QR - Quick, Responsive, and Here for a While

I’ve read a bunch of things bashing QR lately and quite honestly I think the tech is getting a bad rap. It’s the old ‘don’t shoot the messenger” in bold underline if there ever was one – that is, when someone points to a weak consumer experience at the other end of a QR, the tech gets blamed for tepid results. 

The truth is QR is not going away anytime soon. It’s pervasive, easy to use, cheap to execute, and can tag along with multiple traditional media. To top it off, many handsets get loaded with a QR reader out of the factory, eliminating one step for the tech to actually get used by consumers. 

Yes, AR and NFC are the new mobile buzz kids on the block, but AR requires tagging and building of the image database and NFC is just making its way to market on the latest handset releases and isn’t really in the same ballpark in terms of function. 

QR is growing rapidly. According to one article, US QR scanning shot up over 4500% in Q1 2011. 

As smart phones follow their path of sales domination in the handset space and make feature phones obsolete while tablets chew away at the laptop market, QR use is going to continue to explode.  At the very least, it should be considered for every marketing and advertising program you roll out. 

Now to do QR right there are 8 things to consider before jumping on the QR train:

1. Use a universal QR code that is reader agnostic.
2. Make sure your landing experience is mobile optimized.
3. Give people something special – home pages are not special, sorry.
4. Give them an easy way to continue the conversation and get them to opt in to a mobile text program.
5. Back up your call to action with the option to text a short code to get pushed the link to your mobile optimized (and very special) landing page experience.
6. Make the experience easy for people. Follow the KISS formula [Not, I Wanna Rock n’ Roll All Night, but KEEP IT SIMPLE, STUPID}
7. Have fun with it – usually we’re not saving lives here – we’re just trying to sell stuff – so connect with consumers with a laugh.  It’s the best way to make friends.
8. Be clear. How do they scan? Where do they go when they do? What special experience or thing are they going to get?

QR is a great way to thread together a convergence media strategy. And before you throw out roughly half the audience still on Smart Phones and exclude those who don’t even yet know what a QR code is, remember point 5 above and include an SMS call to action that gives users and alternative to reaching your very special experience. 

Guy Borgford

Director, Mobile Advertising Solutions, Hipcricket

On LinkedIn:
www.linkedin.com/in/guywborgford

On Twitter: @gborgford

Radius Targeting – Getting Granular with Location Based Services

I hear this all the time – “We’re interested in geofencing our campaign.” It sounds sexier than a Caribbean Sports Illustrated Cover Shoot. And geofencing is super cool stuff, but it’s not directly connected to display advertising. What most people are talking about when they refer to geofencing is actually radius targeting – that is the ability to tap into device GPS functionality to narrowly target consumers down to the ZIP code or lat-long level. 

Geofencing requires a double opt-in and involves the resulting push of SMS or MMS notifications when the opted-in consumer crosses the defined ‘fence’. Radius targeting, on the other hand, employs Location Based Services or LBS publishers to then serve up resulting ad experiences based on that consumers’ distinct location. 

Here are examples of both that Hipcricket has run for clients:

Geofencing – Our client MillerCoors wanted to reach business travelers to connect this valuable audience with their Blue Moon brand. We set out powering QR/SMS on tent cards in airport bars seeded throughout 27 key airports around the US. We then constructed a ‘fence’ around those airports that are designed to trigger text messages when the opted-in consumer crosses any of the respective fences.

The call to action was clear: Join the ‘Blue Moon Club’ so you can find your favorite beer, wherever your travels take you. Once the consumer either scans the QR or texts the keyword to the short code, they’re sent a text message asking them if they’re sure they want to ‘join the club’. They respond ‘yes’, which then enables Hipcricket to send them text notifications whenever the consumer enters one of the fenced airports. “Get your Blue Moon beer at Sally’s Bar near Gate 27.” Sounds good to me!

Radius Targeting – Our client Bally’s Casino had the goal of driving Las Vegas visitors into their live show, ‘The Price is Right’. Their data showed that attendees to these shows make their entertainment decisions spontaneously, so we set up a Radius Target around the Las Vegas Strip, tapping into Location Based Services  ad inventory and only serving ad impressions to that very narrow geotarget. Combining dayparting this hyper-local approach reached the right consumers in the right place, at the right time.

There certainly is a more misguided approach to radius targeting. We had one client representing a fast food chain who wanted to radius target a fast food competitor in a major DMA – we’re talking hundreds of radius targets. The sheer number of radius targets, combined with the generality of the vertical, and the population density of the DMA, essentially meant we would be pretty much targeting the entire city anyway, so a much more cost effective approach was a simple DMA target with demographic targeting layers and dayparting aligned with menu items. 

Mobile offers unparalleled reach into consumers’ buying behavior, with its ability to connect with audiences along their path to purchase and at the exact point buying decisions are made. No other medium in history has this ability. The best thing marketers can do is think both strategically and logistically when employing advanced mobile targeting and messaging tactics. It’s easy to get excited about new technology, however the technology is merely the means to an end – ROI does and always will reign supreme.

Guy Borgford

Director, Mobile Advertising Solutions, Hipcricket

On LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/guywborgford

On Twitter: @gborgford