6 Simple Steps To Integrate QR codes Into Your Next Marketing Campaign

Could it be time to integrate QR codes into your next marketing campaign? As brands enter a digital era, QR codes have revolutionised the consumer journey from first impression to checkout.

QR codes speed up the marketing funnel by providing scanners with a direct path to landing pages, brand campaigns, informational videos, and social posts. They also take your targets exactly where they need to be.

As the perfect blend between a physical marketing campaign and a digital one, anyone with a smartphone can interact with a physical QR code anywhere in the world and instantly be transported to a digital campaign. Think billboards, banners, and even QR restaurant menus. QR codes can be placed anywhere – that’s the beauty of them.

According to experts at QR Tiger, QR code scans more than quadrupled in 2024, reaching a whopping 26.95 million scans worldwide.

(Image Source: QR Tiger)

As smartphone marketing continues to take off amongst tech-savvy Gen Z, it’s no surprise that they are becoming familiar with QR Code scanning.

With this in mind, we’ve delved deeper into the current benefits of QR code marketing and created a beginners’ guide to integrating QR codes into your next campaign.

The benefits of adding QR codes to your marketing strategy in 2024

It’s no secret that QR code usage has increased worldwide. The question is, are marketers and advertisers reaping the rewards? 

“The common use of QR Codes is making people more comfortable with them (QR Codes), and this is leading to increased adoption even in countries that previously weren’t using QR Codes to their full potential. Marketers are seizing this chance to connect directly with customers,” says Sharat Potharaju, CEO of Unicode.

In the last 3 years, there has been a significant 323%  increase in QR creation within the marketing industry. As brands add QR codes to product packaging, print advertising and even in-store banners and boards, they are defining a new era of interactive branding.

Some of the benefits marketers could see from QR code integration range from higher levels of consumer engagement from all angles to a drive in traffic to landing pages that historically relied on consumer search.

Let’s have a look at a few of the rewards marketers could see when investing in a QR-driven branding strategy:

1. More mobile conversions

Smartphone sales continue to increase, and QR code marketing is at the centre of their success. By providing a streamlined path from code to checkout, QR codes speed up the conversion process. 

Mobile shoppers are impatient in 2024, so the ability to see a product advertised on a billboard, scan the code and instantly purchase is an extremely successful way of qualifying leads in seconds. 

(Image Source: Zara)

Take clothing retailer Zara, for example. By adding QR codes to their clothing tags, they give consumers who are unable to find their size in-store a direct path to the item online for a fuss-free checkout.

According to Juniper Research, QR code scanning alone has increased brand conversions by more than 15%.

2. Driving traffic to specific pages

One brilliant benefit of QR codes is the ability to drive traffic instantly to any landing page or event page that you choose.

Without a scannable pathway to each of these pages, users would traditionally search for a topic or keyword and find the web page organically online.

This however, relied on a brand performing well on SERPs and ranking highly for the products/services they were promoting.

For newer landing pages, QR codes remove the pressure to rank highly in an organic search in order to drive traffic. Instead, anyone who scans the QR code is immediately redirected. This boots on-page traffic, in turn, raising the organic SEO of the page too, so it is more visible in an organic search in the future.

Take this example from L’Oreal. Placing a QR code in a print magazine, the beauty brand encourages users to scan for a chance to save money on their new Magic Lumi highlighter. 

(Image Source: L’Oreal)

When scanned, users were transported to the product landing page, increasing footfall on site for pages that would not regularly attract organic visitor sessions. 

3. Engagement on the go

One of the benefits exclusive to QR code marketing is the ability to engage consumers on the go.

With more people viewing the internet via smartphone devices than ever before, it’s crucial that you create campaigns that can be interacted with on the go. 

(Image Source: Pepsi)

There are a few clever ways to do this! Whether you add QR codes to packaging in a supermarket so that consumers can learn more about your product before they purchase or create an interactive QR campaign in the street that leverages AR/VR and enhances a user’s surroundings. The options are endless.

For example, this QR campaign from Pepsi could be found directly on the product bottle and let consumers straight to Snapchat, where users could create their own AR-generated filter.

4. Personalised promotions 

QR codes can be used to showcase new offers and provide scanners with personalised discounts.

According to a recent study by The Mobile Marketing Association, consumers are twice as likely to purchase a product in-store if they discover a coupon or discount while in the building. 

QR code offers are often personalised and instill a sense of achievement in consumers, as if they have just found a secret discount or prize. 

