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Daniel works with the online marketing team of a company and constantly churns out unique strategies. Sally works for the same company but takes care of offline marketing initiatives. She does her best too.
One day both of them were called by their manager. They were expecting outstanding results from their initiatives. But, unfortunately, the scenario was different. Can you guess the reason?
Because they failed to sync their online and offline marketing initiatives.
This scenario applies to most businesses. Many brands do not invest more in initiatives that sync their online and offline marketing. These two departments are seen as two separate teams with a different world of strategy and anticipated outcomes.
Even the companies who focus on syncing online and offline marketing let the events team collaborate with the social media managers to generate quality content, and then everything halts. Therefore, creating a holistic strategy to sync online and offline marketing constantly is critical to achieving a positive return on investment.
The bottleneck here is not many technologies offer a way to sync both online and offline marketing initiatives. But luckily, there is one form of technology that bridges the gap between online and offline marketing campaigns – QR Codes!
You can use QR Codes to sync online and offline marketing strategies effortlessly. The scope of using QR codes in different marketing mediums is pervasive. Read this guide to learn how to sync Online and Offline marketing campaigns for holistic results in no time.
How to leverage QR Codes on various marketing mediums
1. QR Codes on Print Advertisements
Make your customers interact with your company’s print advertisements in newspapers, magazines, flyers, and brochures in the most innovative way using QR codes. Print media is going nowhere, and it is high time you make it interactive to engage with your customers. The Atlantic, Allure, and Cosmopolitan are a few of the top magazines to have used QR Codes in their initiative to sync online and offline marketing.
What are the benefits of using QR Codes on print advertisements?
1. Enhances the shopping experience
Using QR codes in print advertisements can help readers purchase products directly from newspapers, magazines, etc. In addition, you can collaborate with vloggers and influencers to provide readers with first-hand reviews using QR Codes on promoted products to nudge them to make smart shopping decisions.
2. Boost reader engagement
You can boost your company’s story, interviews, and reviews, by implementing QR Codes on the print medium and, in the process, build trust by engaging readers on a multi-platform approach through direct, reliable sources. With a simple scan, you can easily enhance your reader’s cognizance of your content along with promoting brand loyalty.
3. Connect readers to the source
Is someone important from your company writing an article for a newspaper or magazine? You must have added the author’s name at the top or bottom of their article. What if the reader wants to access more information from the same author? Use QR Codes as your hyperlink from print to digital, and let them reach your website easily.
4. Amplify promotions
Surprise your readers by offering them digital extras such as giveaways, coupons, deals by adding a coupon QR Code on your company’s product pages and product advertisement pages. With coupon QR Codes, you can scan, save, share and redeem offers quickly on mobile devices.
Best practices for QR Codes on print advertisements
Add easy-to-read instructions
Please don’t make the mistake of printing QR Codes without a short written explanation of how to use them and what to expect from them. If customers do not know how to use the code, then they will be left with disappointment.
Add your company’s logo inside your QR Code
Upload your logo inside the coupon QR code. This way, you create a sense of brand identity and at the same time offer a way to promote your product. Uniqode’s system automatically detects the best and most significant size for uploaded logos and makes the necessary adjustments.
Customizable URL
By default, every dynamic QR Code generates a random short URL that redirects to your desired page when the QR Code is scanned. Customize this short URL to your preference and stand out from competitors and build more trust among users.
2. QR Codes on Emails
Email marketing is a marketing method that every company is trying to master in a competitive scenario. Email marketing is proven to be a strategy that offers one of the best ROI. However, with 5 billion active email users, it’s almost impossible to reach your target audience.
Are you looking for ways to stand out from the crowd? Then QR Code for emails is the strategy for you. It creates a unique identity to your emails, tracks your campaigns, and makes it more convenient for mobile and desktop users.
What are the benefits of using QR Codes on emails?
1. Create custom QR codes to match your email style
Uniqode’s QR codes are customizable and can be made to match your email campaigns. It’s easy to add custom frames, fun edges, a specific brand or graphic design colors, a logo or image in the middle, and your CTA (call to action).
2. QR Code tracking for email campaigns
Email campaigns yield the best results with consistent optimization based on data analysis. With dynamic QR Codes, it is efficient to track your email marketing campaigns. BayEngage helps you optimize your email marketing campaigns, while Uniqode helps with monitoring the progress.
3. Easy to edit and update
Dynamic QR Codes provide a way to edit your information without friction. Marketing teams constantly try to update the link to the website and other details, impacting your brand’s reputation. With a QR code solution, the negative results from link errors in your emails are completely minimized.
4. Perfect for mobile & desktop users
QR Codes let users conveniently access content on mobile and desktop. Especially for email campaigns, add a QR Code and let users know they can view the content however they want.
