This past week, a client of mine forwarded me an email from Denso Wave Incorporated, the originators of those 2d mobile response codes we call QR Codes®. We call them that because Denso Wave trademarked the term, although few of us may be aware of it. But they did.

(View Denso Wave’s trademark info here.)

But Denso Wave has not protected its trademark, and over the years, the industry has used the term as a generic for mobile 2d response codes. Think of all of the references in white papers, research papers, publications, marketers, printers, blogs, and newsletters . . . how many times have you seen the trademark used?

Call me clueless, but I’ve never seen one. So when my client forwarded me an email from Denso Wave asking not only that the trademark be used with every reference to QR Codes® (apparently, Denso Wave also wants it with a capital C), but also that the phrase “QR Code is a registered trademark of DENSO WAVE INCORPORATED” be included somewhere on the Web page or in the publication, if I’d been dead, I would have turned over.

The fact is, there are many different types of mobile 2d response codes. QR Codes®, Datamatrix, BeeTAGG, MS Tag, SnapTag, JagTag, and the list goes on. What’s different about QR Codes® is that Denso Wave chose to make the code open source, so anyone can download it and create their own. Just Google free “QR code generator” and see how many companies have done it.

Combined with lack of enforcement (or, at the very least, selective enforcement) from Denso Wave, the result has been an explosion in use of QR Codes® (which I’m sure pleases Denso Wave), but also a genericization of the term QR Code® itself, which clearly does not.

I understand the desire to protect a trademark, but there is a certain level of common sense here, too. Can you imagine what writing on this topic would be like if every company trademarked the names of their codes or insisted on the ® be used after the ones that are?  Then the phrase “[such and such] is a registered trademark of [company]” be listed for every one? You’d use up your word count before you ever began writing.  Plus, every magazine article, piece of marketing collateral, and white paper would end up looking like a press release or advertisement.

I don’t know whether Denso Wave has suddenly changed its policy and decided to enforce its trademark more aggressively after all of these years or whether one of its employees simply got a burr under his or her saddle and sent the email on his or her own accord, but it reminds me that, in this industry, we need a generic term for 2d mobile response codes that doesn’t involve someone’s brand name.

So let me suggest one — 2d mobile response codes. It’s not as clean as QR Code®, but it’s a true generic that will prevent letters from trademark attorneys or vigilante employees and marketing collateral and publication pages that look like alphabet soup.

There is no doubt that the world of mobile is creating many opportunities for folks in the marketing and communications industries. Mobile technology has opened up new ways for companies to reach prospects, generate leads, and provide customer support.

For service providers, there is opportunity to help marketers achieve their mobile-related goals.  One area in which this is true is related to mobile websites. As the number of smartphone owners continues to rise, so will mobile web traffic.

The technology to build and provide mobile websites for other companies exists. But how can a print service provider sell this solution to their clients and prospects?

Here are 3 ways to get that conversation going:

As a Service That Complements QR Codes

If you are currently creating, tracking, and/or printing QR Codes for your customers, then you have a tremendous opportunity to engage them in a conversation about mobile websites.

Many of the QR Codes that I see “in the wild” today still point to regular websites that were designed for viewing on a desktop computer or laptop.

This is bad for many reasons! For one, it means that the person who puts forth the effort to scan the QR Code with their smartphone is going to have trouble simply reading the content on the website! Even if you rely on them to tap-and-zoom, chances are that they are going to be less than pleased with their interaction with your company. Big images may cause the site to load slowly, and certain functionality may not work at all (such as Flash).

Since QR Codes are going to be accessed by folks on mobile phones, the value of pointing people to mobile-optimized content should be clear to your clients.

By presenting your ability to provide that service to them easily, it should help you to grow your business!

Also, it should help them to increase the success of their QR Code efforts.

Become the Local Mobile Expert

While there is no doubt that mobile is a very hot topic in the marketing world, there are still many people that are not yet up-to-speed with how it affects their business.

This means that you have the opportunity to aggressively educate your customers, prospects, and other businesses in your local area about items such as mobile websites. If you can position yourself as a thought-leader, your chances of being the ones that they turn to when they realize they have a need should absolutely increase.

This educational effort can be done in a number of ways. Here are a few:

• Offer to speak about mobile marketing at local Chamber of Commerce events (or similar events that bring together local businesses)
• Write about it on your company’s website and blog
• Discuss it in your monthly newsletter
• Talk about it on your social networks
• Send direct mail and emails that highlight important mobile statistics… and your services

Set the Example

Of course, one of the best ways to convince someone why they need your services is to walk-the-talk.

