What are your goals for the year? Odds are, like many small businesses, you want to improve operations, enhance customer experiences, and amp up your marketing campaigns.
What if we told you we have just the right tool for that?
Quick Response (QR) Codes are quickly becoming every business owner’s dream, thanks to their versatility and ability to improve numerous business processes.
Chances are, you’ve come across QR Code call to action (CTA) images on marketing materials at some point and were curious to see what was on the other end of a scan. This shows just how impactful these tools are, particularly in marketing.
So don’t get left behind—read on to explore the different applications of QR Codes in enhancing business operations.
The rising trend of QR Codes across industries
Japanese company Denso Wave invented the QR Code in 1994 to facilitate efficient automotive parts tracking during manufacturing. The company then made the solution public and sold QR Code scanner technology to allow businesses to read the QR Codes.
Since then, QR Codes have come a long way.
Everything changed when mobile devices started to come with cameras that could decode QR Codes. More and more companies began incorporating QR Code technology into their processes to improve operations.
When the pandemic hit, those numbers multiplied as businesses sought contactless solutions to limit COVID-19 spread. Today, you can find QR Code solutions in numerous industries, including:
- Hospitality: Restaurants and hotels use QR Codes to provide easy access to menus and facilitate seamless checkouts.
- Healthcare: Doctors secure digital prescriptions with QR Codes to make it easier for pharmacies to authenticate their validity.
- Education: Schools use QR Codes to provide easy access to information, resources, and learning platforms.
- Publishing: Publishers and authors incorporate QR Codes into their books to enhance reading experiences and boost audience engagement.
- Government: Governments use QR Codes to seamlessly collect feedback and share public information.
As you can see, QR Codes are versatile tools that solve numerous operational challenges. As such, they can be valuable across all industries.
Examples of how QR Codes simplify and speed up business processes
Businesses must constantly improve operations to remain efficient, meet deadlines, and save money. QR Codes can help streamline and speed up some processes, allowing you to maintain or improve efficiency.
They also help you engage with customers offline by acting as gateways to digital mediums like social media and websites. Here are examples of how these tools can help you.
Inventory and asset management
Many businesses today use QR Codes for inventory tracking and asset management. Unlike their 1D Barcode counterparts, QR Codes can store up to 1,520 alphanumeric characters and 2,509 numeric characters. This increased capacity allows businesses to communicate a wide range of information seamlessly with key players in the supply chain.
Users can also scan QR Codes from different directions, increasing work efficiency. And, if you opt for Dynamic QR Codes, you can track the number of scans products receive, as well as their locations.
For example, say you want to improve inventory management in a warehouse setting. You can add QR Codes with product information like name, serial number, and date of manufacture to each product.
When new inventory arrives, your employees can use their smartphones or dedicated QR Code readers for check-in and check-out. This promotes efficiency and provides location data, ensuring accurate product tracking.
Document sharing and access
Companies looking to save time and space use QR Codes for document management. You can link a wide range of documents to QR Codes, including Google Docs, Google Sheets, PDFs, and Microsoft Word Docs.
Not only does this facilitate easy access to information, but it also streamlines communication with project stakeholders. For example, instead of repeatedly emailing the same document every time there’s an update, you can provide a Dynamic QR Code that’s linked to the file.
Each time they scan, they can see the most current version of the document, eliminating the need for endless attachments sent to every interested party.
Employee training
Hiring managers are no strangers to QR Codes for hiring and employee training. They use them to streamline these processes, saving companies a lot of time.
Say you need to hire a new manager. You can create an ad that includes a QR Code linked to a PDF URL or website URL detailing your company’s values and the role’s responsibilities.
When you find the right fit, you can place QR Codes in training materials to provide instant access to digital instructional video URLs and links to employee manuals to help your new hire onboard faster.
Examples of how QR Codes boost customer engagement for businesses
QR Codes are a great way to increase customer engagement both online and offline, which can promote loyalty and increase sales. Here’s how they can enhance your customer engagement efforts.
Interactive product information
QR Codes can provide product information without taking up too much space on packaging, benefitting both companies and customers. Businesses get to maintain professional-looking packaging, and customers can access the information they need to make well-informed buying decisions.
To boost customer engagement, link your product QR Codes to video URLs detailing how best to use your products or social media accounts offering product guidelines. You can even link a landing page that lists additional information like product ingredients and allows customers to share their experiences.
Personalized customer experience
Around 88% of buyers consider the customer experience to be just as important as the actual products and services. The better the experience, the more likely they are to buy those products and services. QR Codes allow you to provide personalized customer experiences and improve your chances of securing repeat business.
Say you want to appreciate repeat customers. You can link QR Codes to exclusive offers or personalized recommendations based on each client’s purchase history. When scanned, the QR Codes unlock special discounts or recommended complementary purchases. This improves the shopping experience and can enhance loyalty.
Customer feedback
Businesses must constantly improve their products and services to remain relevant in today’s competitive market. QR Codes can help you enhance your offerings by facilitating seamless customer feedback collection.
