UPDATE: It turns out these signs are designed to make us frustrated, to make the passer-by empathetic to kids who struggle with illiteracy. The real bummer is that it’s a great idea, but with such a poor way to follow up to find out what it means (or a direct link to donate or volunteer support) this campaign won’t have anywhere near the impact it really could.
Everyone hates QR codes. Ok, maybe not everyone, but a lot of really smart marketers I follow are all, “F U, QR!” I’m inclined to agree when I see things like this:
My husband mentioned having seen this sign to me the other day, and it made him sound like a lunatic. “It’s got all these letters, and a QR code, and the letters are different colors…” OK, honey. Sure thing. Then later that day driving down a gigantic, busy road in north Raleigh (what we call “highways” in Boston) we pulled up to an intersection and saw one of the signs in the wild. “That’s crazy,” I said. “Even stopped for a red light who the hell is going to get out of their car to scan that tiny code?”
This morning my friend Alison posted a photo of the sign (above) on her Facebook page and the comments are filled with people who’ve seen the sign all over the Triangle area but haven’t yet been brave enough to cross four lanes of traffic to scan the code. Our attempts at trying to crack the code on our own are pretty hilarious, though.
Generating buzz? Check. Creating lots of curiosity? Check. Going viral? Maybe. But here’s the problem – we don’t know what FOR. And it’s not likely most people will put out the effort needed to scan the code to find out. When I see this, I wish desperately that QR codes really were dead.
But since they aren’t, how should they be used instead? Here are a few questions to ask yourself before slapping a QR code on something:
- Is the code easy to access? Cross four lanes of traffic to get at it? Nope. In a magazine or brochure that’s likely to have a captive audience with a bit of time on their hands? Now you’re talking.
- Is there a clear call to action? “Click this code for more!” just doesn’t hack it. What is it you want your reader to do, exactly? You’ll never what you want if you don’t ask for it.
- Is whatever page the code links to mobile-friendly? The only way to unlock a QR code is on a mobile device, so why wouldn’t you see the user experience through and make sure your landing page is mobile-friendly? No brainer, folks.
- What’s the point? Frankly, my number one rule before launching any marketing initiative is to ask yourself, “Why?” If the answer can’t track back to a company goal, don’t hit send.
- How are you tracking it? Don’t let any marketing campaign exist in a vacuum. Based on your goal, figure out what to track that will prove success or failure, and collect the data. Keep it basic and goal-oriented for the best return on your efforts.
I’m biased, but a good example of these tips is a project I worked on. I sit on the board of Fertility Within Reach, an infertility advocacy group, and was updating brochures for clinic waiting rooms. We used two QR codes: one that linked directly to a donation page and one that linked to a page that listed the names and contact info for local politicians. They each had a clear call to action (“Scan this code to make a donation from your phone.”) and nothing the reader was asked to do would take longer than a typical wait for your doctor would take. My rookie mistake? Not circling back to track the numbers.
QR codes don’t have to die. They just need to stop showing up where they don’t belong.
And let me know if you figure out what that friggin’ sign means. It’s driving me nuts.
Do you use QR codes? Do seeing QR codes used poorly in the wild also make you frustrated?
UPDATE: It turns out these signs are designed to make us frustrated, to make the passer-by empathetic to kids who struggle with illiteracy. The real bummer is that it’s a great idea, but with such a poor way to follow up to find out what it means (or a direct link to donate or volunteer support) this campaign won’t have anywhere near the impact it really could.