If you are going to tell someone that they need a mobile website, then you certainly will want to investigate what it will take to create a mobile website for your own company.

Not only can this help to demonstrate that you truly believe in the importance of “going mobile”, but it also can be a great conversation-started (“Hey! I noticed your website looks different on my phone”) and a way to increase your effectiveness as you seek to reach the growing mobile audience.

I am looking for some case studies or statistics that talk about increased response rates using PURLs. What type of response rates have you experienced when using PURLs? Or do you know of a source where I can find those stats? I have tried [industry vendors] and most other reputable sites without any luck. They talk about how it works, but not much in the way of numbers.

This request came from one of the industry ListServes. When was this request written? Last month? Last week? This morning?

The the other day, my seven-year-old spilled water on the keyboard of my MacBook. Although she sopped the water up up quickly, the keyboard did not survive. That put me back on my old MacBook from, well, the turn of the century (I’m not completely kidding about that.)

After being pleased that it fired right up, I began poking around some of the old files still on the hard drive. One of the files is a column I wrote for a publication (no longer in print) for nearly a decade. The quote above came from one of the oldest folders still on the drive – 2007.

Just in case you missed it, yes, the quote at the top of this post was written in March 2007.

Reading it gave me quite a jolt because I still read requests like this on ListServes and social media forums like LinkedIn.  Haven’t we learned anything since 2007?

The answer then, as it is now, is that there are no meaningful statistics on the lift provided by PURLs or any other element of a marketing campaign. This is because the lift will depend on all of the other aspects of the campaign, such as the list, the creative, the offer, and many other factors. The PURL, QR code, or other element of the campaign is just a response mechanism like an 800 number, tear-out form, or web address. It’s all but meaningless by itself.

That question concerned me back in 2007 because, as budding marketing service providers, the participants on this ListServe should have known the answer to this question. That’s what being a marketing services provider is (although they were calling themselves “one-stop shops” back then) about. That so many in the industry are still asking the exact same question today is unnerving.

Haven’t we learned anything?

On January 20, the U.S. Postal Service released five gorgeous stamps. The artistry of American stamps is nothing new, of course, but this collection reminded me of the potential value of decorative stamps in targeted direct mail campaigns.

In searching for high resolution versions of the five stamps, I happened upon a wonderful website, BeyondthePerf.com.

For those interested in the art and design of U.S. stamps, the site features a video interview with the five USPS art directors who bring illustrative meaning to “decorative stamp.”

Ethel Kessler talks about the talents of the five people who work on the stamps. “Each of us has different passions, different strengths. And we’re relentless, [asking] what can we do at every level to enrich it.”

Phil Jordan, who created the USPS Civil War series, says his effort seeks to honor past acts of courage or accomplishment. Getting there wasn’t easy. “What evolved was a labor of intense scrutiny… I wanted to express what people were thinking and what the common person was doing, particularly the common soldier.” Was all the research worth it? “What we have, we know will stand up to scrutiny,” says Jordan.

Kessler researched the Nobel Prize winners series just as diligently. Rather than detailing each scientific achievement, she was dedicated to capturing the essence of this highly coveted award. “Ethel really did an amazing job says Derry Noyes. “She was working with murky photographs of scientists and complex formulas. This could have been a recipe for disaster, but everything went beautifully.”

Antonio Alcalá’s favorite series spotlights industrial design from the 40s, 50s, and 60s. Greg Breeding also is partial to this Pioneers of American Industrialism series, which he says has inspired so many objects we use today, including the iPad, telephones, etc.

What does the stamp series add up to?

“We’re telling a story; we’re telling America’s story,” says Kessler — and that story is complex in more ways that we can imagine. Consider, for example, the Latin Music Legends series. “I worked with Raphael Lopez who is himself a musician and a brilliant illustrator. We decided what we were looking was ‘performance,’ so that we could hear the music.”

Likely, only a designer can discern the many possibilities that comprise a powerful picture. “What is it that grabs you? Is it the title, the color, the graphics? Is it pretty, is it edgy? Designing stamps is more work than you think,” Noyes concludes. “It’s a real collaborative effort. If the collaboration has worked well, then we have a great stamp.”

