Episode 3 - Digital Marketing Strategy and QR Codes: Your Burning Questions, Answered

You are tuning in to this take here's podcast. Presented by QR Tiger, the most advanced QR code generator. In this episode, Kristel aims QR code burning questions at expert Benjamin Clies. Learn all about QR codes and how it was scrapped in our day-to-day life, from how it was created for logistics to how it developed into a tool for growing businesses. Only here on Stay Curious, your reliable guide in all things QR code. Today, we're sitting down with Benjamin Clies, our QR code expert, and we're going to talk about the most important questions when using QR codes and marketing. So, without further ado, let's get started. Alright, so for our first question, where do QR codes come from? So, QR codes were invented in Japan, where they were used in the automotive industry for logistics. A barcode, when it has a scratch, you cannot scan it anymore. But a QR code, when a part is blocked or it's scratched, you can still scan it. Why is that? Because there is an error correction zone in the pattern. That means, if you block a part of the pattern, like for example, you put a logo in the middle of a QR code, you will still be able to scan it. That was the main reason QR codes were invented. Later on, it found its way to marketing, as we all know today, and it's been used in so many versatile reasons from logistics, to education, to marketing, to all kinds of reasons worldwide. Versatility, that's a keyword for QR codes, right? So, can you highlight more reasons why QR codes became successful? I think the most obvious reason a QR code became successful is because they offer what I call a door from the offline to the online. Right? Every product offline, and today everybody uses a smartphone, can be accessed with a QR code. And that's, I think, the most important reason that QR codes become successful is because that bridge that they make from offline to online. And the other reason is that it's actually very easy to execute. Right? You can just print it, you put a sticker on it, you place it on the product that you want, and it works. So, that's the most important thing that I think also where QR codes became successful and used in such a versatile way is because they are actually easy to access and to produce. Right, and speaking of offline to online connectivity, what are Wi-Fi QR codes and how do they work? Wi-Fi QR code is one of my favorite QR codes. The first reason is because it's free, and the second reason is because it's a QR code, when you scan it, in one click you can connect to the Wi-Fi. It happens so many times that you go to a bar or any place and you have this kind of complex password, you need to type a menu tab, something wrong, you need to try it again, you need to try it again, very frustrating. Right? You just come in a place, take your phone, scan, click, you're on the Wi-Fi. It's like magic, and I think this is one of the really great huge cases of QR code that actually really helps people to quickly connect to a Wi-Fi network without thinking. All right, and for other businesses, it's also important to ask, will QR codes expire? Yes and no. Right? We have two type of QR codes. One is a static QR code, that's where your URL or your data is just embedded in the QR code that will never expire, will work forever. Then we have what we call dynamic QR codes, and these are QR codes with a short URL in between that will redirect to your end data, like your landing page or whatever you wanted to do. In this place you can actually track data, and you can also edit it. So even if your QR code is already printed, you can still change. These QR codes use servers and use whole systems, so they will come with a subscription and will expire if you don't renew your subscription. So that's a difference between a static and a dynamic. They have different benefits, and that's why people use them in different ways. All right, and one thing I'm really curious about, dynamic QR code is the multi-URL QR code, so how does it work? Multi-URL QR code is a QR code that redirects depending on certain parameters, like for example, on your IP address. So if I'm scanning a new York with an IP address of New York, and another person is scanning in Paris in France with an IP address from France, they will go to a different landing page. Even if they scan that QR code in the same time in different locations, right? Or it can also redirect based on times. You scan in the morning, you will go to, for example, a breakfast menu. You scan in lunchtime, you go to a lunch menu, you scan in the evening, you go to a dinner menu, or you also have a multi-URL QR code that's based on the amount of scans, will always redirect to a new URL. So for example, the first 10 can redirect to one page, the next 20 can go to another page. This can be used, for example, for discounts, people scan the first 10 people, get 20% discount, the next 20 people can get only 5% discount, as an example, right? And then there's also a multi-URL QR code based on language, you scan a QR, you scan. I'm in Italy, and I scan, and my phone is actually set in German, so my page or my phone will still show in German, right? Because the phone, we will detect the language settings of the phone, based on that we will redirect them to the right page. Yeah, that sounds so convenient. So let me ask you, what is the most common use of QR codes today? The most common use of QR codes today is actually most people use it for their website, right? So you see sometimes a van or you see a door where people just want to redirect you to their website, which could be a landing page, where people can enter more information or engage with, but that's the most common use. Most people use a QR code just for a URL of their website and to redirect them to this. This is what I can see is the major group of people using the second biggest group of people using QR codes is for a file. So that's when people direct to a PDF, a PNG, a GPEC, a video, or something like that. That's the second biggest group. Right, and now we know that there's just so many uses of QR codes and not just for a link. And so what would be your best tips for using QR codes for marketing? What is important for QR code for marketing? I always say to people, QR codes are as important as your logo. So when people have a product, right, and you want to place a QR code, make sure that QR code is nice and visible, make sure that QR code is nice design. So people are associated with something that they want to scan, make sure that the size of that QR code is big enough, make sure that it's on a good visible position. So such kind of things are important. And the most important thing, and that's what most people forget where the QR code is a call for action. Right, we have tested it when people scan a QR code with a call for action, like scan