How to Use QR Codes in Your Marketing

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QR codes are for more than pulling up menus at restaurants. They instantly link an offline customer interaction with an online one, introducing customers to your digital brand and possibly even capturing their contact information.

Contractor University faculty member Drew Cameron explains how QR codes can help make you easier for customers to find and stand out with an edge most of your competitors won’t even consider.

Audio Transcription (in Beta)

How do you use QR codes in your marketing? Learn all about it on today’s show.

All right, let’s get going with today’s show with Drew Cameron as he helps us understand how to use QR codes in your marketing. Take it away, Drew. Hi, and welcome back to another episode of Cracking the Code. I am your host, Drew Cameron with Flow Odyssey and EJI Contractor University. And today I want to talk to you about using QR.

quick response codes in your marketing. Now, we’ve all seen these things. These are these funky little squares. Sometimes they’re circle and it’s, it seems like a pixelated, uh, image of something. We’re not sure what to make of it, right? But it’s a very unique, uh, image in that it will direct you, uh, to a very specific location.

And so it’s a quick response code. So for contracting purposes, how can we use these in our marketing? Why might this make sense? So, let’s take into consideration why use them. Number one, um, be where people are and help them find you, right? So, putting this little graphic, this little image somewhere, maybe with a little note around it that says, scan me for an offer, scan me to, to learn more, something like that, um, is a great way to basically put a lot of information in a tiny little space, like a, almost like a postage stamp, if you will, or a micro dot, um, when you, when you talk in terms of, um, espionage and spycraft, right?

But we can put these little things in very unique places where people are and they will find them and they’ll be curious about them. They want to know where this thing goes and what this could be. Maybe like a little bit like a treasure hunt to some extent. It provides an edge that most won’t consider.

Most contractors aren’t going to be going to going to be on the cutting edge of marketing in and of itself, let alone utilizing QR codes in a creative fashion, which I’m going to share with you today, a couple of different creative ideas on how to do this. Now, granted, I get it. When these things first came out, they were all the rage.

Everybody thought they were going to be, you know, the, the latest, greatest thing and they were for like a nanosecond and then he disappeared. And then they came back during the pandemic, right? And they became mainstream because that’s how we started getting, uh, access to menus and restaurants because they thought giving out paper menus was some going to somehow going to contaminate us.

And so while we may not like them, I think they’re here to stay. I still think a lot of people prefer, uh, Um, you know, a documented menu so that, you know, they can see the pictures. They can have the thing in their hands in front of them. They can experience it. They can see it. They can touch it. They can interact, interact with it.

Like we talked about in the previous episode about how we learn and take in information. I don’t think people like fumbling through their phone, maybe when they’re at dinner or, you know, iPad or something like that, you know, when they’re with other people. I think they would just maybe rather have the information in front of them when it comes to a menu.

That’s just, that’s just my take on things and the people that I kind of survey in my travels. But I think these things are mainstream and they’re here to stay. And you’re seeing that they’re popping up in more and more creative ways, which we’re going to talk about. They’re a fast way to launch a web page.

Uh, and so again, you can have any web page linked to these, and you can create these custom. They’re very simple. There’s websites that will do this for you absolutely free of charge. And you can initiate an email to a specific address that you specify with a subject line that you pick. So it can open up your email tool as well as open up a brand new email and again, insert the email address that you want it directed to along with the subject matter.

So that’s pretty cool, uh, there. It’s a great way for someone to request more information and get more information about your company. It can also help you collect email addresses. Obviously, if they’re emailing you, you’re going to be collecting email addresses. Uh, now you do obviously, if you are collecting email addresses, you do have to give people the opportunity to opt out of that and make sure you’re abiding by the, the laws governing that stuff.

But you can also load a phone number to make it easier for someone to call you or text you. So when you think about these last two, um, or last three, I should say, items four, five, and six, it’s a great way to have your web form loaded up for, you know, to request service, or they could request service or more information via email, or, uh, follow up on a quote.

