Do you leave mini brochures, tri-fold or others, with potential customers? One example is the brochure box outdoors with the sign on real estate listings. Another would be any brochure you leave at businesses or with homeowners that promotes what you do or sell. Sure, they can be colorful and do a decent job, but there is one little thing you can add to them or even a business card, that takes them into the digital world immediately. Contractors can also take advantage of this opportunity by placing QR codes on their trucks or signage outside homeowners homes. We are all familiar with contractors placing yard signs in the front yards of the homes where they are working. Why not place a QR code on these signs so somebody who is walking by can easily connect with your website or sign-up page? This is a great way to market for contractors.
Everyone knows what barcodes are, and how they speed up checking out at the supermarket and make it more accurate. However, are you familiar with QR codes? QR stands for Quick Response code. You’ve seen them on products and in newspapers and magazines. They’re square and not made up of bars like barcodes. They look more like a pattern of bits in different shapes and sizes. These squares, when read by a QR code reader, send the viewer to a website. During the age of Covid-19, QR codes are coming back in a big way! For those restaurants that are open, many are using QR codes as opposed to a physical menu to display their menus or drink lists. This type of change to the restaurant industry is likely to spread to other industries and help the QR codes once thought dead make a serious comeback.
Today’s smartphones are capable of taking a photo of a QR code, and the phone user is immediately taken to a website. This process allows the QR code marketer to use the power of the internet, including images, video, and even audio to make their sale or demo their product or service.
Using a real estate agent as an example, they have a home listed for sale with a sign out front. They also often place a weatherproof plastic brochure box, filling it with print brochures of features and photos of the home for sale. They work, but the agent is limited in what they have on the brochure by the cost of full-color printing. They’re also only good if there are brochures in the box, and often they are empty sometimes for days until the agent can refill them.
Instead of a box of brochures with limited information, why not place a photo image of a QR code that takes the viewer to the listing’s website with images, text, features, and even video. People are driving by, and a brochure is nice, but taking a photo of a QR code and getting the whole story on the Internet is much better and faster. The agent can have a small weatherproof QR code sign placed to get the job done. The potential buyer is still sitting in front of the house and getting an online tour with all of the details.
Suppose you’re an interior designer, landscaper, plumber, roofer, or other home services contractor. Your marketing agency can print up a small brochure or even put a QR code on your business card. It can take the prospect to a place on your website that shows home interiors, landscaped yards, or other examples of your work.
Sure, give them an email address and a phone number, but use a QR code to put real power in your sales pitch. You can find sites on the Web that let you create codes for free. For you graphic designers out there, InDesign through Adobe Creative Cloud will let you make a QR code very easily. On some websites, you can pay extra for the site to keep statistics on how many times the QR code is used to get to your website. Give it a try, and you just may see a jump in your business.