Kessel adds, “Our biggest success is when it looks easy.”

BeyondthePerf made me remember that this institution upon which direct marketers have built their livelihoods does many things well — and most of it looks much easier than it is.

So, hurray for the American stamp and hurray for one of our greatest institutions: The U.S. Postal Service.

“Personalization” continues to be a prominent topic in a number of different circles: marketing, publishing, eCommerce, social networking, and search. It’s no wonder why: personalization helps boost response rates and profitability in cross-media campaigns, helps marketers drive conversion on their Websites & landing pages, and much more.

Wikipedia provides a very broad definition of personalization, which I do like: “using technology to accommodate the differences between individuals.” Specific to the groups that I am referring to, I believe that personalization can be more precisely defined as leveraging data to deliver relevant content to specific individuals.

That’s still pretty broad; what kind of data? what kind of content? what channels are being used? With this many constituencies looking to use personalization in their own ways to meet specific goals, those answers can range extensively. Furthermore, when these groups end up talking to each other about personalization, it can cause confusion and miscommunication. To clear the air, so-to-speak, I wanted to shed some light on the different ways personalization is being employed by these different groups.

• Cross-media Direct Marketing: You’re likely familiar with the personalization model for cross-media campaigns: a digitally-printed direct mail piece (or e-mail) with variable text and graphic elements and a personalized URL, which links to a personalized microsite with variable text and graphic elements, often highlighting the recipient’s name in some way. Personal and demographic data is primarily used to drive the personalization in these applications. Depending on the client/campaign, additional data may be used for more granular, relevant content.
• Digital Marketing: Personalization is popular with digital marketers. E-mail is a popular spot for personalization: according to a 2011 study by marketing technology provider Alterian, 72% of marketing professionals surveyed reported using personalization for their e-mail campaigns. E-mail marketing complexity ranges from mass blasts to segmentation to real-time individualization, typically using customer data and purchase history data to make recommendations. Another prominent personalization tactic for marketers is retargeting, which involves serving ads to a specific user after they have left a Website in efforts to raise brand awareness, recapture their attention, and drive people back to their Website.
• eCommerce: Business-to-consumer eCommerce was and still is a center of innovation in Web personalization, driven by Amazon.com and other eTailers looking to provide a custom-tailored experience for each individual user in hopes of getting them to buy more. For these sites, personalization often comes in the form of a recommendation engine, which tracks your browsing habits, shopping cart, wish list, reviews, purchase history, and other facets to deliver personalized recommendations on what the system thinks you would like. It should be noted that digital marketing goes hand-in-hand with eCommerce; real-time individualized e-mail marketing is common for eCommerce companies, and retargeting helps bring back shoppers that left the conversion funnel.
• Publishing: For print publishing, personalization often means mass customization, specifically in the print-on-demand model for books, where eCommerce orders trigger specific books to be printed, often in one-off fashion. Services like MagCloud and Time Inc’s Mine Magazine endeavor represent personalization efforts for magazines. On the Web and in digital media, personalization is geared more toward delivering relevant content based on an individual’s specific interests or preferences. Sometimes meeting this objective requires readers to input specific information about their tastes; other times, information like a Twitter, Facebook, or Google Reader account may be analyzed to assess your interests and deliver content based on who you’re friends with, who you follow, or what news you already read. A great example of this method is exhibited through Zite, a “personalized digital magazine” mobile app.
• Social Networking: Social networks are rife with different types of individuals’ data, making them ideal for personalization. Social networks typically employ personalization to deliver relevant content feeds from a user’s friends or connections on a network, as well as to deliver highly-targeted display advertising. For content delivery, networks may use algorithms to interpret connections, interactions, and profile information among users and deliver content based on what it believes is most relevant to each user. For advertising, networks typically act a facilitator between advertisers and users, presenting key profile characteristics of users that advertisers can choose to target.  Facebook generated over $3.5 billion in revenue through this type of advertising.
• Search: Search engines have always utilized algorithms to determine the display results of a user’s query, but these algorithms have recently started to take user information, such as profile or location data, into consideration before displaying results. Just recently, Google stepped up its game in this area, launching “Search, plus Your World“, which integrates a user’s Google+ data into everyday search queries. Advertising is a critical component to search, and generated over $35 billion in revenue worldwide for Google in 2011. Up until now, most search ads have been delivered based on the content of users’ search queries, but location information and even personal information are starting to be used to deliver more targeted search ads to users.