and win, see movie, such kind of call for actions get 70 to 80% more scans. Why? Because when people see QR code, it doesn't tell them anything. But when there's a call for action, they know when they're going to scan what's going to happen next. They're going to see a movie, they're going to get more information, they're going to win something. So such kind of thing is really important. I cannot emphasize it enough. Right, call for action, that's a thing to do. That's correct. And of course, you have to have a compelling call to actions, always call in your best copywriter out there. So it's so easy for people to scan your QR code right away. And so you mentioned earlier about dynamic QR codes and how you can edit them, and how you can track the data. Can you run us through that? How can you track data with dynamic QR? So dynamic QR could actually come from a short URL. And in milliseconds, we'll redirect to your landing page. In those milliseconds, we'll actually track the IP address of a person. So we know actually where the person is. Not 100% no worries, but kind of no the city that is in. We also going to know the time of the scan, which device he uses. And also we will know the amount of scans, of course. And also if the person scan one time or two times, we don't know any personal data of that person. But we know all those most important data to understand if your QR code is successful. Because if you make a QR code and you don't have data, how can you know it's successful, right? And that's the most important thing that people actually, when they scan a QR code, know that people actually scan it or that they need to improve something in their marketing. Yeah, and you can connect Google Analytics, Zapier on your QR, your account, right? That's also possible, of course. You can also actually, when people scan, have different things happening after, right? Sure. And as we discussed, it's not just, your codes are not just limited with your else. So can you discuss how, like, businesses or offices both private and public can use a PDF QR code? And how can they share it? So a PDF QR code is a QR code where you actually, where we actually link to your PDF, or this is actually a file QR code, so you can actually link to a GPEG as well or a PNG. And we made it when people scan that it automatically opens straight in the browser. Because, of course, with a PDF, it can also be that you scan and it actually first need to download to your phone. But that's not so user-friendly, right? So we made that the PDF actually straight away opens. And one of the use cases for this is, for example, in restaurants, people scan and see the menu in a PDF on the phone. But I have also seen it in so many other different ways, like on flyers and brochures, where people don't have more information. People scan have the PDF, they can save it to their phone and have more information. Right, and as we know, QR codes blew up all around the world during the start of the pandemic. And up until now, it's already a common day-to-day thing for us. So what sorts of businesses are currently using QR codes? Today, we have total different industries using QR codes. If not all, right? We can have from investors that use QR codes. We can have financial institutions. We can have a dentist. We can have a bakery. We can have a restaurant. We can have a pharmacy. We can have food and beverage. We can have all different things. industries today use QR codes. Why? Because a QR code is nothing else than a door to your online presence, right? So it is important for every company that needs marketing to use a QR code. There is no limit on that and that's something that we see that the industries that come to us are not coming only from one side. One big thing that we of course see most businesses use QR codes for is for marketing. The other big junk is education. Like for example, universities when people scan they can see more information, right? So this is also something that we see as a trend marketing education. These are the two big trends within QR code users. Logistics of course as well. That's true. And speaking of no limits for QR codes, it's not of course just limited to businesses. Individuals can also use it. And for someone like you who has a CEO of QR tiger and you're always on the go, how can a CEO or a business person use a v-card QR code on their business card? So business card is something that everybody gets and they pile up on your desk, right? And v-card is actually a QR code that has all the information of your business card. And you can actually when people scan it, they can straight away save it to their phone. Like first come on on the landing page where they can see more information and they can click and they save it on their phone. And me for example, I have put my business card on the back of my phone. So when I'm in a meeting, I just put my phone in the middle of the table and say scan and people can connect instantly to me. That makes it practical for me because I don't need to carry business cards all the time. I don't need to worry that I don't have business cards and all the time. I just have my phone. I just talk. You have your phone anyway all the time with you. Just show it like a sticker. People scan and they get connected to you. So that's something that is pretty useful. And that's I think also where a v-card, you know, becomes important in the use of many companies. Another way to use a v-card is as an email signature. Everybody sends email. We did it in your signature. So when people see your email, they can still scan and connect to you. So this way, I see this kind of v-card becoming really, really used a lot by different businesses because it's just so useful. Right. And v-card QR codes are so smart and they're more sustainable. And definitely because it's a dynamic QR code, you can edit your contact details there if you ever change your email address, office address, or whatever contact details that you have there. That's right. Also, and if it works for businesses and influencers and CEOs, how can I even house all my social media channels in one QR code? Is that possible? That's possible. That's what we call a social media QR code. A social media QR code is a QR code where you can put all your social media handles, right? You can totally change the whole layout following your brand identity. You can put a picture behind it and you can also put phone numbers on it. You can put emails. So we made a social media QR code where you can actually really make kind of very flexible in the way that you design it and really make it. And it's all on the go. It's like you put everything inside. You click, click, click, and there you go. You get your social media QR code. Later, if you already printed it, you want to change it. You just go edit and you can change everything again, right? So that's I think really