If you had a quote out there and uh, an invoice from a service technician or a sales agreement from a salesperson, uh, you could have a QR code on there and it could interact directly with that person. Uh, that way if, if the customer had questions about the invoice or had questions about this, the agreement or the, as you call it, the proposal.

They could, uh, reach out and directly contact that person without having to fumble for the phone number, the email address, or contact information, and have a direct link to your people. But let’s talk about some of the other ways that you can use QR codes in your marketing, right? These are no specific order, just random ideas here.

You can have business cards, and on the business card have the QR code, which would allow your contact information to be quickly, known as a B card, um, to be loaded up into a person’s phone. And then that way I don’t have to go ahead and take your business card and put it all into my phone and And fumble around with that.

It’s a quick way if you’re you need to get you loaded into my contacts there seasonal promotions page you can have a seasonal promotions page on your website with rotating specials or Take take people to a you know, helpful information timely tips for maintaining their home and maintaining their system Um, you can have a sprint a card, you know with special friends savings cards, you know uh You know, employees, you know, that employees have that they can also give out.

So, um, you know, they’re basically friends of the company and so they give out a card and they say, Hey, here’s, here’s a service that you, uh, Bill and Susan could give to your friends. Or if they’re just out and about your technicians, they could have different cards that they’re giving out by means of, It’s a way to redeem an offer to try your service for the first time.

So again, you can play off of these, you know, these cards and have multiple variations of these cards. Um, I would make sure there’s a unique designation or some unique language on the card so that, uh, when your people are giving them out, they know which card they’re giving out. If that’s one for existing customers to redeem an offer or for existing customers to give to people, um, so that they can redeem an offer for a first try or something like that.

Okay. Or if I’m just out and about in public, something that I’m giving out. And so multiple modalities there to, you know, to attack on this. And you can also use these things to, obviously people will put these on, uh, refrigerator magnets. Um, and you can put them onto a refrigerator magnet that mounts onto a refrigerator or the card gets put onto the refrigerator so that the customer can then scan it and, and take advantage of the offer.

It could be a way. For you to just have, um, information tied into a brochure. So the brochure may have the code in it and that they may then take these people to a, uh, a page that rotates with seasonal information, seasonal specials and whatnot. And that could be in your brochure. That could be on your invoice.

That could be on a flyer, on a sales agreement, a postcard, uh, in a direct mail letter. You could actually have a direct mail letter or a postcard. With a specific offer in it. And then there’s a landing page with a lot more detail, maybe a video that accompanies that, you know, on that particular landing page, uh, of, you know, of the special offer and anything else that you can imagine.

I mean, you can, the ideas are actually endless when it comes to how to leverage these QR codes and where you could have these direct, uh, directed. Uh, appliance magnets or stickers, decals. A lot of, a lot of magnets don’t stick to things anymore just the way things are built nowadays, especially refrigerators.

Refrigerator magnets are, you know, are the one, the one place they don’t stick is actually the refrigerator. But they do stick to most of the other appliances in the house. And so you might think about putting information, uh, there. Within it may be equipment trade and allowance. So, and you can say, you know, redeem this for a trade and allowance, uh, and they scan the code and they’re able to get, you know, redeem that code.

Uh, or there might be a note for somebody, you know, on the equipment that basically, you know, thanks them for the business, or it’s a special message or special offer, um, you know, for a returning customer. As well. So the QR code could forward then to that redemption page for the offer, or for that, you know, that welcome letter, that thank you, um, uh, note, or whatever it is that you want to do, and have these, again, variations of these that go to very specific places.

And like I said, when you put them on the magnet or on the sticker, there’s some unique language that tells them what the QR code is. You could put just a blank QR code out there, as you saw on the opening screen, but I don’t think you’re going to get as much engagement unless you basically maybe have something that’s, something intriguing that lures them.

to go to this, to take the action. So I think that’s what you want to do with the language around the QR code. Appliance magnets and stickers, um, you know, could also load a service request form. Um, so it might allow them to go ahead when they go to their thermostat to, you know, say, scan for service. And there’s a little QR code on there, and they scan for service, and it opens up a web form.

