This odd looking puzzle is a QR (Quick Response) Code. Today, many QR code websites offer free app readers that can be downloaded in a matter of seconds. Do a Google search for “QR code generator” to find either android or apple apps. My personal favorite is QRdroid since I have an Android smart phone.

Once you have downloaded a reader to your smart phone, you can scan the code with your cell phone. With the QRdroid reader you simply tap the app to activate it. The screen will display an area to hover over the QR code, and the app automatically focuses and snaps a picture of the code. The information from the QR code will then appear.

When the advertising space you are allotted is smaller than the message you have to tell, you have a perfect situation for a QR code. Anywhere your message is in print you should have a QR code. From business cards to multi-storied buildings, QR codes are used to grab people’s attention and curiosity.

Your QR code message can be as simple as a name and phone number or as complex as showing product part numbers. You can embed links to websites or direct followers to a video of a virtual tour of your latest property listing. QR code uses are virtually limitless and are an extremely affordable marketing tool.

Please note that QR Codes do not have to be the bland black and white version. With judicious application, there is ample room for creative use of color and branding within the QR Code. For example, this QR Code that we created for the PPI Christmas video.

If you are a real estate agent you owe it to yourself to check out a website called Mobibrix.com. This site is highly useful for real estate agents because for the first time, they provide the functionality of changeing the message of a QR code after it has been printed. So for your rotating stock selling and listing homes you do not have to go back and reprint literature after a house sells and a new one is listed. The QR code information can be changed, eliminating the need to reprint your QR codes.

I will confess that, as a printer, the prospect of widespread use of QR Codes is exciting because they allow print to be directly and easily integrated with marketing on the web.

The key to successful QR code campaigns is to realize that you are developing an interactive relationship with your customer by providing them. Your customer is saying, I am interested in your message, please tell me more. Mobile devices are rapidly becoming the most popular search tool for people who are looking for businesses on line.People who owned smart phones for the first time in 2010 world wide outnumbered those who owned laptops or desktop computers.

The bottom line is that QR codes are inexpensive to provide and can be suited for any business. If you are not providing them your business is missing opportunities on a daily basis. I go so far as to say that all of your printed material should contain QR codes to engage your customers and attract more people to your business.

Gerald Drumwright has spent 25 years in all phases of the printing industry, currently concentrating on book, catalog, and magazine printing. Gerald is principal of PPI in Tupelo MS, Total Graphics Printing in Southaven MS, and McNeal Graphicsin Memphis TN. Contact Gerald at 662-680-4332.

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