With this in mind, they are more likely to pick up the product and take it to the checkout after discovering a deal they can’t miss.

How to create your own QR code strategy: A beginners guide

Now that we’ve discussed some of the benefits of QR code marketing, it’s time to add these convertible codes to your winning marketing strategy.

Here’s how to leverage QR codes in your next marketing campaign in six simple steps.

1. Define your marketing goals

Before you start your QR code journey, it’s important to define your current marketing goals and establish want you want to achieve from integrating a QR strategy.

Do you want to drive website traffic? Enhance your social media engagement metrics. Increase sales of your new product?

Depending on what you’re seeking from your QR code marketing, it’s crucial that you approach the strategy with this goal in mind.

For example, brands that want to use QR marketing to boost their social media following may opt to showcase their social platforms when a user scans a QR code. The key here is to know exactly what your audience will engage with when interacting with your brand.

One way to do this is to start social listening using a tool like Keyhole. With the ability to track trends and monitor your mentions, you can identify a set of unique marketing goals based on what your consumers are looking for when they interact with your brand online. 

2. Design your QR code in line with your branding

If you’re placing your QR code in a creative location, such as a billboard or a location away from your brick-and-mortar store, it’s important that consumers instantly recognise your brand before scanning the code.

By incorporating brand logos, colours, and features found within your other marketing content, you instantly strengthen brand recall, encouraging loyal customers to interact and scan.

(Image Source: QR Stuff)

PayPal is a brilliant example of a brand that knows how to generate company-specific QR codes. 

As you can see here, they have customised the colours of the QR code to blend seamlessly within their branding and have even added their logo in the middle for instant recognisability!

3. Offer your consumers something valuable  

To motivate your consumers to interact with your QR code, ensure that when they scan it, they receive something valuable.

This could be access to exclusive content or a redeemable code for an in-store discount. The more value you put into your QR code, the more engagement you’ll see.

(Image Source: QR Code Tiger)

This 2019 example from Wendy’s encourages consumers to scan the customised QR code by offering them the chance to win free food.

If your QR code offers value to the consumer, such as a discount or permission, be sure to mention it within the content copy to encourage your targets to start scanning. 

4. Include a clear call-to-action

On the topic of content copy, the text you include next to your QR code could be the difference between customer interaction and an inactive code.

Your marketing text should tell the consumer exactly what your QR code offers and should contain a clear call to action that leaves no room for confusion.

Better still, a strong CTA generates a sense of excitement and urgency, driving consumers to take immediate action when interacting with your QR code. 

5. Get creative with your QR code placement

It’s always good to get creative with your QR code placement, especially if you want to surprise your audience. 

For example, if you’re a tech-savvy restaurant, why not ditch your traditional menus and create a QR-generated menu? This way, when you update your house specials and seasonal bites, the digital version of your menu can be adapted instantly to keep your customers in the loop. 

(Image Source: McDonald’s)

This case study from McDonald’s is pretty brilliant. To save time in-store, the restaurant created a QR code version of its menu on billboards within walking distance, allowing consumers to order before they even stepped inside. 

For other brands, why not consider where your target is most likely to encounter your marketing? Is it in store? On a woodland walk? On the tube on the way to work? 

Depending on your industry and the type of customers you’re targeting, you could get creative with your QR codes and place them in locations your demographic is most likely to populate. 

7. Prioritise mobile optimisation

Last but not least, it’s crucial that you prioritise your mobile optimisation. Ninety-nine percent of QR codes are accessed via a smartphone, so they must be easily scannable and provide a seamless path to device-accessible content.

A responsive design is imperative if you want your lead to stick around once they have reached your content.

Ensure that web pages are fast loading, and all aspects of the content can be tapped on a smartphone screen. This is crucial if you want to prevent user frustration.

It’s time to set up your first QR campaign

QR codes are becoming a common part of our everyday lives. You’re unlikely to step outside without seeing one on a promotional billboard or down the supermarket aisles.

“QR Codes are key to delivering personalised consumer experiences in modern marketing and advertising. Recent data on QR Code usage shows a significant increase in their popularity worldwide,” say experts at Unicode.

As marketers continue to tailor their content strategies to boost the use of these scannable codes, they open up new opportunities for lead generation on the go.

Juniper Research predicts that QR Code engagement will exceed 2.2 billion in 2025. So what are you waiting for?

Learn more about your audience today using Keyhole. Monitor your social media analytics, track brand mentions and discover new trends to utilise in your next QR code campaign.  

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