It opens up an email. It opens up, uh, you know, an email. Uh, a text message or, or a call contact, you know, to dial you, your service department specifically and get, you know, get service quickly that way I don’t have to go fumbling for anything. And so again, you can have a variety of QR codes sprinkled throughout the house and just differentiate them with some unique language, you know, right around the image or that little graphic that you’ve got.

So some other ways equipment data stickers. So again, on the equipment, you could have stickers that would, when scanned, maybe by your technician, quickly pull up the model and serial numbers, the specifications, meaning the efficiencies and the capacities and so forth. So forth, um, and, and all the other data that goes along with that equipment, the install date, maybe the locations.

And so, especially when it comes to commercial, uh, properties and you’ve got multiple pieces of equipment on site, and you’re looking to, uh, figure out which one is the one that you’re there to service, or which one is the one that’s under warranty. You might find that you, uh, the, you know, specific QR code stickers that you create, because you can create these labels out in the field, uh, you know, with QR codes, uh, might allow for expedited service.

And so that’s something that you can market, uh, as well, uh, in your marketing, but it’s also something that you can just do internally. Uh, there. Vehicles, you could put these on your vehicles. Um, on your vehicles, I would probably have them on the back door of your vehicles. I don’t think people are going to see them on the side panels, uh, or obviously on the front of the vehicles, or even on the, the hood or the roof of the vehicles.

But the back door, when someone’s behind you, they could certainly scan it. On public transit, you could have it behind, on the back door, uh, excuse me, on the back panel of the vehicle. But you could also have it next to the door where they get on to public transit. I have some clients where we wrap, uh, you know, buses, public transit, and, you know, those buses go around town, and so as people are coming, coming on board to the bus, you know, and a lot of people who travel on the bus travel regularly, so they might not scan it the first time, but I think out of, you know, curiosity, if I get on the bus every day, at some point, I’m probably going to want to You can scan that and see, you know, see what it is.

And so again, the QR code with some intriguing language, uh, may direct me, uh, you know, to learn more about your company or, or get a special offer there. You can put these things on billboards. And so as people basically are, you know, driving by the billboard, uh, they can, uh, scan them or someone in the car can scan them.

Uh, and so you could also have them on bus stops or, uh, bus benches or, Park benches, you know, where they have ads on the benches themselves, again, for special offers. Um, additional information maybe, but probably a, you know, a special offer or a unique way to try your services. But you can also do this for recruiting, and so if the, if the piece is about recruiting, you may direct them to, uh, more information about the opportunity or to your web application.

Certainly, you’re starting to see these even be incorporated into video. Uh, I think it was during the Super Bowl, uh, they ran an ad and they had the QR code on the screen. And it was intriguing because, again, there wasn’t a lot of information. And it was just like, what’s, what’s this about? Or like, to learn more, or to get the rest of the story, right?

More details. Uh, so there could be a, uh, A video where, you know, on television, uh, you’ve seen this, like I say, in the Super Bowl where it was an action oriented video and to see the rest of the story, you know, scan this code and it directed you to a page where you got to see the rest of the video, but it could also, in your case, take you to a page where, again, they get the offer, they get a white, uh, a white paper or a, uh, downloadable special report or some, uh, you know, helpful tips.

Again, you could use video, both television, as well as over the top streaming, as well as YouTube, or a video on your website that might take them to a specific page. Recruiting business cards. If you’ve attended my Marketing Mastermind, you see how I have specific cards that I hand out to people for recruiting purposes.

And again, there’s a QR code there that takes them to the recruiting page to learn more about the company and more about the opportunity. Again, I think maybe you could do that. You could also direct them maybe to your social media page where there’s information about your company and the recruiting site.

I think you should have a recruiting social media page that’s separate from your, your business page. Uh, or, you know, website. So it’s a micro site, if you will, um, on, you know, Facebook, on LinkedIn, that’s, uh, geared 100 percent towards, you know, recruiting. But you could also put this, uh, for, on purposes, uh, for purposes of recruiting on your vehicles, on posters, in, in ads, on your, you know, ads.

