Ideas about how to use QR codes in my massage and skin care biz?

March 12, 2011 6:19 AM

I'm trying to come up with some creative ways to use QR codes to generate business or buzz or whatever I can do to promote my business.

It seems like QR codes are starting to pop up in more and more places. I'm looking for a way to use them to help market my massage & skin care business. I don't think just sending people to my website will be interesting enough, and unfortunately the site is not presently optimized for mobile devices. I'm looking for ideas that will make it worth someone's while to scan the code, and even better if it's something they'd tell their friends about? One kind of obvious way to use a QR code might be to send people to a page with a discount for services, another to our google maps location - but I'd love to get a little more creative?

posted by pinkbungalow to technology (5 answers total)

I don't know if they'd tell their friends about it, but I think a good use of them is to link to a web video. (And youtube does the mobile optimizing for you.) You could create a tour of your space and/or a short video demonstrating/explaining services. I think especially with salon services, some people feel more comfortable if they can see the space in advance and see it's clean and inviting, and know what the services will be like, especially if they're at all "personal" (a definition that varies a great deal from person to person).

Of course you'd have to invest a bit of time or money to get a video that isn't amateurishly offputting ... have to be at least "local cheesy commercial" quality.

Coupons are a decent idea if it's on a display ad of some sort, or if your discounts change a lot; if it's on a take-home flier, you can just print the ad on the flier and not discriminate against the non-smart-phone-users.

Similarly links to the website or a google map via QR are reasonably convenient, I suppose, but I'd do those pretty small and as a "website www.massageisawesome.com or scan here" type of thing ... I'm personally more likely to remember your website and just type it in later. Another use could be to say, "Here's a list of our services, visit our website or scan the QR code after each service for a fuller description" and then scanning the code could take you right to the page that describes aromatherapy massage in detail or whatever.

Also, I hate mystery QR codes. I want to know WHAT sort of thing I'm scanning -- "scan here for a video tour, or visit our website for the link" or "scan here for current discounts" or whatever. Because if I were putting up mystery QR codes that are like, "scan here to find out what X is about," they would ALL be Rick Rolls. All of them. (QRick Rolls?) And usually the mystery hides the fact that whatever I've just scanned to discover is useless or dumb.

I don't know much about marketing, but that's what I like and dislike in QR codes: I want to be pretty clear about what I'm going to see, and it either should be a convenient alternate method of getting information (as in the website scanned instead of laboriously typed in to my smartphone) where both are available, or something interesting that's easy to do on my phone, like a video. Because really, I'm not going to spend 10 minutes of my life perusing your advertising because there happened to be a QR code on it, and I feel like that's what a lot of QR code campaigns are: Not helpful to me, just stupid ways to attempt to get me to stare at advertising for extended periods, usually with particularly lame attempts to go viral, that prey on my "oooh, i wonder what that is" instinct and just end up irritating me.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 7:16 AM on March 12, 2011 [3 favorites]

Disclaimer: Generally I think this approach is a bit backward -- starting with a technology and ending up with a marketing plan -- but hey, it's your budget to spend.

Interesting place (surprising location, be it a location outside of your business, inside your business, on your body, etc.)
Interesting method of placement (tattoo, T-shirt, footprint, poster, birthday cake, car)
Interesting accompaniment (clever phrase accompanying QR code)

Integration with existing marketing methods: Mailing lists, newspaper ads

Distinct approach: "New alien technology discovered (wrapped around a big QR code)" or something like that. The alien technology turns out to be your skin. It's alien to today's office environment or something like that -- you have to take care of it.

But getting into specifics like "alien technology" AND using QR codes suddenly has narrowed down your target market FOR you, which can be a really bad move. Why target 18-25 year old geeky males with a massage & skin care business? If that's really what you want to do, go for it. But it'd probably be a hard sell.
posted by circular at 7:17 AM on March 12, 2011 [1 favorite]

Yes, I did want to add this cellit link, which talks about 11 problems with QR codes, and I think is pretty spot-on. From a business perspective the biggest problem is people have no idea what they ARE, but the ones that strike me are the ones that say "Why are you making this hard when I could just text X to Y and be done with it?"

So, yeah, has to be really useful info in the QR code that's a) mobile and b) not very convenient to give other ways. Video linking is really the best use I've seen from marketers.

Of course, if someone doesn't take the lead, they'll never reach more people. All new technologies start with a limited reach.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 7:29 AM on March 12, 2011

I worked in advertising in Japan where QR codes have been ubiquitous for years.

QR codes aren't really for marketing, they're for value-ads. You don't just put a QR code out there. You add one to the corner of a print campaign that provides something that's either impractical to offer in your print ad/flyer/handout:

- A video (as mentioned above)
- More info than you can comfortably put in the ad. Customer testimonials, where to buy, etc.
- Information that changes over time. Restaurants and bars have daily specials. I'm not sure what you might have. Possibly your company blog if it's formatted for mobile. (Posterous does this as well as a few others.)

or something that's better on a smartphone.

- Maps, links to the local shop or retail store.
- A coupon (or Groupon deal) that a person can take advantage of right then. (ie: in a store or retail setting. Not a mail-in or print out later thing.)
- Facebook and/or Twitter links for your company, though this isn't really offering much of a service vs simply posting your contact info.
- A microsite designed just for mobiles, that has all of the above stuff on it. If you're just linking to your main web site do not even bother, you are wasting peoples time and they'll come away with a bad impression.

posted by Ookseer at 10:58 AM on March 12, 2011 [3 favorites]

I work at a digital ad agency and get asked about these all the time. Here's the deal, they can be useful in certain situations, but those are few and far between in America as the majority of people still don't know what the heck they are.

The first question to ask yourself is "Who is the target audience?" If they are an older clientele, or you get the sense they may be less tech-savvy, don't waste your time or marketing dollars. Don't approach this as "QR codes are cool, I'd like to shoe horn them into my marketing and I need to figure out how", approach it as "what forms of marketing deliver the highest ROI for my budget with my target audience." I'm willing to bet you anything that QR codes are not high on that list.

That said, you don't need to develop a campaign around them--you can just add them to whatever flyers or direct mail or whatever other stuff you do presently. But Ookseer is dead-on...they are ONLY for value ads. For example, a good use might be to have a QR code that takes someone on their phone to an email submit form where they can sign-up to your mailing list and in exchange receive a sample treatment or something to get their foot in the door.

And when in doubt, survey your customers! Ask them these quick questions to determine whether it may be worth adding to existing campaigns:

1. Do you know what a QR code is (and show them an example picture WITHOUT explaining how it works)?

2. If yes, have you ever used one with your phone? If so, what did you use it for?

3. Do you notice them when people include them on things?

4. What sorts of things would make you both taking your phone out, booting up the QR code scanner, and scanning the code?
posted by Elminster24 at 11:15 AM on March 12, 2011