Qr Code Scanner Windows Phone 10

But a few years ago, QR codes seemed to be "the next big thing." Store windows, food labels, ring fliers, mag advertisements -- those distinct little black-and-white squares were everywhere, vying for our attention.

And while small business owners and marketers thought they'd hit the jackpot, the QR lawmaking trend didn't become every bit popular with consumers as some had predicted. A 2013 surveyinstitute just 21% of American smartphone owners say they've ever scanned a QR code, and simply 2% say they scan a QR code at least once per mean solar day.

You might think that, in an age when consumers tend to keep their smartphones close by at all times, an application that connects the physical and digital worlds -- kind of like Instagram, FitBit, and thousands of other apps practise -- would take flight.

But I'll be honest here: I've never scanned a QR code in my entire life, and I'one thousand pretty tech-savvy. I can't fifty-fifty recall watching a friend scan a QR code, either. But I realize I'g a sample size of one, and I've heard people argue -- marketers especially -- that QR codes are yet alive and well. I constitute myself thinking, could that even be possible?

Download our free guide here to learn how to create QR codes for yourself.

So I decided to look for success stories and data to see whether I was ill-informed or QR codes really are all the same a matter. Though I could hardly notice a data betoken that was less than 2 years old, I'll tell you what Ididnotice, what I think it means, and what marketers should do about it.

Are QR Codes Expressionless?

Like I said, this isn't an easy question to answer because of the limited information. But the data I did find suggests that QR codes are not widely used.

For example, Inc'due south 2012 research institute that 97% of consumers don't even know what a QR lawmaking is.Digital business organisation analytics company comScore establish that 6.2% of the total U.S. mobile audience scanned a QR code on their mobile device in 2011.

Since 2011, the number of mobile users has increased, particularly amid the younger population, while QR codes seem to have maintained steady popularity and visibility. According to comScore's written report,the number of people who take scanned a QR code seems to have plateauedsince 2012:Every bit the number of smartphone users continues to rise, the number of consumers scanning QR codes remains the same.

tendency is out of manner, or are some of them actually seeing real success? After all, it's understandable that we're constantly looking for ways to span offline and online marketing in our internet-driven world -- so to united states of america, links yous can "click on" in real life are a godsend.

Data from MarketingCharts suggests that the average marketer'due south view on QR codes is "somewhat at odds with the consumer statistics. Whereas relatively few consumers say they're actively scanning QR codes, marketers are finding them to be quite an effective mobile marketing tactic." To be specific, of the marketers who responded to an Experian survey virtually the effectiveness of QR codes every bit a mobile marketing tactic, 29% of them rated QR codes very effective, and another 66% effective.

So what does this data all mean? Basically, QR codes announced to exist working for that pocket-size, stagnant population that knows how to utilize them. While QR codes aren't "dying," they're certainly non thriving. The question is why, given how many consumers accept smartphones nowadays.

What Happened?

At that place are a number of reasons why QR codes might be going "out of mode," merely the most important is probably that they're oftentimes misused. They're in subway stations where in that location's no WiFi, on Television set commercials that have an air time of a second or 2, and some of them lead to broken links or landing pages that aren'toptimized for mobile. One time a consumer is disappointed by the mobile experience behind a QR code, she may never scan one again.

For those of you who use QR codes properly and offer great mobile experiences behind them, this is probably very frustrating.But fifty-fifty when QR codes are used properly by businesses, the bigger issue is that the manyusers don't know how to employ them properly. They have been poorly adopted in the United States and haven't really broke out of the tech-savvy crowd. And although mobile devices incorporated a preloaded version of a QR lawmaking reader into their system (Apple's is built into Passbook, not the camera itself),that isn't very widely known or used.It turns out that the action of taking out your phone, opening a QR lawmaking reader, holding the photographic camera from the app upwardly to a QR code with steady hands, and pressing a button isn't super intuitive -- so y'all should probably adjust your marketing strategy accordingly.

What's a Marketer To Do?

Marketers who believe QR codes are alive are already drinking inbound marketingKool-Aid -- they're just trying to apply an offline channel to drive website visits. So, what are other ways to span the online/offline gap and draw more people to your website?

One practical solution is to lock down a short, memorable URL and requite people that URL. Consumers are becoming more and more familiar with their smartphones, and nowadays, typing a URL into a mobile browser is not a problem for virtually people. Simply brand sure that these URLs are short and that they contain a unique UTM tracking code so you can measure out your success. (HubSpot customers: learn how to create a tracking URL for a landing folio in HubSpot here.) And, too QR codes, there are other effective ways to attract people to your website, add you on Twitter, or buy your product -- you can click here for some ideas.

If QR codes are a part of your marketing strategy and you believe they bring y'all success, I suggest that yous run an A/B test or two to gauge their effectiveness. For example, at your next effect, yous could include a QR code on half of your programs, and a shortened, piece of cake-to-recollect URL in the other half, both linking to the same page on your website. Put separate UTM tracking codes on the QR code link and shortened URL and so yous tin compare how many people visit from each, and voila -- y'all can see if your audience likes to use QR codes. Just because QR codes don't work for some companies doesn't hateful they won't work for you, and this blazon of testing is the merely mode to know if they work for your unique audience.

What do you think? Are QR codes dying?

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