Mobile technology has become a very important part of a consumer’s life. As such, businesses are beginning to incorporate this technology into their marketing and promotion schemes at a rapid pace. QR codes have become a popular tool in the endeavor to connect with tech-savvy consumers. Though the codes are relatively simple to use, many companies are having trouble using the codes effectively. The codes’ inherent simplicity has deceived many businesses into believing that they can create a code, stick it on an advertisement, and then forget about it. Such flippant use of the codes, however, has lead many companies to produce ineffective and non-functional QR codes.
Though QR codes are simple tools, they require more finesse when being used than most people may think. QR codes are meant for consumers with mobile devices. Many businesses using the codes understand this, but do not understand that they need to make the content they link to the codes optimized for mobile viewing. This provides consumers with a challenging experience when trying to view content from their mobile device. Greg Slapp, CEO of QRStuff.com, an online QR code generator, notes that this is only one of the problems that are making the codes unpopular.
The second problem is that businesses simply use QR codes to direct consumers to a website and nothing more. Slapp believes that companies should be more concerned with continuing dialogue with consumers that have scanned codes by presenting them with more information and content that is not constantly repeated when the consumer scans the code again.