To collect feedback, link a QR Code to a questionnaire or landing page that asks for reviews. Then ask customers to scan the Code and provide honest opinions on what they think you should improve, maintain, or eliminate from your products and services.
Examples of how QR Codes can help businesses optimize marketing strategies
Marketing is one of the most vital parts of a business, as it attracts customers, who, in turn, keep companies operational. Incorporating QR Codes into your marketing strategy can connect offline channels like billboards and business cards to online mediums like websites and social media.
QR Codes can also provide marketing insights to help improve your campaign. And they’re versatile—your audience can scan them to save your contact information, download an app, access print ads, or open surveys, promos, and raffles.
Let’s take a deeper look at how these tools can help your marketing campaigns:
Campaign tracking
You can use QR Codes to track the success of marketing campaigns and customer engagement strategies like product promotions and loyalty programs. They provide data like the number of scans received, their locations, and the devices used, which you can use to gauge your campaign’s performance.
For marketing campaign data, opt for Dynamic QR Codes, which are trackable, instead of Static QR Codes. Link them to ads, flyers, business cards, or whichever marketing materials you use, and encourage your audience to scan them. Regularly assess the number of scans you receive to determine your campaign’s effectiveness.
Event marketing
Business events boost employee morale, facilitate networking, and allow companies to engage directly with customers. As such, they’re vital to business success in numerous industries.
QR Codes can improve event marketing by providing a seamless way to engage with your audience. Interested parties can scan QR Codes from print ads or their desktops using their smartphones for easy access to relevant event information.
If you plan to host an event, you can generate QR Codes that link to your:
- Website for event information like venue and speakers
- Registration platform to facilitate seamless booking
- Social media accounts for real-time event updates
- Promos to provide discounts and other offers for paid events
- Raffles to make your event more interesting
- Surveys to collect feedback on what to improve in future events
The beauty of using QR Codes is that you not only get to disseminate information seamlessly but also track engagement through the number of QR Code scans.
Personalized promotions
Roughly 89% of marketers state that personalization enhances their return on investment (ROI). QR Codes can help you deliver personalized promotions and offers to customers, improving engagement and boosting brand loyalty.
To use QR Codes for promotions, link them to loyalty programs or coupons. Then send the Codes to your customers or display them at checkout with a CTA to scan to enroll in your program or claim product discounts. This is one of the simplest ways to drive sales.
Best practices for implementing QR Codes in your business
QR Codes for business will only be effective when used appropriately. So we can’t just leave without offering some tips. Here are some best practices that’ll help you realize significant business improvements when you leverage QR Codes.
Think about where QR Codes could help most
Assess your business to identify areas with operational inefficiencies that QR Codes could fix. If your current warehousing systems aren’t working, it’d be ideal to incorporate QR Codes in inventory management.
If there’s a gap between your business and customers, evaluate customer touchpoints to determine where QR Codes can enhance the customer experience or streamline interactions. Then create a unique QR Code for each touchpoint.
Focus on design and branding
QR Codes can influence your visual identity, especially if you use them to boost customer engagement or enhance marketing strategies. As such, they need to align with your overall brand image. Incorporate your brand colors and logo into your QR Code design to maintain a professional and consistent appearance across all campaigns.
Also, focus on your Codes’ efficiency by optimizing them and their content for mobile devices (both iPhones and Android phones). They should be easy to scan and direct your audience to fast-loading, mobile-friendly landing pages or websites.
Complete regular content updates
Businesses and customers are constantly evolving—what worked some months ago may not be effective today. Ensure you regularly update your QR Codes’ linked content to keep it relevant and engaging.
Set a schedule for reviewing and refreshing QR Code content to simplify the process. You can base the schedule on insights from your scan data or customer feedback. And remember, you can only edit QR Code content and track QR Code scans if you choose Dynamic QR Codes.
Educate customers and employees on QR Codes
Customers and employees must be comfortable with QR Code technology for successful adoption and use. Take time to educate them on QR Codes, why you’ve chosen to adopt them, and how to use them.
Provide detailed instructions on how to scan QR Codes at all customer touchpoints. Also, conduct employee training on how to scan the Codes and access and assess scan data.
Provide simple call-to-action text
QR Codes should have accompanying CTAs to guide customers or employees on what to do and expect. For example, for vCard QR Codes, you can use a CTA like “Scan to Access Contact Information.”
To encourage people to scan your QR Codes:
- Be clear and concise.
- Position your CTA in a visible location.
- Use action verbs like get, follow, or sign up.
- Use one CTA at a time.
Take your business up a notch with Bitly’s Dynamic QR Codes
QR Codes are essential tools for businesses today as they simplify processes, improve customer engagement, and enhance marketing campaigns. As you’ve seen from this post, you can use them to solve numerous challenges, regardless of your business size, industry, or niche.
Bitly’s QR Code generator helps you seamlessly create QR Codes that address numerous pain points in business operations.
The tool also provides a redirect feature that allows you to change the destinations of your Dynamic QR Codes without reprinting new QR Code images. Plus, you get tracking data you can use to improve current and future marketing campaigns.
Explore our plans and pricing to revolutionize your business operations with effective QR Code solutions.
