QR Code for App Downloads: Boost app downloads with a single QR Code

What is a QR Code for app downloads?

A QR Code for app downloads directs users to the relevant app store based on their mobile's operating system. You only need a single QR Code to enable your audience to install an app on their smartphones. This boosts app downloads and speeds up user conversion rates.

Why create a QR Code for app downloads?

A QR Code for app downloads has several benefits. Let’s visit some of them here.

One QR Code for all app stores for quick & easy downloads

A major benefit of using a QR Code for app downloads is having a single code for all app stores.

You no longer need to create a different QR Code for each app store. A QR Code for app downloads saves a user's time as they don't have to manually type the app’s name in the app store.

Users only need to scan the QR Code and download the app on their smartphones. This provides an effortless user experience and increases customer delight.

Efficient QR Code tracking to help build better marketing strategies

Tracking data is essential to measure ROI for a marketing strategy. A QR Code for app downloads helps examine real-time data like location of scanning (narrowing down to cities), the scanning device, time, and unique and total scans. You can measure your QR Code’s performance from these metrics, and accordingly optimize your campaign.

Extensive customization using QR Codes for app downloads

Consistent brand representation is significant for users as it emotionally connects them with a brand. A customized QR Code allows you to effectively represent your brand. You can add a logo, brand colors, an impactful CTA frame, and background to your QR Code. These custom QR Codes have the key advantage of grabbing your audience’s attention, and prompting them to download your app.

How to create a QR Code for app downloads?

Creating a QR Code for app downloads is super easy with Uniqode. Here’s how you can easily create an app download QR Code for your business using a custom QR Code generator for apps -

Step 1: Log in to the dashboard

Log in to the Uniqode dashboard and click on ‘+Create QR Code’.

Step 2: Select campaign type

Select ‘App Download’ from the list of campaign types.

PS: We recommend using a dynamic QR Code generator for app downloads.

Step 3: Set up your QR Code campaign

Input app links for the respective app stores.

1. QR Code for Android app: Paste the link to your app on Google Play in the dedicated field.
2. QR Code for App store: Paste the link to your app on the App Store in the space provided.

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Step 4: Customize your QR Code

Customize your QR Code by trying out different/adding templates, eye-balls, brand logo, QR Code frames, a call-to-action text, and more.

RELATED: How to create a customized QR Code

Step 5: Download your QR Code

Your app download QR Code is ready to be deployed. Download the QR Code in your desired format and use it on your marketing materials, website, etc.

Check out: QR Code printing guidelines

Dynamic QR Codes for app downloads

Let’s say you have a QR Code to download an app that allows users to order products from your brand online.

And later on, let’s say you decide to launch an exclusive app for your loyalty and rewards program for customers.

Rather than creating a whole new QR Code to link to it, you can redirect the existing QR Code to your new app - with the help of a dynamic QR Code.

Dynamic QR Codes for app downloads are a game-changer for your brand’s app promotions. You can create a QR Code for app downloads, and if you wish to change its destination, you can do so in under a minute.

App QR Codes with deep linking

Marketers and small business owners often want to run campaigns that take users directly into an app section. This could be a women’s section on an e-commerce app, an Instagram business page, or the hotel tab on a travel app. Deep-linking mobile apps with QR Codes provides users with an easy and seamless way of accessing a specific feature within the app.

What happens when the app is not installed?

In this case, depending on which smartphone is being used, the link redirects to the respective app store.

Scan a QR Code to download an app based on your device’s OS

How to download an app using a QR Code in the Play Store

1. Scan the QR Code using your smartphone.
2. If you have an Android device, you’ll be directed to the Play Store, where you can download the app.

How to download an app using a QR Code with an iPhone

1. Scan the QR Code with your mobile device.
2. If it has an iOS operating system, you’ll be directed to the App Store, where you can download the app.

Where can you leverage app download QR Codes to promote mobile app downloads?

To build a successful app download campaign with QR Codes, you need to think of creative ways to market and position them. To help you get started, we have listed down some interesting ways to distribute QR Codes -

1. Business cards to drive app downloads

A good business card not just delivers contact details to prospects but also helps them connect with your brand in the most interactive, powerful, and meaningful way.

A lot of business cards mention their mobile apps on them, but it’s difficult to guarantee user attention. On the other hand, an attractive QR Code draws attention and instantly allows the user to scan and download an app (if they find it exciting). Shelby Montross uses QR Codes on business cards to send their phone number, address, email address, and Twitter account to users. The same can be done with mobile apps.

