Marketing Commentary from interlinkONE
Marketing. Web-to-Print. Warehouse Management.
Showing Some Love via QR Codes
Posted by 
on Tuesday, February 7, 2012 
at 7:00 AM 
in 
Valentine’s Day is right around the corner and perhaps you are stuck looking for a last-minute gift… Or you want to stand out as unique…Or, you’re trying to get the attention of someone that is addicted to their mobile phone.
If any of those things are true, we have a little application that may be able to help you:
Send them a QR Code Valentine message by simply visiting http://ilnk.me/Love2012
Tags Mobile Shoppers
According to new research from Pew Internet, people are turning to their mobile phones to help them shop than ever before.
If you are still pondering whether it’s time to make changes your website, landing pages, and emails in order to reach the mobile audience, you may want to review some of the statistics in their report. Here are a few that stood out to me:
- More than 1/2 of adult cell phone owners used their phones while they were in a store during the 2011 holiday season to seek help with purchasing decisions.
- 24% of cell owners used their phone to look up reviews of a product online while they were in a store
- 25% of adult cell owners used their phones to look up the price of a product online while they were in a store, to see if they could get a better price somewhere else
As the number of smartphone owners continues to rise, and people more acquainted and comfortable with the features in those devices, we can certainly expect to see there already impressive numbers rise further.
Smartphones and other mobile devices certainly are causing some folks to pause before buying an item. If that happens to them, is your company doing everything it can to reach the mobile shopper, to help them make the decision to purchase at that point?
If you need any advice or help in regards to how you can reach the mobile audience, we’d love to help! Here are a couple of solutions that may want to check out:
iFlyMobi — Mobile Website Builder
QReate & Track — QR Code Management
QR CODES IN THE WILD: NOVEMBER 2011 EDITION
Each month we write tons of blog posts on QReateAndTrack.com about the QR Codes that we come across while we are out and about. This month like every other month, we saw plenty of creative ways that people are using QR Codes in their marketing efforts.
Below are some of the pieces that caught our attention over the past month. We hope that you enjoy them.
Macy’s Backstage Pass
Welch’s Juice Company
Target
YakTrax
PCC Natural Markets
Harry Potter
Disney
Emerging Technologies in Mobile Marketing: NFC, QR, and More…
Our CEO John Foley, Jr. had the privilege of speaking at Margie Dana’s Print and Media Conference recently in Chicago. His presentation was titled “Emerging Technologies in Mobile Marketing”.
John covered topics such as Near Field Communications (NFC), QR Codes, SMS, mobile websites and mobile search, smartphones, tablets, and more.
Below are a copy of the slides that John presented. If you have any questions about the topics that are covered, please let us know!
3 Ways Printers Can Reach the Mobile Audience
Canalys recently published its worldwide Q2 2011 smart phone market estimates and the results are impressive… although maybe not surprising.
Across the world, the smartphone market grew 73% year-on-year. More than 107.7 million units were shipped in the second quarter of 2011.
These statistics are important to all businesses, including printers and suppliers. Smartphones are changing the way people search, find, and consume information. When they turn to their phone to find a printer or a supplier, will their experience with your company be a pleasant one?
Here are three things that you can start doing today effectively reach that mobile audience:
Create a Mobile Website
A smartphone makes it easy for people to do a lot of things that they typically did on other devices… and that includes searching, browsing, and buying products & services on the web.
Thus, your company will want to invest time and resources into creating a mobile website as soon as possible.
This will involve some technical decisions as well as discussions on what content and features should be included. But it should be a high priority to accomplish that task! Your mobile website should provide important and relevant information for potential customer may need to learn about your company in a hurry.
Incorporate QR Codes into your Printed Materials
Print still has the ability to play a very important role in creating awareness and demand for a company’s products and services.
By adding QR Codes to your printed materials — including business cards, brochures, direct mail, flyers, signs, and more — companies can take advantage of the emotion and interest that a printed piece might stir up in a smartphone owner.
Start Building a Mobile Database
Yes, it’s true that people do not need smartphones to receive text-messages from your company. But I do believe that people with smartphones are more apt to receive push notifications (whether through an app or via SMS) more than someone that has a traditional feature phone.
Thus, start running campaigns that will collect important mobile phone-related details from your customers and prospects today, so that you can reach them through other methods in the future. You may be able to send them SMS/Text notifications about events, company news, or information on a specific print job.