At its core, all that is needed to enable personalization is data, content, and a mechanism to have one drive the other. As has been covered, applying personalization for different use cases has a substantial impact on the type of data being used, the content that is being tied to that data, and the types of delivery mechanisms that enable that personalization. Understanding these differences and requirements for each application can help different stakeholders communicate more effectively when pursuing personalization, as well as open the door to new opportunities

It’s not often that one of those hokey affordable healthcare  commercials made me smile, but this one did .  .  .  just not for the reasons you might expect.

The commercial showed the response of three different sets of consumers to the product — a recent college graduate, a mid-life couple, and a retired couple. Each asked a set of questions that presented a need that was answered by the product.

At the end of the commercial, the college graduate boasted that he got his quote online. The mid-life couple beamed that they got theirs by calling an 800 number. The retired couple said they got theirs by walking into one of the brick-and-mortar stores.

Well done, I thought. It wasn’t heavy handed, but it was there. There were multiple ways to respond to the offer depending on the needs and inclinations of the different segments of the marketer’s target audience.

This is a lesson we need to be taking to heart.

You may have worked hard to convince a client of the benefits of using personalized URLs to update their contact list or add additional variables, for example, but it’s important to give people another way to respond, as well. Give them a phone number, a tear-off form, a QR code to an online form. You worked hard to convince the client of the benefits of this approach, so you want people to use it, of course, but you don’t want to lose people who are interested in the offer but don’t want to use the personalized URL either — and they’ll be out there.

Not sure it’s worth undermining your efforts to market certain types of campaigns or technologies to your client base? Do a simple A/B test. Send the offer with the personalized URL (or whatever response mechanism you are working with) only. Then send the same offer with multiple response mechanisms. Everything else is the same. Track the response rates for each set and see what happens.

Anyone out there done a similar test? I’d love to hear your experiences.

This week, we showcase the Iron Cross with Stitched-in Booklet submitted by Digital Ink in Alexandria, VA created for the American Bankers Association. The piece first opens in gate format to reveal two sides that fold out to create an iron cross format. The innovation doesn’t stop here. The interior boasts of a 12 page stitched booklet. This booklet provides an excellent opportunity to include marketing material into a leave-behind brochure or mailed item. Watch the video for more!

QR codes are great tools, but you have to think about what you are trying to accomplish before you take up space on your marketing collateral, product packaging, or other project with one.

I recently purchased a nice little toy, the Snow Wovel, which is like a giant snowshovel on a wheel. Clear your driveway 3x faster, so they say, and with last night’s snowstorm and a 1/4 acre blacktop driveway, I could sure could have used the help. This morning, I had a two-hour school delay and a Wovel still in a box . . . with a QR code.

The QR code had no instructions. No text of any kind telling me what it was or what scanning it might do, but since I know a bit about QR codes, I suspected that it might have something handy like a tutorial on how to put the thing together. I had hungry, undressed children, a rapidly shrinking time budget, and a 1/4 acre of blacktop to clear.

I scanned the code and was taken to the product’s non-mobile website, with product images, customer testimonials, and lots of other information that was already on the box. The customer testimonials might be nice for someone trying to make a purchase decision in a store, but I’d learned about the Wovel online and purchased it online.

The box contained instructions, but what I really needed was a step by step on how to put it together—fast. I didn’t get what I was looking for.

My point? While not everyone scanning a QR code is looking for the same thing, marketers — your clients — should take the time to step back from their sales push and ask the questions, “Why am I putting this code on here? Who will be scanning it? What will they be looking for?”

When it comes to success with QR codes, help your clients stop thinking like salesmen. Instead, help them start thinking like consumers.

Anyone involved in multi-channel marketing is painfully aware of the crush of pressure to integrate social and mobile marketing into their clients’ marketing programs. Even the glow of QR codes on direct mail and marketing collateral is tainted by the issue of mobile.

Now the issue of mobile payments is growing along with them. After all, if consumers are going to use their phone to access social media and mobile marketing pages, they are going to want to use their phones for making payments, too. It’s part of the convenience factor.

A recent survey by Adobe found that 62% of respondents had purchased physical goods on their mobile phones. Globally, the total value of mobile payments is expected to quadruple from $170 billion in 2010 to $630 billion in 2014, according to Juniper Research.

Among the types of mobile payments?

