Try a QR Code at Your Next Trade Show
Ted Ridgway
Recently many companies have strated to use QR codes or “Quick Response” codes to adda new way of givining information to prospective customers and getting information back from prospects and customers. And because QR codes are made easy and inexpensive on the internet, they’re great additions for small businesses to incorporate into their messaging on trade show displays and a lot of other marketing media and collateral. Here are the basics and some information on where your company can find out more if it wants to use QR codes to deliver information to customers at a trade show.
To start with, what is this funny symbol, the QR code? You could say it’s like a turbo-charged bar code. Because, like a bar code, the QR cde is a binary coded image that connects (or is related to) some other and non-obvious information. So when a bar code gets scanned, it identifies the item and often the retail price. But when a QR code gets scanned by a mobile phone on your company’s pop up graphics, it will connect to a web page – what it does from there is up to you. More and more people have scanner apps on their mobile phones so that these can read a QR Code. But it’s an easy way to get engagement from your audience at a trade show that is persistent and this engagement can lead to a sale.
There are very practical trade show uses for QR codes – again, these aren’t limited to trade show marketing messages – you can use them on other collateral in your business. For this example, assume that your company has 3 banner stands and that they each showcase a different new product your company has introduced. There’s a lot to say about these new products but you (being smart about your trade show graphics) know that you’ll lose your audience if you put too much text on the banner stand. And you don’t want to print a lot of brochures – they’re expensive and people just throw them out. If you put a QR code on each banner stand, when a visitor scans it he or she can be taken to the product page on your website. Or perhaps to a sign up for a discount coupon for that product. But you have an opportunity to create an engagement with the audience – studies have shown that getting your audience to take action will have a higher probability of a sale.
Another example – put a QR code on your hanging sign or your large modular display. In this case, since there;s not a specific product that’s being promoted, you may want to take them to an email list sign up page or an information request page. But once again you’ve created an action by your trade show audience that will increase the likelihood of a sale.
The best thing about a QR code is that they are relatively unobtrusive and they can be scanned at a great distance – 30 feet or more. They can improve and augment your graphics by allowing your company to include a lot more information on a small trade show display than you would otherwise be able to. And they create audience engagement by getting your visitors to take action. Best of all, a QR code is simple to create and it can be printed by most inkjet, flatbed or fabric printing techniques. So your current trade show graphics company can include it in your artwork and have it printed with your graphics. To be fair, your company has to do some additional work – creat a landing page, for example, or an email registration page – so that your visitor will have something to do when their browser takes them to the web. But this is also easy to do – another area where the internet has leveled the playing field.
At your company’s next trade fair or expo, consider putting a QR code on your company’s pop up display graphics, banner stand or fabric display. It’s a great way to add a new customer dimension and stand out in a crowd.
Ted Ridgway is President of Impact Displays, a full service trade show display company offering a full range of displays and trade show graphics. The Company can be reached by calling 877-217-2681 or by emailing to info@impact-displays.com.