Most businesses are familiar with QR codes. They can use them for marketing, advertising, and to get their business name out there. Businesses have been using QR codes for marketing campaigns and advertisements for years. Unfortunately, many businesses are making some critical mistakes in using QR codes in advertising. 

Those mistakes are preventing them from seeing the benefits of QR codes. In this article, we will discuss seven of these mistakes so you can avoid them.

QR code overkill 

When it comes to QR codes in advertising, you don't want to overkill. You need to show the message of your ad to lots of people. But it's best to avoid overusing QR codes.

Trying a QR code for every piece of information in your ad is simply overkill. You'll damage your brand by making your customers feel overwhelmed or confused. The best way to use QR codes in advertising is to use them sparingly, and only when they are relevant. 

For example, if you're offering a sale on shoes, you might put a QR code on the sign that says "Special Sale" with a link that takes customers directly to the shoe page. That's one situation where using a QR code makes sense because it gives people an easy way to get more information about that deal.

Overly cluttered marketing material 

QR codes can be a great way to get more exposure for your business, but they can also lead to more work and lower conversion rates.

Trying to squeeze too much information into a single QR code can cause problems. Customers tend to be attracted to QR codes if they include interesting information, such as discounts or other offers. But if you try to cram too much information in there, customers will be less interested. 

Also, make sure you have a decent amount of white space on the page where you're placing the QR code. Having too much text or graphics around the code can make it hard for customers to locate the code.

Using Poorly Placed QR Codes

No one wants to receive a text message from you asking them to scan a poorly placed QR code. If you want more people to use your QR code in advertising, it has to be easily accessible. In other words, don't place it in an area where it's difficult for people to find or use.

Not bothering to provide a clear call to action or purpose with the QR code 

Not bothering to provide a clear call to action or purpose with the QR code. A QR code should always have some sort of goal behind it. If you expect users to scan the code and then do nothing with it, you're probably going to get very few scans. Think about how you can use the QR code in a way that encourages users to share it with others or come back later and visit your site.

Copying other companies content and placing it on your own site

Most businesses find it difficult to create original content. It's easier to repurpose existing content, even if it doesn't entirely fit the marketing campaigns. 

The worst thing you can do for your QR Code in advertising is to simply copy and paste someone else's content into yours. Because it won't be optimized for mobile devices, people will be more likely to ignore it or scan the code just out of curiosity to see what it was going to take them to.

Not tracking how the QR code is performing

With any kind of marketing campaign, it's important to know how effective your efforts are. If you invest your time and money into creating a QR code in advertising, you should also find out how many people scan it and how that compares to other types of advertisements. Not knowing this information will make it difficult to determine if the QR code was worth your time or money.

If you want to track the metrics of your QR code in advertising, you can use our analytics tool. This tool is available to our paid users. It will show you different metrics of the QR code, such as the number of scans, device used, and location.

Getting hung up on the number of scans/views you receive

A common mistake is getting hung up on the number of scans/views they receive. Businesses spend a lot of money and effort developing and placing their QR code advertisements, only to find that no one is scanning them. Don't fall into this trap.

Successful QR campaigns are based on how well the ad performs overall – not just the number of scans/views it receives. 

Having said that, make sure to create a QR code that has a purpose. Creating a QR code for different uses is easy. We can show you some examples: 

Steps in Creating a QR Code for Landing Pages: 

This type of QR code is useful if you have ongoing deals. It will lead your audience straight to your landing page whether they see your advertisement online or offline. 

1. First, go to https://www.qrstuff.com/?type=websiteurl and have the “Website URL” data type pre-selected from the Data Type section.
2. In the content section, paste the URL of your landing page into the required field.
3. Wait for the QR code generator to finish processing. After that, you can then save your QR code.

Steps on How to Create YouTube QR Code

Videos are an effective tool for marketing. They can tell a lot about your products in a couple of minutes. If you are using videos in your marketing campaigns, make sure to share them through QR codes as well. Doing this can help in reaching even the offline audience. 

1. First, go to https://www.qrstuff.com/?type=youtube and have the “Website URL” data type pre-selected from the Data Type section.
2. In the content section, paste the YouTube video ID or URL into the required field.
3. Wait for the QR code generator to finish processing. After that, you can then save your QR code.

QR codes provide businesses with a creative way to display relevant information to their target audience. For them to be effective, however, businesses should avoid the mistakes that we mentioned above. If they can do that, then companies will have a better chance of delivering a cohesive marketing message to their customers.

Make It A Bit Fancy

Paid QR Stuff subscribers have access to more features and options for their QR code, including the Style section. This function allows you to change the layout and color of the QR code’s different corners. A logo can also be included as part of the QR code.

The image on the right shows how your QR code may look after you’ve styled it with various colors. Just make sure you test your QR code before using it.

Paid customers can also choose the size, quality, file format, and amount of error correction of the QR code picture.

Subscribers Get More QR Stuff!

Become a QR Stuff paid subscriber and get unlimited QR codes, unlimited scans, analytics reporting, editable dynamic QR codes, high resolution, and vector QR code images, batch processing, password-protected QR codes, QR code styling, QR code pausing and scheduling, and more, for one low subscription fee.

Full subscriptions start from just $11.95 for a 1-month subscription (lower monthly rates for longer periods). Subscribe now.