Want to make your QR code work? Stick it in a magazine

Jun 4, 2012 by Dirk Singer

Figures released by Comscore tell us that 14.5% of the EU5 (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK) smartphone audience scanned a QR / barcode in Q1 2012.  That’s pretty high, though my guess is that not all of those scans were successful and in even fewer cases was the resulting content found to be useful.

Comscore does however tell us where QR codes work best.   No, not on a motorway billboard or underground system where there’s no wifi connection (something that will soon change of course in London).   In a printed newspaper or a magazine.

51% of scans came from newspapers or magazines while 38% came from product packaging.   That gives a clue to the starting point of a successful QR code campaign.  When reading a newspaper or looking at the back of a cereal package, you tend to have time to digest the supporting content.

Importantly – you also have the time and space to tell the consumer what it is exactly you need them to do, with step one often being directions on what app to download and what to do next.