With their unique blend of technology, convenience, and customizability, QR (Quick Response) Codes have become a staple in today’s world. From print ads and direct mail to restaurant tables, concert venues, and doctors’ offices, QR Codes connect people to digital experiences with a simple scan.
For modern marketers, QR Codes are more than a trend—they’re a game-changing tool. Thanks to their simple design, ease of use, and advanced functionality, they help businesses effectively blend online and offline engagement, driving deeper audience interaction and measurable results.
This guide will explore how marketers can use QR technology to create more successful campaigns, engage audiences, and make a lasting impact.
Note: The brands and examples discussed below were found during our online research for this article.
Why QR Codes are game-changers in marketing
There was a time when QR Codes felt like a passing trend—a quirky tech experiment that people didn’t expect to last. But here we are, and they’re more relevant than ever. Today, these 2D barcodes have evolved into an essential, cost-effective tool for modern marketing, allowing brands to connect with their audiences and integrate physical and digital experiences.
Their appeal lies in their simplicity and versatility. These small, unassuming squares pack a big punch. They’re easy to create, and brands can even edit QR Codes after they go live (and get printed). Customers can quickly scan Static and Dynamic QR Codes with their smartphones, enabling smooth, contactless interactions.
QR Codes are seeing unprecedented levels of activity—83.4 million U.S. customers scanned a QR Code in 2022, with that number projected to climb to 99.5 million by 2025. It’s no surprise why—they’re incredibly convenient.
Nearly everyone carries an Android or Apple mobile device, and scanning a QR Code takes only seconds, making them accessible to people all over the world. You can even scale them up or down to use on anything from billboards to business cards.
This widespread accessibility has inspired businesses to leverage the technology in countless physical and digital marketing strategies. From promotional materials to customer management systems, the endless QR Code use cases are redefining how brands engage with their audiences.
6 Examples of how different industries use QR Codes for marketing
With nearly unlimited potential uses, businesses across virtually any industry can use QR Codes within their marketing strategies. Here are six industries using QR Codes creatively—and perhaps unexpectedly.
1. Retail industry: Enhancing the in-store experience
Ecommerce sales continue to climb every year, taking up a larger share of the retail pie. By Q2 2024, ecommerce penetration hit 21.7%, the highest second-quarter level ever, even surpassing the pandemic years (21.3% in 2020 and 20.2% in 2021).
Because ecommerce is already a significant revenue stream and continues to grow, brick-and-mortar stores are finding new ways to combine offline and online customer experiences. Here are a few retail marketing best practices that showcase how retailers are using QR Codes to further this goal:
- Customers can scan QR Codes that lead to product pages, customer reviews, and even augmented reality (AR) experiences.
- Retailers can use QR Codes during checkout to limit paper waste, produce digital receipts, and better facilitate loyalty program transactions.
- Marketers can leverage QR Codes for omnichannel marketing, convincing physical leads to sign up for rewards and receive email marketing messages.
- Product teams can review QR analytics to see which physical products are getting the most attention.
2. Real estate: Streamlined property showcases
Real estate agents can use QR Codes to provide in-depth information about their showings to interested buyers. By arming prospective buyers with more details before a showing, agents can save time and focus on serious leads, reducing unnecessary or irrelevant appointments.
Agents can display QR Codes on “For Sale” signs, brochures for property details and virtual tours, or business cards. With QR Codes, buyers can interact with properties at any time of day.
QR Codes are also beneficial for real estate marketing and lead generation. QR Code generators allow marketers to track engagement and create easy ways to follow up with leads who have shown interest.
3. Hospitality and tourism: Personalized guest experiences
Hotels and resorts commonly use QR Codes in guest rooms or lobbies to give guests easy access to facilities, dining menus, and event schedules. Guests can even check out of some hotels online with QR Codes displayed throughout the building.
In addition, many tourist locations use these codes to provide amazing interactive content. Many hotels and attractions use them to offer visitors multimedia guides, maps, or audio tours. With a quick scan, smartphone users get an interactive experience directly on their devices.
Tactics like these can help hospitality marketers enhance engagement, promote specific activities or services, improve guest satisfaction, and learn more about guest behaviors to tailor future strategies.
4. Food and beverage industry: Interactive dining
QR Code use in the food and beverage industry skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many restaurants adopted QR Codes to give customers a touch-free way to view menus, place orders, and make payments. While the pandemic may be behind us, the widespread use of QR Codes in food and beverage establishments remains.
That’s because a contactless dining experience, enhanced with digital interactions, achieved more than just compliance with social distancing guidelines. Restaurants can also showcase seasonal menus, promote loyalty programs, and provide nutritional facts using QR Codes.
