5 Steps for a Successful QR Code Marketing Campaign
via Mashable.com | By Hamilton Chan

Hamilton Chan is CEO and founder of Paperlinks, which provides the leading QR code infrastructure for businesses. Codes generated through Paperlinks app can be scanned by the free Paperlinks iPhone app or by any QR code reader on any smartphone platform.

While the debate rages on whether QR codes are a passing fad or a marketing phenomenon, those little suckers continue to pop up all over the place. From product packaging to retail signs and even to food, almost any surface in the universe seems fair game for a QR code.

However, if brands deploy QR codes merely to claim they are using the latest social media marketing tool, then QR codes are doomed to fall in the “fad” bin, never to realize their full potential. The task for marketers is to use this interactive tool to deliver useful and meaningful experiences to their users.

See Also : Free Advertising Training Videos

So, how can you assess whether you are using QR codes to their full potential? Although very few QR marketing statistics exist, here are a few tips for businesses looking to deliver a meaningful QR code experience.

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1. Define Your Purpose

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The first thing to realize is that QR codes can be as much about utility as they are about marketing. The more your QR code enhances or streamlines the lives of customers, the more engagement you can expect. As such, the most important step in making your QR campaign a success is to think clearly about the purpose of your code.

• Is the purpose to provide an instructional video, a photo catalog of products, contact information or product suggestions?
• Or are you looking to incentivize mobile purchasing behavior through coupons and loyalty rewards?
• What is the advertiser hoping to garner – an email address, social media engagement, a phone call?
• Are you seeking to provide information about a single product or about the entire brand line?

The clearer you are about the purpose of your campaign, the easier it will be to discern whether your goals have been achieved.

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2. Call On Your Customers

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Now that you have defined your purpose, craft a customer call to action. Think of your QR code as a doorway, only you need to explain what’s hidden behind the door. The brief text sitting next to your code should be the world’s shortest elevator pitch.

For instance, you’ll see high scan rates if your code says, “Scan this code for an exclusive gift” or “Scan this code for our lowest price.” Be sure to explain any incentive associated with the code truthfully — it will increase trust, consumer interaction and the overall return on your campaign.

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3. Design and Usability Is Key

Understand that looks matter. Ideally, opt for a designer code rather than a black-and-white checker box. Designer codes earn higher scan-through rates, look better on your materials, and even provide an element of security to assure users that this is indeed the brand’s QR code (and hasn’t been somehow covered over).

4. Measuring Scans

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See Also : Free Advertising Training Videos

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The most important metric of a QR campaign should not be the number of daily scans. Rather, the length of engagement time that your code is generating should be a marketer’s primary indicator of campaign success.

If people are spending two to three (or more) minutes on a link, the campaign is a success. The power of a QR code is to transform the user experience from a “quick glance” to a “deep dive.” When users spend a lot of time on your QR site, it shows that you have developed something captivating — a brand worth the interaction.

On the flip side, having a low number of scans should not discourage the advertiser, although generating zero scans is a definite red flag. If no one is scanning the code, it’s likely that something is wrong its scanability, or that its placement is not conducive to scanning (think high-up ads on the subway).

Another thing to keep an eye on is the number of scans over time. If your QR code has been constant displayed (e.g., in your retail window or on your cashier counter), you should see a long tail of interactivity as people continue to engage with your code. Achieve this by providing fresh content and incentives. Unlike other marketing vehicles (TV commercials and newspaper ads) that typically only generate one big spike in impressions, QR codes allow businesses a consistent promotional tier. If the number of scans drops to zero after the first week, this is a sign that there wasn’t enough allure to the experience.

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5. Social Metrics

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Finally, businesses should look at the points of interaction beyond the QR code experience to judge the success of a campaign. Did a business receive more hits to its website, more followers on Twitter, more fans on Facebook? While trying out the latest high-tech marketing tools is fun, we must ultimately be driven by results.

The QR code experience is limited only by your imagination. The more creatively you can provide a meaningful customer experience, the more interaction your QR code campaign will enjoy.

QR codes provide metrics by tying real-world marketing (outdoor signs, magazine ads, etc.) to the mobile web. By being imaginative, purposeful and experimental with campaigns, advertisers and consumers alike can reap rich QR rewards.

See Also : Free Advertising Training Videos

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Guerrilla Marketing is filled with amazing wisdom about growing and marketing your business. This book is a must read, as far as I am concerned, for any small business owner or entrepreneur who is looking to get ahead.

Jay offers a new arsenal of weaponry for small-business success including:
* strategies for marketing on the Internet (explaining when and precisely how to use it)
* tips for using new technology, such as podcasting and automated marketing
* programs for targeting prospects and cultivating repeat and referral business

Guerrilla Marketing is one of those books every small-business owner should have on his or her shelf.

Incoming search terms:

• guerrilla marketing for free by jay conrad levinson book review
• book report on guerrilla marketing on the internet
• book review for guerilla marketing

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“The Science of Press Releases.”  Is content developed by Hubspot The content covered is always a hot topic  and we wanted to share with you the archived webinar materials, including the slides and recording, for your reference, especially as you start preparing your strategies for 2012.

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by Erin Everhart

Erin Everhart is the director of web and social media marketing at the digital marketing and web design company, 352 Media Group. Connect with her on Twitter @erinever.

There are two ways to conquer web marketing: good content and even better relationships. The problem is, any SEO pro has already identified this.