• SMS payments
• Mobile web payments (WAP)
• Peer-to-peer (P2P)
• Near Field Communications (Contactless NFC)
• Mobio open-source 2d barcodes

If this looks like Greek to you, you aren’t alone. Fortunately, there is a great free resource to give you some background on mobile payments and the security issues that attend them. Check out Mobio’s free white paper “Mobile Commerce Security: The Mobio Security Solution.”

If you are still evaluating the power and influence of QR codes for mobile marketing, you can check out Digital Printing Reports’ “QR Codes: The Data Speaks,”  an aggregation of the publicly available research on QR codes adoption and use.

If you are doing any marketing in the social media, mobile marketing, or QR code spaces, mobile payments are something you need to be familiar with. Even if you’re not ready to pull the trigger, you need to at least be familiar with the issues and be formulating a plan.

When Google+ was first released in 2011, there certainly was a lot of buzz in the marketing world.  However, for many of us, the reaction was this: “Oh no; do we really have another social network to worry about?”

Well, if you have been neglecting adding Google+ to your marketing activities up until now, you may want to re-think that approach! Here’s why.

Search Plus Social

Last week, Google announced that they were going to make some fairly significant changes to their search engine. They labeled these changes “Search, plus Your World”. These enhancements would dramatically change the search results that were presented to logged-in users. The results presented to people would now greatly incorporate the social networking data that a person is connected to — at least the social networking data that Google had access to.

Users would notice this difference throughout the links, images, and videos that were presented by Google’s search engine. Yes, what a person saw two weeks ago as the #1 result when they searched for “printing services” could now be radically different, based on their social network connections.

Since Google only has access to the data within so many social networks, Google+ is playing a major role in the changes that they’ve made to their search engine.

This has caused a number of debates to arise as to whether their actions are fair and justified. But for people like us — those that are looking to do whatever we can to grow our business — we must react to the reality.

And the reality is this: If we want people to find our business online, we need to be on Google+!

How to Get Started with Google+

Google started rolling out these changes to users last week. Thus, chances are very good that you have access to them.

Below are a few things that you can do now to take take advantage of these enhancements:

• If you don’t already have one, create a Google Profile.
• Once you have a profile, make sure that you log-in to Google before you run your next Search.
• Get on Google+! It’s free to create an account.
• Google+ allows you to have a personal profile, of course. But you can also create Pages for your Business, Products & Services, Events, and more.
• Start creating and publishing content on your Google+ profiles and pages
• Build your Google+ community: Take the time to add people and Pages to your Circles and invite others to do the same for your accounts.

It certainly will be interesting to see how companies adapt and benefit from these changes.

Once you’re logged in to your Google profile, start running a few searches. It can be quite fascinating to see how the “Personal Results” change what is presented to you.

If you have a free moment, check out the video that Google has released regarding the “Search, plus Your World” functionality below. I think it does a great job of demonstrating the importance of using Google+ in one’s marketing efforts.

P.S. These changes have absolutely motivated me to increase my personal Google+ usage. Feel free to “Circle” me there!

I was looking for some inspiration in this New Year; a way to look differently at the world of process improvement that I live in. I especially wanted to make it relate better to those that are often the most difficult to convince of the desirability, even “good-ness” of processes, those in the “front end” of a business: customer service, purchasing, IT, project managers, estimators, salespeople, designers, marketers, etc.

I use some great tools and a great methodology for business process improvement, and the reason that I like them is that they are simple. It does not mean that they don’t take some time and effort to use effectively and gain the maximum benefit. Everything worthwhile takes a certain amount of commitment.

I grabbed a book off my shelf that I had not looked at in a while. It is an old book, in business book terms, but it has not aged. It is called “Simplicity: The New Competitive Advantage in a World of More, Better, Faster”, by Bill Jensen. I randomly opened to one of the many pages with a corner I’d folded over and came across this:

“WHAT DESIGN CHANGED THE HISTORY OF PARIS?

Guess again. Think practical . . . think sewers. Thanks to the Seine, the Romans called Paris Lutetia: City of Mud. French novelist Victor Hugo devoted 15 pages in Les Miserables to Paris’ sewers. Why? More growth, more waste. And at some point, waste removal had as much impact as social, cultural, and political forces.

“. . . At some point, content becomes waste. So content design has to include waste removal. Have you designed a sewer system? Is the process for getting rid of content as easy as flushing a corporate-wide e-toilet? . . . Without hassle-free procedures and tools, you are forcing knowledge workers to swim in their own waste.”