2. Emails - newsletters and email signatures

QR Codes in emails and email signatures work even better. This is because of the frequency and the reach. On average, a small business sends 2,000 emails in a month. That is way more than the number of business cards they would distribute. Not just that, it also saves the printing cost.

Add an app download QR Code to the signature and let your readers know why downloading the app would make their lives easier, more interesting or insightful.

RELATED: QR Codes in email marketing

3. Subway billboards, train posters, and product packaging

Posters, product labels, takeaway bags, and billboards are great mediums for promoting apps. The poster positioning and advantage of downloading the app are other factors that have important roles to play.

QR Codes on advertising channels make it easy for passers-by to react instantly to an offer or get an app they are interested in.

Alternatively, you could also partner with businesses that already have a QR Code on their product. With dynamic QR Codes (one QR Code, multiple campaigns), these businesses can provide fixed time slots (maybe a few months) to promote a new app. Once the promotion is over, you can redirect the existing QR Code to the next app up for promotions.

You might also like:How to create all-in-one QR Codes

Taco Bell and ESPN did a similar joint QR Code campaign to promote Bowl Championship series. More than 225,000 Taco Bell customers scanned the QR Code featured on Taco Bell cups and boxes.

4. Print ads, newspaper inserts, and magazines

Use the newspaper and print ads space to clearly define the problem your app solves. Add an app download QR Code to make the download process seamless and instant.

Learn more: QR Codes for print media

5. Share QR Codes on social media

When sharing an app download QR Code on social media, you need to keep few things in mind -

1. Have an alternative clickable app store link in the post (QR Codes are helpful to connect desktop browsing to mobile experience but when your users are browsing social media on their smartphones, a link helps)
2. Add QR Codes to app download ad campaigns, targeting user segments browsing through desktop.

Check out: All-in-one social media QR Codes

6. Large scale treasure hunts or scavenger hunts

Additionally, you can use app download QR Codes at treasure hunt events to boost app downloads for your business. You can include online puzzles, fun games, reward points, etc., within your app to make scavenger hunts more engaging and rewarding for the audience.

RELATED: How to create a fun scavenger hunt using QR Codes

7. Retain valuable customers to build brand loyalty

A QR Code for app downloads creates a positive impact among users and gives them a reason to return. By strategically using QR Codes on marketing materials, you can nudge customers to scan and download your loyalty program app.

QR Codes for app downloads will provide an extra layer of customer engagement with your loyalty program.

For example, Starbucks wanted customers to download and start using their new Starbucks reward app. They started using QR Codes while promoting the app to nudge customers to download. This strategy helped Starbucks, and they saw a whopping increase in app installation rates, market promotions, and customers got to collect points and later redeem them for free food, drinks, and more.

How different industries can leverage QR Codes for app downloads

Any industry can leverage QR Codes for app downloads. Let’s look into how diverse industries can use QR Codes to increase their sales, the number of app downloads, incorporate loyalty program strategies, market promotions, and more.

Retail

QR Codes to download apps provide several cost-effective ways for retailers to boost their in-store and online purchasing experiences.

Creating an easy and safe QR Code for app downloads takes a few minutes. Once your QR Code is ready, you can place it in front of your store, on your website, product packaging, or in-store signages.

For example, Nike, the footwear brand, has used QR Codes to boost their app download rates.

When customers scan the QR Code on Nike's website, they will land on their phone's app store, where they can download Nike's app.

Fast-Moving Consumer Goods

FMCG is a diverse industry covering fast food, beverages, medicines, dry goods, and more. Customers expect quick and easy access to such highly sought-after products.

With QR Codes, customers can download and install relevant FMCG apps to order groceries, clothing items, medicines, and more— all from the comfort of their phones. Sometimes such apps can display a QR Code for coupons and discounts to drive repeated purchases from the app.

A recent rise in direct-to-consumer channels has taken the FMCG sector by storm. With a QR Code, customers can directly interact with the manufacturers without any intermediates, saving a lot of revenue for a manufacturer.

Art and Entertainment

Museums, events, movies, concerts, festivals, and fairs are popular events among millennials and Gen Z. These places are a data hub for setting future business objectives, decision making, feedback, and enhancements.

Let’s look at the following scenario:

Let’s say you’re planning a strategy for your upcoming event, and want to provide a seamless ticketing process. Integrating QR Codes for event ticketing allows customers to register for an event in no time.

If you’re an event organizer, and plan to increase app download rates and ticket sales, you can create a QR Code for app downloads.