Best practices for using QR Codes on emails
Make your CTA stand out
The most vital part of any email design is the CTA. Therefore, the entire email design should be centered around this CTA, and the other elements should be placed so that only CTA stands out. For example, QR Codes with frames ensure the user takes the desired action intended by the campaign.
Use brand copy & styling
Every email that you intend to send out should be designed to reflect your brand values and style. To achieve this, it is essential to use a unique brand copy along with creative graphic design. QR Codes integrate seamlessly with all brand designs and can be customized to suit your email design needs.
Optimize your results
Without optimizing, your email marketing campaign cannot perform. So, use QR Code tracking combined with email marketing optimization to analyze results, test various email audiences, and increase your revenue. Additionally, working with an e-commerce email marketing agency can provide the expertise and resources needed to elevate your email marketing strategy and achieve measurable success.
3. QR Codes on Out-of-Home Advertising (OOH Ads)
QR codes can add a new dimension to OOH Advertisements. Out-of-home advertising (OOH) is advertising that includes advertising on the outdoors, from billboards to bus shelters, benches, banners, etc. Implementing QR codes in these displays helps boost your advertising efforts and drive more traffic to your website. You can guide your customers to your online store with an appropriate CTA and a dynamic QR Code.
What are the benefits of using QR Codes on OOH Ads?
1. Optimize marketing campaigns
QR Codes is a valuable asset in your omnichannel marketing strategy as it helps you streamline different online platforms. In addition, QR Codes provide more opportunities to increase the volume of sales as a whole at your POS display. One of the best things about QR codes as part of OOH ads is that your audience can scan the QR Code, save it and revisit it later at their own convenience.
2. Improvise storytelling
Storytelling enhances communication with your audience. Nearly 90% of people believe suggestions from friends and family over advertisements, and 88% trust online reviews. Include QR codes in your OOH ads to let customers know what you are offering them beyond the ad. Allow them to connect with your brand and the story behind it with a simple scan.
3. Track your marketing campaigns’ progress
How do you know if your QR code on OOH ads has reached your audience?
With Uniqode’s QR codes, you can optimize and track your marketing campaign by viewing what worked and what did not work. You can gather the frequency of scans and unique scans, collect information such as the location, time, device, and date used for each one. Then, using real-time data, you can understand your QR Code’s performance success.
4. QR Codes on Social Media
Social media marketing has become one of the vital rewarding functions of business marketing strategies. Most of the time, a customer’s first interaction with your brand is through social media channels. Social media offers a way to connect with customers personally and increase brand awareness through direct engagement. Include QR codes in your social media to help customers connect with your brand easily on social media.
What are the benefits of using QR Codes on social media?
1. Link to other information from social media channels
You can link your QR Code to an app, landing page, or a form, and connect your followers to your products and help them see exactly what they need to see whenever and however you want.
2. Improve brand awareness
QR Codes come with endless customization possibilities. For example, your social media QR Code can be made to match the colors and style of your brand perfectly. You can also add your logo or another image within the QR Code and include a CTA.
3. Automatic mobile optimization
Social media is mainly used on mobile devices. With QR Codes, you can easily reach your followers on mobile devices with linked information that is automatically optimized for mobile.
Best Practices for using QR Codes on social media
Check your sizing
Sizing is one of the most critical factors for social media QR Code design. It directly impacts the appearance of your brand’s social image. Therefore, ensure your QR Code maintains the design guidelines of the social media platform you choose to use. Plus, consider leveraging social media design service for effective branding and consistency across your marketing channels.
Compare QR Code campaigns
Social media marketing receives the best results only through experimentation and optimization over time. You need to test and analyze which platforms are the most successful based on QR Code tracking metrics.
Leverage the power of customization
Social media images will not get any attention if you cannot show off your brand’s flare. With Uniqode QR Code customization possibilities, design your QR codes to reflect your brand’s style.
Wrapping Up,
While online marketing opens up your brand to a worldwide audience, offline marketing helps you attract customers in the most traditional way possible. Therefore, brands need to focus on both these marketing forms and derive maximum benefits. Use QR Codes to sync online and offline marketing efforts to offer a holistic marketing experience to your customers.
Why pick one when you can have the best of both worlds?
Shashank is a content marketer at Uniqode who turned to writing to pursue his natural calling after 2+ years of working in the product team. He aims to educate folks on the brilliant yet underrated technology of QR Codes. With more than a dozen Tofu and Mofu pieces under his belt, he explores how QR Codes can be used to solve challenges for businesses across all verticals. While he’s not educating users on the benefits of QR Codes, he’s also a student of the evolving marketing landscape.