powerful. And today, I might not use Facebook anymore, but you do. I might be not on, let's say, Reddit, but you do. So in this way, if you have a social media QR code, you allow people to, you know, choose which social media they want to follow you on, right? Or for example, some younger generation will use TikTok, other people will not use TikTok, right? Such kind of things. So that's why I think it's really important to give people the opportunity to follow you as many social media as well. Okay, so sharing social media links, PDF files, and how about other important documents? Can I also use a QR code to share my files in there? You can do that with what we call a file QR code, but if you have many files, you can also use what we call an HTML 5 QR code. That's like a landing page where you can put pictures, text, you can put files in it. So people actually can, you know, you can make whole thing about it like a landing page where people can also download things on and all these kind of things. But once you can put your click to go to your other website pages or everything like that. So we have this kind of landing page feature, and there you can put different files on as well. So that sounds really great. But another important question is that is my data safe when embedding the information on a QR code? Yeah, of course your data is safe because you choose to share which data you want to share, right? Of course, you can put a password on a QR code as well. If this data is something that not everybody wants to see, so we allow that as a feature as well that people can add a password. And in the end of the day, you decide which data that people can watch when they scan a QR code. Of course, and QR codes, they will always link to a certain website. That is something that you decide in our system. This is not something that any bells can change unless they have your password. All right. So, and now I remember with our QR code services, we're offering like low cost pricing plans. But how can you guarantee a high return of investment in it with QR codes? I do believe QR codes have a high return on investment. Why? Because it's actually very affordable to use, right? It's not an expensive tool. And then the other thing is that you know, it can create quite a bit of leads if you do it in the right way. And sometimes for some companies, even with one lead, when one person scans a QR code, they can already have their return on investment. They don't depend on your product, of course, right? Some products will need a few scans before they have a return on investment. Others will need just one scan to have a return on investment. So it depends. And I think that's the great thing about a QR code that is actually pretty affordable, that it can be used by the smallest business as the biggest enterprises out there. Right. And we've seen like such amazing QR code campaigns over the years. So just circling back, as you said, QR codes are really flexible, but just how flexible are they really? And can it be applied to all products and services? Yeah, I think QR codes can use by most product and services. Of course, QR codes have their limits, right? But in the same way, I think right now we live in a time where people know what a QR code is, they know how to scan it. So I think the flexibility of a QR code is that it actually is mostly used on products out there, probably that need to do for cross-border e-commerce that is used on packaging, that it's used on all kind of, you know, for services. It's put on a van, the guy drives around, and it's for example, a construction company or something like that. So it actually helps so many people to get more business through it. And that I think is degrading about a QR code that it's actually very efficient to produce, but also very efficient to use if it comes to scanning. There is no other technology than your smartphone that you need and the QR code, because that's what most people forget. A QR code is a dialogue between your smartphone and the code that is out there. A QR code on itself does nothing. Right. Exactly. And the limit is just on the marketers, creativity and imagination, right? And so now when applying QR codes on print, like in packaging and in advertisements, like in posters, what's the smallest size that you can print a QR code for it to be scanable? Right. So a QR code of course is limits. If you make a small QR code, my advice is multiple to put a logo to make it like black, white background, black pattern. And the small size you can go is 1.2 inch or 1.2 inch or in centimeter that would be about 2 to 3 centimeter or 2 to 3 centimeter. Of course, a QR code is always square. That's what I think is the smallest that you should go. Why is that? Because you also want to make sure that people can see that there is actually a QR code, right? So, but it can be small. Yeah, it can be small. I can still work. We even made it like one on one centimeter, right? Really small and it's was still scanable. Yeah. And of course, we always remind our marketers to never use like light colors, right? Because it still has to be readable on your phones. Right. Just just remember that, but you can still use your company logo and colors in it. Just don't use like the light colors or the pastel one. Yeah. So that it's still scanable on your customers' phones. QR codes can as I've improved, even on iPhone before the iPhone could not scan all QR codes, not against can almost all QR codes. But still, you need to think of QR code. Works the same like a barcode. It needs to the best is a wide background, right? And a darker pattern, right? If that pattern will be, for example, be yellow or gold, then of course, the contrast cannot be big enough. And it can be that some phones might not be able to capture it in a darker environment, for example, right? So this is really important to understand. And this is still a common mistake, I see a lot that people use yellow or light orange or pastel colors in QR codes and actually make it that it cannot be scanned. So when you make producer's QR code, really important that you test it out first. Test it first. Yeah. Before you actually put it on all your packaging. Yeah. All right. So thank you Benjamin. That's the last of our questions. I think you've covered a lot of those burning questions from our marketers. And if you have other questions, just leave us in the comments down below and we'll be answering that on the next episode. So again, this has been Crystal and this has been and this is Stay Curious. Stay tuned for our next episode. Thank guys. Bye. Bye. The Stay Curious podcast is brought to you by QR Tiger, the most advanced QR code generator. If you find this episode insightful, go ahead and click the follow button to stay updated. If you know a marketer in need of QR code ideas, help them out by sharing the link to this podcast. Until next time!