Once the QR Code is generated, you can add it to the brand's website or embed it on print media. Customers who want to attend a particular brand event can download the app using a QR Code to book tickets.

With the help of app download QR Codes, brands can swiftly promote their events, gather more attendees, and gain more publicity.

Eventbrite, a popular event management and ticketing website, gives full authority to event organizers to integrate QR Codes into their event management system.

Education

According to the Global Market Insights’s report, the e-learning market is estimated to grow by 20% CAGR from 2021 to 2028, and the market will only grow bigger!

App-based learning became extremely popular post-COVID in education, allowing anyone to learn anything from anywhere. Moreover, most students use their mobile devices to access these apps.

Institutions like offices, universities, and other major ed-tech platforms have their own app. They can encourage their audience to download their apps via QR Codes.

With an app download QR Code for these platforms, you can promote interactive course materials. Users can scan to download the app and access these materials easily. The key benefit? No need to manually search for the app on the app store.

Transportation

A QR Code to download a transportation app is the easiest way to direct and help travelers with tickets, schedules, and travel updates. A brand can use app download QR Codes to help users book taxis, buses, trains, and avail flight services.

With the recent high preferences for an effortless travel experience and clean hygiene, several brands can encourage users to download and use their apps for convenience.

Once the user scans the QR Code, they can install and explore the app. As a result, customers will get easy access to travel schedules and essential information, and can book their travel seamlessly. This helps improve the overall customer experience.

App download QR Code performance metrics - Analytics engine

It’s important to measure the interest your QR Codes are driving your brand app. With Uniqode's QR Code generator with analytics, you can track the following -

1. Total number of scans
2. Number of scans using Android smartphones
3. Number of scans using iPhones
4. Scans by location

These trackable QR Codes helps in calculating the conversion rate from app-interested traffic to app downloads. It also helps you understand which city, country, or area is gravitating towards your app. It is a great way to test the target audience without investing in surveys and detailed customer analysis reports.

You can also track QR Codes with Google Analytics to receive more in-depth insights such as audience demographics and behavior.

Brands that have used QR Codes to boost app downloads

1. ABSOLUT used it on their vodka bottles to promote their Drinkspiration app

Absolut used a neck label with a QR Code that led users to download a free iPhone app called Drinkspiration. The app had an encyclopedia of recipes that allowed users to receive personalized recommendations or browse through popular drink recipes. Once they selected their choice, they could share it on social media channels.

2. IKEA’s in-store pamphlet encourages users to download their app

IKEA makes it easy for shoppers to remember all the items they want by offering a small pamphlet that serves as a manual shopping list. This also has 2 QR Codes - one that leads users to the Google Play Store and the other leads them to Apple’s App Store so that they can easily download the app and create an online shopping list or shop in-store and have items delivered to their home.

3. Starbucks India promotes its rewards app with a universal app download QR Code

Starbucks in India has taken a rather innovative approach to getting customers to download their Rewards app. A giant installation of the signature Starbucks coffee cup was placed at Delhi Airport that had a universal app download link that takes users to their respective App store to download the Starbucks India app.

4. Burger King used QR Codes in highly creative ads to boost app downloads

Burger King used QR Codes in super engaging video ads at the MTV VMAs to get viewers to download the Burger King app. The QR Codes were shown multiple times during the broadcast so that viewers could easily scan the code, download the app, and avail several discounts and promotions.

5. Times Radio used QR Codes to promote their radio app

Times Radio deployed QR Codes in newspaper ads to boost downloads for their radio app. Upon scanning the QR Code, users could directly be taken to the app, or if the app wasn’t downloaded on the user’s smartphone, then the QR Code redirected the user to the respective app store.

6. Chick-fil-A boosted their app downloads using a QR Code

Chick-fil-A introduced an app download QR Code to their customer base. Users were directly able to download the brand’s app upon scanning the QR Code.

This initiative resulted in a 14% increase in app downloads.

With a QR Code for app downloads, Chick-fill-A was able to perform many mobile marketing activities, build a user-friendly loyalty program, and efficiently analyze the market data.

7. A QR Code for app downloads that lets users print photos at a Kodak Kiosk

A third-party vendor, mostly a Kodak partner, who wants to offer printing facilities as an add-on service can create a QR Code for app downloads and upload it on their website. After scanning the QR Code, users can download the Kodak Kiosk Connect App on their phones.

Once users download the app and upload their pictures, they can initiate the photo print command at the nearest Kodak Kiosk center without standing in a lengthy queue.