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QR Codes and You. A better understanding of QR Codes and how to use them. What are QR Codes?. UPC codes- read left to right = 1 dimensional 2d codes- read left to right + top to bottom each dot=1 or=0. Where are QR Codes being used?. Size Matters. How can QR Codes used?.
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QR Codes and You A better understanding of QR Codes and how to use them
What are QR Codes? • UPC codes- read left to right = 1 dimensional • 2d codes- read left to right + top to bottom each dot=1 or=0
How can QR Codes used? • The app can do lots of things with the data • Display text • Email • SMS • Website (most common) • Start Audio / Video • Any QR app can “decode” the image(please don’t encourage people to do proprietary QR app extensions it’s bad for the industry).
Why are QR Codes free? • Royalty Free • Invented by Denso for warehousing & production services
Alternatives to QR Codes • Image Recognition • (or why door knobs don’t come with instructions)
Alternatives to QR Codes • NFC- (Near Field Communications)
Indirect vs Direct (what you need to know but will probably do anyway).
Analytics build or buy • Build it into the URL • Google Analytics URL Builder • http://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=55578 • Vendor supplied=proprietary but more features
Fee vs. free Free service snapshotFree, or “direct” mobile bar codes, which simply contain the URL address of a Web page encoded into the QR code, are available from many online services. • Advantages include: • Free or low cost • Disadvantages include: • You need to use your own analytics tools. • The full URL is embedded in the QR code using direct implementations.The longer URL will probably result in a larger QR code size than indirect implementations. (Use dns redirection). • Since these free mobile bar codes simply contain URLs, code directs must be manually updated therefore more expensive in terms of man hours used.
Tips to Remember • Use a URL shortening service (or dns redirection)- keep your payload as small as possible. • Rigorously test your new QR code image with different smart phones and bar-code readers. • Contrast is also a critical factor, if you elect to change the palette colors. • Design and placement = plan ahead. • Optimize landing page for mobile-don’t be lazy! • TEST your branded QR code images • Lower quality camera phone • Size your branding based on the lowest common denominator of QR-code software and smart device
Not just for marketing From here they can do the following; - Find out more detailed specifications- Read customer reviews of the product (up sell to a better model). - Add to “Wish list”, this wish list would be accessible from both desktop and mobile browsers for later review or even ‘in store shopping list’ - Send to email - email a friend ‘asking their thoughts’ ‘would you like this’ / ‘is this the right one’
QR Overlay vs. QR Embedding Do This NOT This
My QR related sites • Check out this site for a 60 second overview on QR codes: • http://www.Cognation.net/QR/ • My personal blog has articles on QR codes and their use in the real world. • http://blog.collins.net.pr/search?q=qr • “Think of QR codes as a right mouse button to anything physical. Anything you want ‘more contextual information about’ just click”.