QR CodeQR Codes are a stunning new marketing tool.
Although to be honest, it's several years old, and is already huge in Japan, where over 90% of people know what these 2d barcodes are , and over 50% of the population have used qr codes! According to Wikipidia, the Japanese company which invented QR codes called them that, as they provide a "Quick Response".
And an every increasing number of mobile phones with cameras can scan and use QR code.
Start the barcode software on your phone - turning your mobile phone into a mobile barcode scanner - and point the phone's camera at the black & white rectangular image shown and it will scan it. In this particular example, scanning this sample QR code will load a URL for your phone to go to in order to get further information.
The European equivalent of the QR Code is the Datamatrix 2d barcode.
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Text CodesWant your prospective customers to text you?
Instead of advertising "text keyword to a number", make it really simple: provide a 2D text code that can be scanned, which automatically inserts the phone number the text code needs to be sent to, and the keyword or other text already inserted into the message.
It's simple, it's fast, and it's error free!
You can try scanning the image here - but the phone number is a dummy one, so we don't advise on hitting "send"...
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2D barcodeWant to provide some text to your prospective customers?
Give them a 2D barcode which they can scan in a few seconds on their mobile phone, and they can save the text for later use.
The uses are as wide as your imagination and as specific as your individual business requirements. It could be times of buses, opening times of your restaurant, details of your latest fashions, or information on a special offer.
More and more mobile phones are capable of scanning these 2D barcodes in a second or two, and converting them to read the "hidden" information contained in the code.
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Phone codesWant to provide a phone number at the bottom of a poster or other advert, so your prospective customers can call you?
You can configure a 2D barcode to contain your phone number, so that your customers can instantly scan it, and call you, without having to make notes of the number - and even better, they can save the number straight into their phone's memory.
Don't just advertise and call for "action" - make it simple for your them to call your number straight away. This "phone code" when scanned with your mobile phone's barcode software will put a phone number on to the display of your mobile phone, ready to call it. Easy!
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Voucher codesProvide your customers with voucher codes which they can instantly scan & get details on to their mobile phones to carry with them.
You get your advertising text, or a URL - complete with inbuilt streaming video links if you wish - straight on to their phones. And what is the one thing that everybody carries? Their mobile phones, of course.
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vcardWant to provide a "VCard" that your potential customers can automatically save in to their phone - and even synchronise with Outlook?
You could do it the old fashioned way and hope that they will patiently key in all the information. Or you could provide them with a 2D VCard bar code - scanned on a mobile phone in a couple of seconds and stored instantly, without typing mistakes.
Key tip: You really need one of these on your business cards!
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Barcode scanning?How do you use 2D barcode scanning?
Check in the list of applications that are on your phone. You may just find that the software is already there! Alternatively, you can download software to your phone. One of the largest suppliers is MobileTag whose software runs on many phone models, and whose "MobileTags" have become the de facto standard in various European countries.
Start the software, and point your phone's camera at the 2D barcode. Typically, the software indicates when it is "locked on" and you can just push the button to scan, or the 2D barcode will open up the content, to reveal the URL link contained in it, or set up the SMS response, provide you with text information, or even put a phone number on to your display, ready to call for more information.
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Barcodes r us!If you want to deploy QR codes as a wonderful way to provide more information to your customers and get an interactive dialogue going with them, then please contact us for more information.
However, you may wish to look at Datamatrix 2d barcodes as these follow the ISO standard and as such are more likely to be the European standard.
We look forward to hearing from you!
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