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Smart Scanning: QR Codes Offer PR Pros New Options to Connect
Two-dimensional barcodes (also known as QR or quick response codes) are on the rise. All industries, from fashion lines to libraries, use them to direct smartphone users to the Web for more information on brands, products and promotions.
You will see these codes on business cards, marketing materials and storefront windows.
QR codes enable companies to include a variety of information which can contain text or URLs within it, creating a window connecting those who scan it to various apps.
It's very easy and simple to use:
- Download the barcode app on your smartphone.
- Using your barcode app, take a snapshot of the QR code.
- You will then be directed to a website for more information and details on the product or promotion.
PR professionals are recognizing the benefits of giving consumers and the media a direct line to their specific sites.
QR codes also give the media specific company or event information on the go. Instead of sending a reporter to a press room, the QR code can directly patch them through to a press release or other information that is accessible via mobile phone.
Jason Kintzler, founder and CEO of the social media release firm PitchEngine, sees a better world coming, where there will be a code on a flyer, press kit or other collateral, so that journalists can download the information anywhere.
"The easier we can make it [for reporters], the better," Kintzler says.
The two-dimensional codes also help companies and PR professionals directly connect with audiences, whose attention span is gradually getting shorter.
Because analytics can be embedded in the codes, it is possible to track who has scanned them and generate more information about the consumers.
Article adapted from "Smart Scanning: QR Codes offer PR pros new options to connect" by Lesly C. Simmons for the November issue of Public Relations Tactics. | 
