Printers used to be a place you went to after you had done all the thinking around “what” you were trying to communicate and “how” you were going to communicate it. For example, if you were tasked with promoting a new service offering and you decided to execute a direct mail campaign. You engaged your printer at the point you needed ink/toner on paper for the direct mail piece.

Today our communication options have broadened, you have more choices on how you communicate and there are many ways to combine communication methods to increase their effectiveness. You still need to clearly define the “what” – that’s your communication message, typically falling into the categories of education, compliance, promotion, or information. Depending on your communication objective, the communication methods selected will vary.

Effective marketing promotions don’t just generate awareness: They also move customers to action, and the QR code is a perfect vehicle to facilitate interaction and engagement with your brand. Unfortunately, it seems that QR codes are often being used haphazardly rather than as part of an overall marketing strategy. To address this situation, we are launching a four part blog series discussing QR codes as they relate to the 4 P’s of marketing. In this blog, we provide important insights to help you integrate QR codes seamlessly into your promotions strategy. Future blog posts will address QR codes in the context of product, price, and place.

It’s hard to believe it is already December, which means many marketing professionals are busy planning January marketing campaigns. Beginning this month, we are going to post a monthly blog providing ideas for incorporating QR codes into your marketing campaigns. Ideas are categorized by themes appropriate for the month. You may see an idea that you can apply directly to your business. Or perhaps reading the blog will inspire you to think of a related idea applicable to your industry. Whichever the case, we hope our January QR code campaign ideas help to make your month a success.

Theme: New Year’s Resolutions - Health

So, you’ve incorporated QR codes into your marketing campaign. You’ve created the QR codes. You’ve followed key QR code specifications to ensure your target market will be able to scan your codes. But, over time, what happens to those codes and their associated content? Although the QR codes you have placed in mailers, magazine ads and in catalogues may be highly effective today, you need to consider the shelf-life of the piece where it is printed. Once it goes to press, how long will the public have access to that code? What will they find when they scan it after six months, a year, several years? In order to ensure those who scan your QR code encounter a positive experience no matter when they scan, follow the key guidelines below for QR code lifecycle planning.

QR Codes and Media Type

Location-based mobile coupons, those which are automatically delivered to a consumer’s smartphone based on their location, give marketers the opportunity to target consumers with highly relevant offers that they can act upon immediately. However, along with this benefit comes the risk of alienating consumers who feel uncomfortable with the technology. For some people, the thought of receiving location-based mobile coupons makes them feel like they are being watched – creepy. On-site QR codes linked to coupons are an alternative to consider. Instead of a coupon automatically being delivered, the consumer accesses the coupon by scanning the code. This blog is designed to help you sift through your coupon options as you develop your mobile marketing strategy.

The world is embracing the use of Quick Response Codes, better known as QR codes. They seem to be popping up everywhere. As smartphones become more common (there are approximately 100 million being used in the United States alone) consumers are using QR codes to access information, and to access it immediately. If you are creating QR codes for your campaign or promotion, it’s important to address key QR code specifications to make sure your code will work.

There are the four critical QR code specifications you need to address before you publish your QR code:

You’ve hired the best web designer you could find, a team of writers is blogging relevant, and informative content, you’ve built customer portals, but what do you have if no one sees it? Although all of these elements will make your online resources shine, there is no point in shining the spotlight when the theater is empty.

Once you have a dazzling site with amazing content, how can you lead your clients and prospects to it? There are several strategies that you can apply to build your audience. One that you may not have considered is a continuity campaign.

Have you looked at a calendar recently? The holiday season is no longer right around the corner, it is here. Hopefully you have started the process for your corporate holiday card campaign, but if not, don’t worry, it is not too late. This is the last in our blog series about holiday cards. We have provided tips along the way that you can use now to develop a sophisticated holiday card campaign that will:

Just like any marketing campaign, you should structure your corporate holiday card campaign so you can measure results. When we launched this holiday campaign blog series, we discussed how the corporate holiday card mailing is a great opportunity to:

As the holiday season approaches, the task of sending holiday cards could be looming on your to-do list. The entire process, from list generation, to design, to distribution can be complicated, but with a little preplanning, it doesn’t have to be. This is the eighth blog in a series to help you organize your corporate holiday campaign. Through the series we have been sharing ideas for your campaign, but when it comes time to execute, how do you do it? In this blog you will find a holiday shopping list for capabilities to look for when you purchase fulfillment services for your holiday campaign.

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