Some people think QR codes make their campaign more digital, viral, or mobile - in short, more clever. I just wanted to share my thoughts on the topic.
QR (Quick Response) codes are industrial 2d [bar]codes designed to store reasonably complex data that can be encoded and decoded at high-speed by machines. They weren’t really intended for humans, or for simple URLs - unless a machine needed to parse a bunch of them.
Generally, QR codes aren’t a particularly good idea for using in campaigns because:
1. Other than in Japan pretty much no phones have a QR reader installed by default (downloading one is more hassle than just typing in the URL of the site you actually want to visit)
2. Even in Japan where QR codes were invented, around 90% of people don’t know what they are, or don’t use them.
3. QR codes are not very shareable - they aren’t good social objects. You can’t write one down, remember it, google it, share it as a link, email it etc etc.
So if you are using QR codes for a regular URL you are probably at best wasting your time, and worst compromising the effectiveness of your campaign.
So what is the point of QR codes then?
QR codes are great for what they were invented for - embedding packets of complex data into a (visual) form that can be decoded by another machine.
One great example in Japan is when you book flights, your ticket comes with a personalised QR code that contains a very complex URL to assemble travel insurance for your particular needs. It’s far too long to type out, even on a desktop keyboard but especially on a mobile, and it saves you having to fill out a complex form.
If you aren’t doing something like that, and you are just encoding a URL or doing a broadcast, then you are better off just… umm… well… using the actual URL.
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