Anchor Computer

QR (Quick Response) codes are popping up everywhere, from print advertisements, product labels, purchase receipts, and even business cards.  In fact, QR code scanning has increased by over 4500% in 2011, according to a report from Mobio Identity Systems, Inc.  The number is expected to increase as smart phone purchases rise in 2012 and more consumers are equipped to easily scan them and respond.

These positive numbers are encouraging for marketers who currently use QR codes in their marketing strategies, and many are planning to do so in the near future.

Linking offline touch points to various content such as hyperlinks, maps, phone numbers, email, video and social media presents unlimited opportunities for customers to interact with companies.

Here are 10 effective ways to add QR codes to your marketing…

1. Build your social media accounts. A new like or follow can create a long-term marketing opportunity. Add QR codes to on-site display locations and promotional posters.  By simply scanning, users can follow your social media account or “like” your page.   Add value for the user and entice them to take action. For example, “Like our Facebook page for latest news alerts and exclusive coupons”.

2. Encourage product purchases. Offering on-site product information can help encourage a sale by offering access to product information, reviews and comparisons, a value-added product video and even a mobile “buy now” option.

3. Increase contest, memberships and event signups. Print QR codes on promotional materials to gain additional sign-ups and make offline touch points interactive for immediate response.  Offer users a quick and easy vehicle to scan and sign-up for contests, surveys, memberships, event registrations and more. You can also improve offline campaign tracking by using ‘tiny urls’ with your QR codes.

4. Improve direct mail response rates and tracking. Encourage recipients to take action by making your mail piece interactive. Increase direct mail response tracking. Plus, you can add a personal touch for every recipient and increase relevancy by combining purls with your QR code.

5. Capture customers who visit your store while you are closed. Most stores are not open 24/7.  Adding QR codes to your store display, linking to your website, can turn a potentially lost sale into an online customer.

6. Engage more show attendees and capture more leads at your next event. Add QR codes to your trade show displays and signage. You can allow contacts to scan your business contact details and allow them to engage with your company, capture your information and convert them online.

7. Motivate survey response. Encourage users to scan and rate their experience.  Add value and boost survey responses by offering participants a discount off their next purchase or a chance to win a prize.

8. Bring your business card to life. Use the backside of your business card and include a QR code that leads to a landing page of detail about you or your business.

9. Make your offline promotional material, brochures, and print ads interactive.  Leverage QR codes to boost offline promotions and conversions.  Add QR codes next to each product description, promotion or call to action. This helps to engage your reader and allows them to easily interact and respond to what they are reading about.

10. Let your presentation stand out from the crowd and leave a lasting impression. Add QR codes to the end of your presentation to sign up for more information, receive a copy of the presentation or view a list of the items mentioned.

2011 was an exciting year for marketers. Digital channels such as Social Media, SMS, Web 2.0 and 2-D barcodes have created many new opportunities for businesses and consumers to communicate and build relationships. Integrating these new mediums with more traditional channels such as email and direct mail has increased response rates and customer engagement.

As multi-channel marketing continues to evolve in 2012, consumers are receiving more marketing messages than ever before. In order to cut through the clutter, marketers need reach customers where and how they want to receive offers. Sending targeted marketing campaigns across multiple channels will ensure you are engaging customers where and how they are most likely to respond.

Anchor offers all the solutions needed to effectively reach your customers and make your multi-channel marketing a success. We can help you prepare your customer database with appended and/or verified email, phone and mailing addresses, provide you with new highly targeting prospect lists – and expand the reach of your campaign by adding social media data, SMS text messaging, 2-D barcodes and web 2.0 tools.

Jump start your marketing for 2012 using one-stop multi-channel solutions:

Request an no-obligation Marketing Report to see how you can improve your multi-channel strategy, cut costs and maximize response!

A dominating 38.5% of time spent on the mobile web is used for email activity, according to a study by The Nielsen Company. This number is expected to grow quickly throughout 2012.

With the sharp rise in people reading email on a mobile device, Forrester suggests that marketers plan on including mobile in their marketing mix and employing email marketing messages that are more mobile friendly. While is it not necessary to revamp your entire email marketing program, you will want to prepare emails with more simplicity in mind.

Here are some quick tips for designing emails that are more mobile friendly:

Keep your subject lines short and powerful
Your email subject line must grab your reader’s attention quickly and entice them to click and read your message. Best practices suggest keeping mobile email subject lines within 5 or 6 words or under 35 characters.  Anything longer may be truncated and not seen.

Use a familiar “from” line
Make sure your reader recognizes whom the message is coming from. Choose wisely, whether it’s someone’s name or a company name that will capture their attention.

Get to the point – keep content short
You will be fighting for the attention of everyone reading emails on a mobile device. Focus on one topic and one offer. Content should be easily read and simple to understand.

Design emails using a single column layout
Reformat HTML email design to a single column layout. This will make it easier for email creatives to appear correctly across desktop, webmail and mobile readers. Best practices show fewer than 40 characters per line will be the most effective.

Include call-to-actions that are easy to find and respond to
Use call to action links with larger fonts to ensure readers can easily locate them and respond when using small mobile touch screens.  If your link leads to a webpage, make sure the page is mobile friendly and forms are easy to work with.

Include a pre-header
Most mobile devices will include a preview of email text under the subject line.  Use a pre-header wisely to mention your offer or complement the subject line to get readers to open your email.

Don’t forget “click to read on mobile device” link
All mobile devices, and email viewing apps are different.  Some will render your email and display messages with no problem and others simply will not.  Add a “click to read on mobile device” link at the top of all your emails and newsletters to ensure every reader has an easy option to view your message from anywhere.

Including a plain text copy of every HTML message
Some mobile devices will only display a plain-text version of your email.  Spend the time to optimize plain text emails with mobile readers in mind to increase response.

Use the right alt tags for your images
Many mobile email devices and apps do not display HTML images. Be sure and include alt tags to describe what the images in your creative are conveying, so readers get the fully intended message.

Test, Test, Test
Take the guesswork out of mobile email marketing.  Use a mobile email simulator to see how your email will appear on various mobile devices and screen sizes.

Let Anchor help bring your email marketing to the next level! We provide Full Service Email Marketing Solutions for companies of all sizes!  Our in-house email marketing team becomes part of yours.

Get started with a FREE consultation. Choose from a variety of email campaign services including: creative services, deliverability monitoring, list management and data acquisition, target marketing and more.