7 Best Practices for QR Code Success

If you read my last blog post on QR codes, then you’ve gotten a basic understanding of what QR codes can do and how they can be employed practically. In this post, I’d like to discuss the best practices for implementation to ensure that your QR code marketing campaigns are optimized and effective.

I’d say that the question I get most frequently is “How do I change the content of my QR code? I’ve already publicized it but now I want it to take users somewhere else.” Or “I publicized my QR code and then found that it was broken!” The fact that this comes up brings me to what I consider the most important best practice when it comes to QR codes:

1. Plan the logistics thoroughly before launch.

Now this may seem obvious but let’s face it – mistakes happen. So don’t be in such a rush to execute that you haven’t properly formed a plan of how this campaign will be implemented. Make sure that you’re set up for success by thoroughly evaluating what the QR code should do and what action it should motivate the user to complete. That way you won’t be stuck changing a tire on a truck that’s already flying down the highway! The best way to prevent this is by following my second best practice suggestion:

2. TEST your QR code before going live – then test it again!

It’s imperative that you ensure your QR code does what you want it to BEFORE you make it public. Again, this might seem obvious but if the responsibility for testing isn’t made clear to the appropriate party, things can easily slip through the cracks. Make sure that someone on your team is explicitly identified as the tester. Then assign someone else the same task – having some redundancy is never a bad thing when it comes to possibly wasting marketing dollars on a botched campaign.

Test with multiple devices & apps too! Not all QR code generators produce codes that can be read by every device & reader. (This is something that’s important to take into consideration when selecting your provider for QR service as well.) Now of course we all try to make sure we’re following these best practices when we execute any of our marketing strategies, across different channels. But sometimes things change. What happens when something comes up and you must change that tire while in motion?

3. When making changes to your QR code mid-campaign, do so gracefully.

If you do not maintain the target content, then you should always use a vanity code, especially if you intend to use the QR code for a long period of time. This will allow you to redirect the URL to new target content on the fly. This is especially helpful when the link can change (YouTube video) or for when you intend to change out the content on a regular basis. If you do maintain the link where your content lives, then you should ideally use the actual URL as the QR URL. There’s no need to use redirects when you can simply change out the content yourself whenever necessary. This will improve the load time of the QR code destination. When you decide to swap out content at that URL, always test the content in a staging environment first to make sure that everything looks okay. Once you’re sure, swap it out – preferably at a time of day when you’re typically seeing the least amount of traffic, just in case something goes wrong. If the content type must change and you can no longer use the URL, in that case a redirect would be necessary. One thing you won’t be able to change after the fact is the size you selected for all of your printed material. So consider what makes the most sense based on how you’re carrying out this campaign.

4. Optimize the size of your QR code.

The size you use really depends on where you intend to post your code. So to give a very wide range, it shouldn’t be too much smaller than a postage stamp and can be as big as needed for a billboard, truck or even the side of a building. The common rule of thumb is that for print, it should be about the size of a checkerboard square. The most important thing to consider is where the vantage point is for the user compared to where the QR code is located. If the user will most likely be viewing the code from close up, it should be smaller than if they will be viewing from very far away. Basically you want to make sure that from where they will be, the QR code will fit into the viewfinder of their SmartPhone. A lot of people tend to think that aside from the size of the code and the content, there’s not much else control you have over the look of the code itself. However, that’s not really the case, which brings me to my next suggestion.

5. Brand your QR code & make it stand out!

Many of the QR code generators you’ll find allow you to make basic color enhancements. And that’s certainly a nice touch that can make your code pop more than the classic black & white. But what about taking it a step further? QR codes have built-in error correction of up to 30% so that leaves a lot of room to play around with customization. How about integrating your code into a design that reflects your brand or campaign? What about slipping your logo into the QR code itself? There are some great examples of this below. Just be sure that as you tweak your code, you test it repeatedly along the way so that you establish just how far you can push the boundaries while still making sure that your code is readable across most devices & apps. So now that you’ve put all of this effort into creating the perfect QR code, step back and think about your campaign itself. This is the time to make sure that your QR code is read-worthy!

6. Provide engaging content.

Remember that asking people to read a QR code can sometimes be an extra step – it’s not quite as simple as just clicking on a link. So ensure that you’re providing content that’s interesting and engaging enough to inspire people to act. Make it fun! Make it worthwhile and most importantly, make sure the process is as seamless as possible. Think about how you’re promoting the code in relation to the campaign. Does it make sense? However you go about it, make sure that the content is intriguing enough to drive someone to pull out that SmartPhone and read it! Once you have everything in place, you’re ready to publicize your code. But wait – don’t press the launch button until you know that you’ll be able to effectively track your campaign! It doesn’t do your company much good if you can’t prove ROI or learn anything from your successes and failures.

7. Make sure the necessary tracking is in place.

A lot of QR code generators will allow you to track clicks, at a minimum. But be careful – some don’t! Make sure you know and can live with the tracking limitations before settling on a provider. Even if you can’t get the metrics from the QR creator, you can do a lot on your own end to get the statistics you need. You can use Google Analytics to count the number of times the code has been scanned by looking at the referring site. You can add campaign parameters to the URL itself using Google Analytics to zero in on how it’s performing. And if you have to redirect your target URL for any reason, make sure to include that link in Google Analytics as well. If you have ecommerce tracking enabled within Google Analytics, you may even be able to track revenue.

Hopefully you were inspired by my last post on QR Codes and came up with some great ideas for campaigns you’d like to try. And now you have a quick list of the best practices associated with the execution side of things. So how will you use QR codes? What campaigns will work for your business? Tell me about it by commenting below!

Anna Pfeiffer
Marketing Strategist at Bronto