Well, that paints quite a picture for me. In process improvement, efficient elimination, (no pun intended), of the superfluous, outdated, and difficult is as important as the improved process itself. Every day, when they see barriers, people use workarounds to get things done in their jobs. Sometimes these workarounds, shortcuts, and “stealth” actions have become, in fact, the best ways to accomplish certain tasks. It’s up to those of us who facilitate process improvement to recognize and coax these informal improvements out of the shadows in the corners, be happy that improvements are happening around us, and rapidly flush the old processes down the corporate e-toilet.

Processes, done well, simplify.

We all need a jump-start now and then. What are some sources of inspiration for you in driving out waste or improving processes in your area of your company?

As you’re likely well-aware, the mobile channel continues to experience significant levels of growth. According to the CTIA Wireless association, mobile subscription penetration in the United States exceeds 100% of the population; many people own and use more than one mobile device. Furthermore, CTIA estimates that that close to 30% of U.S. households are “wireless-only,” meaning they subscribe to wireless phone services but not landline services (myself and many of my friends are part of this population). The pervasiveness of mobile technology has led to increased time spent by consumers in the mobile channel, making it a prime platform for marketing and advertising.

To that point, research firm eMarketer estimates that U.S. mobile ad spending topped $1 billion in 2011, and expects spending in this channel to grow to over $4 billion by 2015. While various forms of mobile marketing have been around for well over a decade, only in the past few years have marketers started dedicating a more substantial percentage of their budgets to mobile in conjunction with other shifts to digital spending. Despite growth in these newer channels, it is important to remember that marketers are still dedicating a substantial percentage of their budgets to traditional media, including print, television, radio, sponsorships, and much more. Even so, marketers are focused on return-on-investment more than ever before, and they are constantly looking at ways to make their marketing across all media types more measureable and impactful.

In particular, a slew of mobile technologies are now being employed to integrate print and other media types with mobile and online channels, including mobile response codes, short code prompts for mobile messaging, augmented reality, and much more. InfoTrends recently completed a study entitled Mobile Technology: Making Print Interactive, which  investigates how mobile is being integrated with print and other media types. In this study, we captured consumer, marketer, and service provider perspectives to understand how mobile technology can be effectively utilized within traditional, offline media to drive audiences to engaging online experiences.

One key finding from our study highlights that, especially for mobile response codes, marketers are turning to their print service provider partners to help them create, deploy, and manage integrated mobile campaigns. Print service providers have a tremendous opportunity to develop domain expertise in the mobile channel through integrated campaigns and programs, but they need to make sure they have the right strategy, provide the right mix of services, and have the tools and technology to support their efforts. Below are some key considerations for service providers looking to build out mobile marketing services:

1. The mobile channel is still relatively new for many marketers and advertisers, and they are looking for guidance how they should approach mobile in a way that will meet their goals and resonate with their target audience. Providers need to take a consultative approach to mobile, capturing key characteristics of the client, its products and services, and the audience it is trying to reach to make recommendations. For instance, mobile apps are hot right now, and many clients may ask for them, but it’s up to the service provider to help guide clients to solutions that fit their specific needs… and then execute appropriately.
2. Understanding how to design, deliver, and manage digital content designed for mobile devices is a requirement, not an option. There have been too many times where a QR code is slapped on a printed piece that links to content that doesn’t render well on mobile devices, ultimately delivering a bad user experience. In our study, we found that once consumers interact with mobile response codes and other mobile technologies, they tend to interact again and again. The end-to-end user experience is a critical component of any mobile marketing campaign; a good experience will help drive future interaction and engagement in the mobile channel.
3. To that point, when you’re getting into mobile, it is important to note that a wide range of tools and technologies are on the market that help companies create and deliver mobile content, generate and track mobile response codes, perform campaign management, and much more. In other words, don’t start from scratch! Many software platforms allow service providers and agencies to whitelabel their solutions to use as the backbone for their integrated mobile campaigns. Technology from the likes of 3Seventy, Blink Capture, iFlyMobi, NetBiscuits, Print2D, ScanBuy, ShareSquare, SumoText, Tatango, and many others can be utilized to help power your mobile marketing services.
4. As mentioned, marketers don’t want to have to wait for sales figures to see if their marketing investment paid off. They need actionable insights that can help them optimize campaigns in real time to have maximum impact. As such, measurement and optimization are table stakes when it comes to mobile marketing (and digital marketing in general). Mobile technology can provide marketers with a wealth of data, including location information, which can help personalize content and also influence campaign optimization to ensure that campaigns meet defined objectives.
5. Finally, don’t just limit yourself to mobile response codes. The ease at which people can generate QR codes has been a catalyst for substantial growth in marketers and service providers integrating them across different media types. Nevertheless, mobile message marketing, mobile advertising, and more are becoming much easier to get involved with; providers need to consider these types of services when developing their mobile services strategy.