With Bitly QR Codes, it’s easy to update the destination of a QR Code anytime—redirecting to the latest menu or a new promotion takes just seconds.
5. Event management: Efficient event engagement
From weddings to concerts, many event planners are incorporating QR technology for paperless ticketing, quick check-ins, and delivery of event schedules, maps, or exclusive content.
QR Codes can even improve visitor engagement for trade shows and conferences, helping attendees download presentations, connect with exhibitors, or participate in interactive polls and surveys.
Since QR Code management platforms like Bitly provide analytics on code scans by location (city/country), date, and device, event planners can study these insights to put together better events in the future.
6. Healthcare and pharmaceuticals: Educating and informing
Healthcare providers can use QR Codes to elevate patient satisfaction and boost the efficiency of treatment protocols. QR Codes can be added to patient information leaflets to give patients access to instructional videos, medication guidelines, or appointment booking systems.
Additionally, QR Codes on placards, doors, or walls at medical offices can guide patients to relevant destinations, such as digital check-in forms or general health information. Pharmaceutical companies can also add QR Codes to product packaging, linking to pages that provide detailed drug information, usage instructions, and potential side effects.
How to create a QR Code for marketing campaigns with Bitly
Bitly is your go-to solution for creating free Dynamic QR Codes for marketing campaigns and more. Here’s how to make a QR Code using Bitly:
- Create a free Bitly account.
- Select Create new on the left-hand sidebar and then QR Code.
- Enter your destination URL (where you want the QR Code to direct users).
- Select Create QR Code.
It’s that simple! Plus, you can customize your code’s appearance, add a custom back half, and give your QR Code a title—especially helpful if you’re managing multiple QR Codes.
Upgrading to a paid Bitly plan unlocks advanced QR Code customization features, plus tracking and analytics. Dynamic QR Codes provide valuable scan data, giving you insights into how, where, and when your codes are being used.
You can also update existing Dynamic QR Codes through your Bitly Dashboard at any time, redirecting printed or shared codes to new destinations—like your latest promotion, menu, or campaign update.
From there, all that’s left is deciding where to use QR Codes in your marketing. Here’s some inspiration:
- Create platform-specific landing pages: Use unique QR Codes tailored for different social media platforms to direct prospects to specific web pages. These pages provide customized user experiences designed to resonate with each platform’s unique audience.
- Promote exclusive social media content: QR Codes can direct viewers to exclusive social media content. For example, if you’re hosting a live webinar on social media, send invites via QR Codes to your customers and email subscribers.
- Enhance online campaigns with offline QR Codes: Add a QR Code to your physical marketing materials to give potential customers easy access to your online resources. You could add a QR Code to your trade show brochures that links to a lead magnet landing page. When visitors scan the code, they get a valuable free resource, and you get to grow your email list.
- Use in social media ads: Like any other form of advertising, social media ads don’t leave marketers much room to communicate details. QR Codes can redirect audiences to content-rich landing pages that showcase everything you want to say about your products or services.
- Encourage user-generated content (UGC): Leverage QR Codes to encourage user-generated content like feedback and product ratings from your target audiences.
Best practices for QR Code marketing with Bitly
Convinced that using QR Codes can give your marketing team a boost? Now all you need is a QR Code platform. Here’s how Bitly can help.
Leverage Bitly’s customization features
Bitly allows businesses to customize most aspects of their QR Codes. This includes adding a logo and using brand colors, custom frames, and corners.
By using Bitly’s QR Code generator software to customize your codes with your unique branding elements, you increase the likelihood that your QR Codes stand out in crowded spaces.
Use advanced tracking and analytics
Bitly offers more than just QR Code creation solutions—it provides robust analytics to enhance your marketing campaigns in real time.
With Bitly Analytics, you can monitor metrics like total scans, location of scans by city and country, time of scans, and device or operating system used. These insights help you understand consumer behavior and assess campaign effectiveness.
Integrate QR Codes with campaign tags
When you generate QR Codes using Bitly, you can organize them with unique campaign tags. This helps in tracking the performance of each campaign separately and provides clear insights into which QR Code campaigns are most effective.
On top of that, you can adjust your campaigns when needed to avoid overspending on ineffective marketing strategies.
Maximizing your marketing impact with Bitly’s QR Code solution
QR Codes give marketing teams a convenient way to increase audience engagement with their campaigns and content. With QR Codes, you can deliver modern marketing experiences that support your business goals and objectives.
However, not all QR Code generators offer the same level of customization as Bitly. Bitly’s user-friendly platform makes it simple to create fully customizable Dynamic QR Codes. Plus, you get access to powerful tracking and analytics features to help you refine your campaigns in real time.
Get started with Bitly for free and see how you can start leveraging QR Codes for more successful marketing campaigns today!
