You’ve probably seen them in newspapers, magazines or other paper-based publications: two-dimensional bar codes, called quick response codes (QR codes). What are they? They have been described as paper-based hyperlinks and this is a good description. You simply take a picture of a QR code with your smart phone, and you get redirected to a website using your cell phone’s browser.
Your business, no matter how small or how large, could use QR codes in its marketing efforts. You might auto generate one next to every product on your web site containing all the product details, the number to call and the URL link to the page so they can show their friends on their cell phone. Add them to any print advertising, flyers, posters, invites, TV or web ads etc containing:
- Product details
- Contact details
- Offer details
- Event details
- Competition details
- A coupon
- Twitter, Facebook, MySpace IDs
- A link to your YouTube video
QR codes are a new, green way of getting information about your company and products into the hands of potential customers.
Micro Websites – the short course!
What is a micro website? It is exactly what it claims to be: a website that is smaller than a regular, full-size site, usually comprised of less than 10 pages. It serves as an extension to your full website and is usually developed to focus on a specific message, product or purpose
Why is linking QR codes to Micro Websites important?
To Showcase Time Sensitive Promotions
Many businesses feature event driven or seasonal sales promotions, but don’t want to or have the resources to frequently make changes to their main website. If your business routinely has short term promotions, you can design a micro site that you can repurpose to suit each occurrence. You can use it to showcase your products or Art of Home promotions and then change it later to highlight the next promotion. People who have the link stored on their phones can check back for any updates.
As a Landing Page for your Main Site
Landing Pages can help you measure the effectiveness of an advertising campaign. Businesses spend a considerable amount of money on advertising for traditional media (such as print, radio, or television). However, it is not easy to accurately measure the results of these ads. Distinguishing the source of extra traffic to your website is next to impossible to do without the use of landing pages. By creating a distinct page that is not directly connected to your home page, you can use the landing page URL in your advertisements, and accurately measure the number of visitors to the page as a direct result of your campaign.
As a Simple Internet Solution
You understand the importance of establishing a Web presence for your business, but don’t require a site with complicated coding, extensive pages or sophisticated e-Commerce shopping carts. Micro sites are cost-effective for a business that just wants to get online. If your business doesn’t need a complicated site with technologically-advanced functions, a micro site could be all you really need to develop an effective Web presence.
– Real Intelligence