Mobile will undoubtedly continue its upward trajectory in terms of adoption and share of ad spend. Service providers need to, at a minimum, investigate if and how they should include the mobile channel within their existing suite of product and service offerings. While the aforementioned considerations only scratch the surface, they can help guide you and your clients to success with mobile.

Has your company expanded its service offerings to include mobile marketing and advertising? Share your experiences and your own key considerations in the comments!

I just received a press release about Jeff Hayzlett’s new book, Running the Gauntlet, and was interested to see that, even with all the talk about QR codes lately, he chose to use SnapTags—not QR codes—to provide interactivity with his audience.

In the book, released just this month, Hayzlett has added SnapTags to the front each of the 35 chapters. The tags contain links to a video of Hayzlett explaining what the chapter covers.

SnapTags are yet another form of 2d barcode. They have similar characteristics to QR codes, but unlike QR codes, you can also take a picture of them, text it back to SnapTag, and the content (image, video, or link) will be sent back to you much the same way as JagTags.

But unlike JagTags or QR codes, SnapTags are their own mini mobile universe.  The SnapTag platform is built around mobile SnapTag sites so the person scanning the tag or accessing the content automatically lands on a mobile optimized page. Each page also contains social media links to allow viral sharing by default.

Another difference is that SnapTags are embedded in an open ring, so the marketer can use its logo (or any other image or content) inside the ring without interfering with the tag. QR codes can also be branded, but the logo is contained within the code itself, so when any kind of branding is added, it degrades the code. If too much information is removed, the branding can render the code unreadable or make it difficult to read. SnapTag’s open ring solves that problem.

I’ve seen Hayzlett’s book, Running the Gauntlet, and used the tags. They are admittedly very cool. But they do raise the question — how many different types of 2d codes do people really need? SnapTags have a lot of wonderful features, including the fact that they make branding easy and solve some of the challenges associated with non-proprietary codes, such as sending people to non-mobile sites and not including social media.

But how many different 2d codes do we have now? Microsoft TAG, QR codes, JagTags, SnapTags, Datamatrix, BeeTAG, Scanbuy, and the list goes on. Then there are 2d barcode-like codes like Google Goggles and Digimarc Discover. Some are proprietary. Others are not. Some platforms scan certain codes, but not others. The more codes we have to solve problems with other codes, the more confusing it becomes for the user. Which code am I scanning? Do I have the right software? Can I just text back a picture instead? Or is it not one of those?

We’re at a confusing time for 2d barcodes right now. They have great usefulness, but the plethora of different types and functionalities can create confusion, too. Does adding new forms of barcodes really make things better? As service providers, do we offer them all? Or do we pick one and stick with it? I wonder.

A recent InfoTrends study entitled The Evolution of the Cross-Media and Marketing Services Provider reveals 58% of the 280 print service providers surveyed are offering cross-media services. There’s no doubt that the cross-media market is dynamic, growth-oriented, and a major contributor to the future of the printing industry.

The marketing executive is the key decision-maker in cross-media services. These marketers are facing a number of challenges in the transition to cross-channel marketing, from strategy to design and deployment to tracking and measurement. The sheer scope of the cross-channel marketing model, and the new innovations that continue to appear, make it difficult for marketers to keep up.

The opportunity is that marketers are reaching out to their traditional print service provider and agency partners for assistance. During an October 2010 study entitled Capturing the Cross-Media Direct Marketing Opportunity, InfoTrends surveyed more than 500 marketers to find out answers to questions such as: What selection criteria are essential to the marketer? How does that service provider move to the top of the list so they can participate in the more lucrative marketing value chain and the incremental digital print revenue associated with cross-media services?

You can download the full white paper for free here. (Click in the bottom, left corner). Find out the answers to what Marketers are looking for and how YOU can participate in the lucrative cross-media revenue stream!