For all practical purposes, why should you care about QR codes? The answer is twofold: First, performance tracking and second, personalization.
In a world of variable data, there are two fundamental strategies, versioning and personalization. Versioning, for example, might be based on language, gender, list filters or other profiles, sources, segments, etc. Personalization of course refers to individualization based on specific user data (name, address, history, etc.).
QR Code Tracking: Media Performance via URL Versioning
One example of how you might use Google's QR Code API is to create QR Codes tied to the medium on which it appears. For example, let's say you are launching a new nightclub and the launch campaign creative includes a QR code. The media buy consists of display ads in 100 bus kiosks, an ad running in a total of 100 editions of 10 local newspapers, and a guerilla campaign of stickers placed conspicuously at 100 sites around the city.
Why not have us create 300 versions of your QR code, each with the same landing page yet each identifying the specific medium, location and/or edition via a modified query string.
Now, we can create a simple database to track the effectiveness of not only each medium, but of even more granular information such as the most effective day of the week or location of the bus kiosk or area where the stickers were placed.
This data is invaluable to help you refine your marketing plan over time to invest in the media that delivers the best return on your marketing investment.
QR Codes and Personalized URLs (PURLs)
A PURL is a way to personalize a landing page where content of data field values are customized based on the specific contact who received the direct mail piece or broadcast email. Most PURLs are presented as text strings, so the user gets the piece and either types the PURL into a browser if printed or clicks on it if emailed.
Why not use the Google API to create thousands of PURL-specific QR codes that allow the recipient of a postcard, for example, to scan the QR Code to direct him to a landing page. With the API, it is trivial to generate the PURL-specific QR Codes in JPG format as a batch operation, saving each image to a local server for embedding into the print piece via our digital printing personalization image.