Your printed ads on your electronic ads that are on online there, where the code opens up a special page with more details about the ads, the online job application, it prompts an email, a text or a phone call to the person who’s handling the recruiting for you, whether that be a recruiting force that you have internally or one that you’ve hired externally there.

And the QR code, again, may have that intriguing language that says, always hang, always hiring at the top, scan to apply at the bottom, right? So again, just simple language where you can tie into things, you know, with the, uh, you know, for your people there. Reviews. Again, you can hand out a card on a service call where a technician could give a customer a card, ask for a review, and say, if you scan this QR code, it will take you directly to the site, and it will ask you a few questions.

Takes less than 30 seconds or something like that. And so, you can’t incentivize customers to give you reviews. That’s not really what it is that you should do. Um, But you can certainly make it easy for them to give you reviews. And so QR codes, uh, do that for you. Social media, allow people to connect directly to your social media page, whether that be the company’s social media page or your personal social media business page, right?

And so it’s not, you know, the one that has all the images of your family and you having fun and out there, you know, having a blast, you know, drinking and partying and social events and things like that. With all your beliefs and, uh, you know, the good, the bad and the ugly of your life, it’s your personal business, uh, social media page.

And so if you have one, you know, where it’s for you working for the company, such as that LinkedIn or, uh, Facebook, uh, business, personal business, social media page. That’s what it is that we’re talking about their website. Certainly, obviously, you can drive directly to people to the homepage, which can also drive them to a very specific product page, uh, landing page or video about a specific product events.

If you wanted to invite people to events, you could, uh, load information specifically about the event location where, you know, where the company will be, such as like a home show. And, you know, get people to, uh, you know, meet me, meet me here and again, intriguing language, you know, meet us here, uh, attend this event for a special offer, something like that.

And again, uh, intrigue people with how to, you know, see a different places and locations and whatnot. Um. Quizzes, videos, download special reports, like I mentioned, calculators that might be on your website. So, uh, you know, calculate your energy, uh, loss for free, uh, you know, uh, how much, uh, water are you wasting with a leaky faucet?

And you might have a drip calculator on your website and you could drive people to that, to engage on your website. So again, they’re intrigued. They’re going to go there. Now they’ve got a level of engagement. So they don’t bounce away, right? There’s a thing called a bounce rate for websites. And so having something that’s engaging, uh, you know, with their phone and, and with your website can be fun, right?

How about games and puzzles or like some type of scavenger hunt? Uh, like I said, where they get clues maybe when they go somewhere and there’s, uh, you know, you could basically promote the fact that you’re going to have this little hunt and to be on the lookout for, um, You know, the QR codes associated with said game, puzzle, scavenger hunt, contest, whatever it is that you want to do.

And that way, again, you’re having customer engagement there. Now, in that particular, uh, scenario, what you would do is you would put some very unique language, uh, specific to, you know, the contest. You might have, you know, theme that contest, call it, call it something very specific so that, uh, you know, that the customer understands, Oh, this is the next one in the sequence, if you will.

Um, but you can do anything else with, uh, any other interactive media where you’re engaging the customer. Again, the ideas are basically endless based on your imagination, creativity, and innovation. Thank you. And I think this is something that you can do and have fun with that will differentiate yourself from other companies.

And as you hear me talk about in the marketing mastermind, we call that buzz, right? Create buzz around your brand. And when you can do that again, you’ll be unique. And when you’re first to market to do this and everybody else tries to copy you. Again, I think you win. So until next time if you have any questions, there’s my QR code We’ll take you directly to my website and you can see how we can get a little bit creative We can also get colorful with these things too.

So that’s a company called flow code that creates QR codes for you and they have round ones versus the square ones So I think that’s a little unique and if you actually look very closely some of the pixelation there is actually images of houses So as a member, you are the mission. So until next time, if I can serve you in any manner, please feel free to reach out awesome content right there from drew as always.

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