Try targeting blogs as link resources. Not only do people trust blogs, they’re one of the most effective ways to both build your brand awareness and get high-quality content links that point back to your website. On the other hand, blogs are often overrun with coverage and link requests from online marketers. If you have any chance of getting your content to the top of the pile, you’ll have to find unique ways to reach your bloggers — and LinkedIn is just the tool to help you do it.

Let’s say you’re working on an SEO strategy for a new restaurant in Atlanta. Part of your promotion is to encourage different local food bloggers to tour the restaurant, sample the menu and then write a review. The first term you’ll use to search is “food blogs in Atlanta.” After scrolling through a few of pages, you’ll have a decent stock of sites. Unfortunately, they’re the same sites your competitors have encountered too.

So instead of backing into content relationships, try using LinkedIn as a search tool. By manipulating its search filters, you can target specific keywords and narrow by location. A search for “food writer” in the greater Atlanta area produces more than 650 results. Taking into account that maybe 40% aren’t going to be relevant because they’ve changed companies or don’t provide an ideal content match, you’re still left with a suitable sample of people.

Sticking with our Atlanta restaurant example, there are other searches you can use to bring about results. Search with and without quotation marks to ensure you’re finding as many people as possible.

• “Food” filtered by location and/or writing and editing professions
• “Food blog” or “food blogger,” filtered by location
• “Food editor,” filtered by location

Maybe you have already pinpointed the company or website from which you’d like to gain coverage, but their staff page is on lockdown, and the only contact information you can glean is a generic info@domain.com. Don’t waste time writing and sending an email that will likely never get returned — or even read for that matter. Find that company on LinkedIn and search for its employees. If those people have blogger, writer, blog owner, journalist or editor on their profile, it’s time to make connections.

While most say that email is the best way to reach them, it’s also the most overused form of communication. Instead, try something else. If you have a “2nd degree connection” with someone on LinkedIn, you can contact them directly. If not, most writers and bloggers who are on LinkedIn also operate a Twitter account. Search for “Name + Twitter,” follow that person and then tweet directly to her: “Hey Sarah. Erin here. Found your blog & love it! Great post on why turkey bacon rocks. Would love to chat about an idea. Can we email?” Your response rate will likely be higher if you A) actually know and read her blog, and B) figure out a way to set yourself apart by contacting them in an unorthodox way.

Furthermore, once you’ve established a connection and given that person a great angle for their content, they’re more likely to think about you and your business for future posts. Maintain that relationship, because without them, your link wouldn’t exist in the first place.

What are some other ways you can use LinkedIn to establish connections for your SEO campaign?

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What’s a Ford? I know what a Ford is: it’s a large or small, cheap or expensive, car or truck. If somebody says to you, “I bought a Ford,” not much was said. Did they buy a Shelby for $50,000 or a Focus for $13,000? There’s a big difference there. So to say, “I bought a “Ford” is saying nothing, because the brand doesn’t stand for any one thing! Get it?

Al Ries, international marketing expert, has said, ” Many, many, many brands today do not stand for anything, because they’re into everything. If you’re into everything, the brand can’t possibly stand for a single thing”.

When it comes to focus, one needs to narrow it, not widen it. With our company, Bert Martinez Communications, works with clients all the time looking for ways to narrow their focus and get them out of offering too much stuff. However, many businesses aren’t keen on the idea, because when one narrows their focus they have to drop some product line. So what happens in the short term? When you drop a products or services, you’re going to lose some business initially. And nobody wants to do that. To the average business owner, the thought is “You’re nuts, we can’t do that!”

I’ll give you an example. We were doing some consulting for a supplement retailer. Now, the clients has twelve products with a similar name. We said to them, “That’s too confusing. Let’s decrease it.” Their reply was, “No! We can’t do that.” You see, they know the percentage of sales each one of those 12 products brings in, right? So they think, “If we make it six products, it means we’re going to lose 34% of the business.” They look at the numbers and what will happen in the very short term, but they don’t look at the long term implications. The implication is when you simplify your product line, you make it easier for consumers to know what you’re selling and you’ll sell more, but not in the immediate short term.

Well, to make the point, let’s take Home Depot for example. Home Depot was the first home improvement store. Whatever that means, but to the average person it meant that if you have a “honey-do or home” project to do, you could go to Home Depot and get everything you need to complete your project (fencing, flooring, paint… you name it). Home Depot stands for home improvements DIY projects for the home. They not only sell everything home, but they sell it at a very good price. So, Home Depot is to home improvements what Wal-Mart is to shopping. Big selection low prices.

You see Google doing the same as Ford or Chevrolet, there’s Google the search engine, Google TV and Google phones, soon Google won’t have the same meaning it has today.

Toyota has done a better job, a Toyota stands for one thing while Lexus stands for something
different both are own by Toyota.

What does Kraft macaroni & cheese, Di Giorno Pizza, Tombstone Pizza, Kool-Aid , and Marlboro cigarettes have in common? They’re BIG brands that stand for specific word or idea and they’re owned by tobacco giant Philip Morris.

Don’t promise everything; promise one thing. Your product or service might be great at lots of things, but “lots of things” isn’t an idea that gets into the minds of consumers and isn’t an idea to get excited about. Focus on one key idea. Preferably one that is the opposite of the competition.

So a “narrow focus” is a long-term concept that can eliminate the short term issues, but it’s a tough decision at first.

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