about their behavior, but more than that, they can’t help but appreciate the personalized journeys that these platforms build for them. Entertainment brands of every type can deepen their audience connections too with the personalized experiences you create.
Share QR Codes to invite viewers to a quiz that helps them decide which new show they should watch next. Or maybe you prompt them with a series of questions that lets them know which character they most embody from a show on your platform.
You might even take a page out of the Spotify playbook by taking them to a special year-end wrap-up of their favorite shows, movies, and actors, or show them a list of products you think they’ll love based on their watching habits. These interactions make audiences feel known and connect them to both the media they love and your brand as a whole.
Make your media immersive with QR Codes
In an industry that is constantly trying to outdo itself—through cutting-edge technology, dazzling spectacles, and immersive experiences—staying competitive means finding new ways to deepen connections with audiences.
A life-changing concert or highly binge-able series will keep your audience locked in for a certain number of hours. But interactive experiences that appeal to consumers’ desire for the next best thing will keep them coming back to your brand time and time again.
QR Codes lets you offer those experiences by giving audiences real-time, instant access to everything from merch and personalized content to insider information. Turn entertainment into next-level engagement (and lasting audience connections) with every scan—and get started with Bitly QR Codes today.
