Congratulations! Someone scanned one of your QR Codes and landed on your website.
Now what?
Without data and QR analytics at your disposal, finding out how people interact with your QR Codes is next to impossible. However, understanding these interactions is key to achieving your broader marketing goals.
If you’re using QR Codes for marketing, you’ll want to get familiar with QR Code tracking. This guide will explain everything you need about QR tracking and how it can affect your marketing campaign.
The basics of QR Code tracking
QR Codes are 2D barcodes that contain unique square matrices. As a result, they are scannable by smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices. Luckily, QR Codes enable intelligent tracking and data analytics.
If you use a QR Code generator like Bitly, you’ll have access to a built-in dashboard where you can get metrics and insights about how people use your QR Codes, like:
- Number of scans
- Scan location
- Time of scan
- Device used (iOS or Android)
- Top-performing codes
QR Code tracking enables marketers to make data-driven decisions about advancing their campaigns. This data lets marketers know how their campaigns are performing and gives insights into how to adjust them if needed.
For example, let’s say you post a QR Code on multiple billboards across a region that links to a landing page on your website about your new product. By analyzing QR Code scans, you can see which billboard locations get the most unique scans.
This data allows you to steer your local QR Code campaigns toward the most popular location. This is a perfect example of how QR tracking and traditional marketing can work in tandem.
How important is QR Code tracking for marketing analytics?
Ultimately, QR Code tracking contributes to a deeper understanding of customer engagement and campaign effectiveness. The better you understand your target audience, the better you can create QR Code content that resonates with them.
For example, take a close look at the devices your audience is using to scan your QR Codes. Are they primarily Android users? iOS users? This intel can help your digital marketing team structure your content to appeal to each demographic and ensure that the content is optimized for both operating systems.
But that’s not all.
Tracking scan data helps segment audiences and personalize your marketing efforts. For example, QR location data enables marketers to segment prospects by geographical region.
Then, they can create hyper-local marketing campaigns to reach prospects where they are. With the presence of this data, marketers won’t just act on their industry knowledge and best guesses. They’ll be equipped with advanced data to make informed marketing decisions that can improve your ROI.
Examples of campaigns that could use QR Code tracking
QR tracking is beneficial for any marketing campaign that leverages QR Codes. However, there are some specific campaigns that stand to benefit tremendously from QR Code tracking, including:
E-commerce promotions
QR Codes can track the effectiveness of in-store and online promotions, leading customers from physical ads to online stores or exclusive deals via URL.
This proves that QR Codes effectively combine online and offline marketing activities. For example, you can display QR Codes that advertise affordable online promotions. With QR tracking, you can measure the number of scans it receives each month and adjust your campaign if necessary.
You can even link QR Codes with augmented reality (AR) to help shoppers see how your clothes will look on them—simply include the link to your online AR experience as your destination URL when you set up your QR Code.
Since creating multiple QR Codes at a time is easy, you can conveniently measure engagement rates and conversion from specific promotions when you integrate your QR Code generator within other third-party analytics tools like Google Analytics.
Event management and festivals
Event planners can use QR Codes to manage event check-ins, distribute event information, and engage attendees with interactive content. There are endless possibilities for what event planners can achieve with QR Codes.
You can use QR Codes to distribute itineraries for business conferences and special events via URL. Meanwhile, event promoters can disseminate QR Codes at concerts to enable people to share their experiences on social media by linking to each platform.
Real estate and property showcases
QR Codes can elevate the real estate market by giving buyers direct access to virtual tours, detailed property information, and contact details for agents via URL. Specifically, buyers can access comprehensive property details on the go.
This also means sellers and agents can track interest and engagement levels in real time. If a real estate agent wants to scale their business and give multiple open houses simultaneously, they can rely on QR technology.
The agent can showcase a virtual tour by posting QR Codes in an email or SMS message. They can even leave an image of a QR Code at a property that links to an online listing with information such as the list price, home details, and agent contact details.
In this way, Dynamic QR Codes are much more efficient than printed materials. This is because you can change the destination URL as often as needed without needing to reprint or redistribute physical marketing materials.
How to set up QR Code tracking in 3 steps
With Bitly, QR Code tracking has never been simpler. All you need to do is follow these three easy steps to track your progress.
1. Create a QR Code with Bitly
First, you’ll need to create an account with Bitly to begin generating Dynamic QR Codes. Here’s how to get started:
- Create a free or premium Bitly account.
- Insert a link of your choice into our generator.
- Customize the shape, color, and design of your QR Code. (Note: Some customization options are only available with paid plans.)
- Save and publish your QR Code in your desired format.
That’s it—it only takes a few minutes to generate custom QR Codes with Bitly!
2. Link the QR Code to the right content
QR Codes can link to a wide range of content assets through URLs, including specific web pages, promotional content, or digital experiences. In marketing, the key is choosing content that adds value to the customer’s journey and meets campaign objectives.
For example, a real estate agent can link back to vital information about a home they’re selling. A QR Code leading to a website with important information about the surrounding neighborhood would be helpful for the prospective buyer and aid them on their journey.
3. Access and understand Bitly’s tracking features
By creating a Bitly account, you can get comprehensive insights with Bitly Analytics. Here, you can see how your QR Codes perform in real time, tracking metrics like:
- Total scans
- Scans over time
- Scans by browser
- Scans by location
This information is key in helping you understand if your campaign is hitting the mark or what you could do to improve it. If you notice that your scans are dwindling over time, it may be time to take a closer look and edit your QR Codes.
Tips for analyzing your QR Code tracking data
Tracking the progress of your QR Codes is only half the battle. Analyzing this data to make informed marketing decisions is substantially more important. Here’s how you can get started.
Look for patterns and trends
The first step in making sense of QR analytics is to look for patterns in QR Code scan data, such as peak times for scans or locations with higher engagement. When you can find a correlation between two data points, you can better determine what’s happening in your campaign.
Let’s say you’ve posted QR Codes outside a local grocery store to promote your new cookie product. If you notice that most scans are happening in the early afternoon, a great idea would be to visit the grocery store during this time and offer free samples.
Measure campaign performance against goals
Without measurable goals, you won’t have any point of reference to know if your campaigns are doing well or not.
This begs the question—what are your central marketing objectives? Do you want to build brand awareness and increase total scans? Do you want to test your product in a specific location?
If you set a definite goal, you can assess important metrics in the Bitly Dashboard to see if your campaign is working. In addition, you can begin adjusting QR Code marketing strategies based on these data-driven insights to improve future campaigns.
Leverage data for personalized strategies
QR technology can aid in tracking data and tailoring marketing messages to specific audience segments. Generally speaking, you can leverage editable QR Codes to break your target audience into groups and reach them individually.
You may target the same demographics using multiple QR Codes to promote your mobile app. You might consider taking advantage of QR Codes’ flexibility and creating different (but relevant) landing pages for both Apple and Android users, each with its own code. This way, you can increase engagement rates and drive higher conversions.
Amplify your strategy with Dynamic QR Code tracking insights
QR Code tracking isn’t just essential in making your codes more productive—these features can benefit your entire marketing campaign.
With QR tracking, you can make sure your marketing team is targeting the right audience, creating relevant messages, and converting promising prospects. As such, you can better achieve your marketing goals and improve your ROI.
If you’re ready to start tracking your QR Codes, you’ve come to the right place. Get started with Bitly for free today!