Understanding the Potential of QR Codes Printed on Promotional Products

Updated: December 03, 2010

Here are Five Ways You Can Use Promotional Products and QR Codes as an effective marketing tool:

1. To Promote a Downloadable Mobile App- With thousands of mobile apps being released every month, it is becoming especially important to diversify yourself from the competition. Mobile apps no longer sell themselves- they must be marketed and promoted like any other product.
   • Handing out a promotional product with a QR code printed on it that links to the mobile app download site is an incredibly effective promotion because people have to use their smartphone to scan the link and download the app.
2. To Link To An Industry Report- Businesses that send out financial and quarterly reports among others through direct mail may avoid that high paper cost by sending out a valuable promotional product with a different type of 2D barcode known as an EZ code printed on it. The EZ code can be scanned by the ScanLife Mobile App and could link to a PDF with that information. The EZ Code's destination can also be changed at a moment's notice, giving reason for the report recipient to keep the promotional product for the next time the company releases a report.
3. To Promote Your E-Commerce Site- With the explosion of e-commerce over the last ten years, 2D barcodes allow for upcoming and successful online retailers to effectively engage with their consumer. Little offline advertising is done by e-commerce retailers, but there is a bright future in mobile e-commerce as payment systems are finally up and running like PayPal Mobile. Giving a promotional product to buyers of products on an e-commerce site with a 2D barcode that links to the daily, weekly or monthly special could certainly entice some mobile commerce and more value in an incredibly competitive e-commerce marketplace.
4. As A Gift With Purchase To Incent A Facebook "Like"- With Facebook being the number one site in the world in terms of time spent on by people like you and me, getting a "like" is like solid gold because you have the opportunity to re-engage with your customer through so many different ways using your Facebook Fan Page. However, it is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain these "likes". For more information on strategies of how you can use Facebook to get you those "likes" through promotional products and QR Codes, we've created a blog post.
   • That's not to say that you couldn't use this to gain LinkedIn connections, Twitter Followers or RSS feed subscribers.
5. To Incent A Brand Discussion- If there's any proof that some consumers are possibly obsessed with barcode scanning, over 13 million products have been indexed by people using the Bakodo Mobile App which scans traditional barcodes on consumer products where consumers post positive or negative reviews about the product, influencing buyer decisions. The StickyBits App allows consumers to scan a traditional barcode and have a discussion about it while attaching just about any multimedia to the "discussion wall". Ben and Jerry's is currently running an experimental promotion for where the first 500 people who scan their "pint" sized ice creams through the StickyBits app will recieve a free promotional Ben and Jerry's T-Shirt.

So yes, promotional products could also support this kind of barcode scanning too.

It's about being creative to connect with your consumer.