It has been 2 or 3 years that in our country we can regularly see, in very diverse places but especially in advertising, a type of black and white code in a square shape. We can find them in magazines, billboards, on the packaging of many products … They are called QR codes . You may already know what they are used for, but in case you do not know them, we will review them.
QR codes (“Quick Response”, that is to say, quick response) were invented in 1994, although it is now that they have become fashionable. A Japanese company, Denso Wave (owned by Toyota), wanted its content to be read quickly and without complications. The idea worked and, little by little, it spread throughout the world, until becoming in 2000 the international standard . The speed of which the Japanese company spoke is one of its main characteristics, since one of the main functions of QR codes is to communicate easily . Thus, with this system you can expand information on products and services, download mobile applications … even for a while, PayPal allows payments by QR code.
How are they used?
This is all very well, but … how are they used? Many will think. QR codes are images that, when scanned by our mobile devices ( smartphones and tablets), provide us with additional information , such as data, web pages, photos, contacts, etc. In order to scan these codes we will need to have an application created for this purpose in our terminal . There are many applications to read QR codes, but the most used are:
– QuickMark : Open all imaginable formats. When you scan a QR code it shows more advanced options than any other reader. The only downside is that for iOS it is paid (only € 0.99). For Android it is free.
– Barcode : Simple and easy to use, it is surely the fastest application. It supports all types of QR codes and its design is minimalist and intuitive. It is a free application.
– I-Nigma : It reads all the formats and allows to share the code read easily via sms or social networks like Facebook and Twitter. It is also free.
It should be remembered that, to read the QR codes, the mobile terminal in question must logically have a photographic camera , since the applications capture it using the device’s camera.
What are your possibilities?
The truth is that it has been a while before people have realized the possibilities of this system, but currently they are used by many companies. Many people were not convinced by the low conversion they produce if they are placed in any random place, without more. But if you put an attractive message on the QR code , which motivates you to scan it, success is practically guaranteed. And it is that with a QR we save the laziness that gives the client having to write in the browser of the mobile or the tablet. Just by taking a photo, the mobile device will automatically take the user to the landing page.
Today there are a good number of magazines that have QR codes on their pages so that readers can access some extra related content through their mobile devices (using the corresponding code reading application) . They can also be found in newspapers or even in other sectors, such as on television: by scanning the code that appears on the screen, the viewer can buy or receive additional information about a product or service advertised in a program.
However, where the QR code has the most prominent boom is in the field of advertising and marketing, as it becomes a more than interesting advertising tool . Generating a QR code and, in this way, providing campaigns with an interactive element that connects them to the Internet, has been very common in certain product firms for some time. Brands of great prestige worldwide have incorporated it into their marketing actions with very good results.
There is no doubt that QR codes are one of the best tools available today to connect the real and digital world, and proof of this is the increase in their inclusion by advertisers and their use by users. . Innovation and creativity can propel this unique system to levels yet to be discovered.
