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.

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!

“Tactics, Tactics, Tactics…. Everywhere I look, all I see is tactics!”

Perhaps you have also felt that same way recently. We hear about tactics across nearly every marketing channel out there. QR Codes. Personalized URLs. Augmented Reality. SMS/Text-Messaging. Mobile Email. Social Media Advertising.

Those are just a few of the terms that we hear and talk about quite frequently in the marketing world. I know that I can often get quite excited about them!

But, while there is nothing wrong with diving in and understanding specific tactics, we run the danger of thinking of those things as bright and shiny objects that can solve all of our problems!

Instead of falling into that trap, we must be willing to increase the amount of effort and focus that we put on having a strategy.

Long-Term Solutions Come From Having a Strategy

If our business primarily consists of providing marketing services to our customers, we certainly need to pay close attention to new tools and technologies that could improve our offerings.

However, we must ensure that the things we do add (for example, a QR Code or PURL on a postcard) are not treated simply as add-ons. Rather, we should focus on integrating them into the overall marketing strategy that supports our customer’s goals.

Often, the development of a strategy will consist of us asking critical questions. The answers to those questions will not only help us decide which tools and technologies should be used, but also, how should we best use them.

Yes, I realize that some clients may come to you with a fully thought-out marketing strategy. But in today’s world, many CMO’s are running around at a frantic pace; thus, they could benefit by having a service provider offer some consultation and suggestions. If you do find yourself in that position, here are 4 steps that could help you develop and/or analyze a marketing strategy for your clients:

• Describe the Business: This sounds simple, but it’s crucial. It may help you to define key characteristics that affect branding and messaging.
• Define the Goal: The goal will help us to avoid using a new tool or tactic simply because it’s new. Rather, it will help us to ensure that the reasons we decide to do (or not do) something are done for a reason.
• Understand Who the Audience is And Where They Are: Think about QR Codes for a second. If your client is going to be placing print advertisements inside of a subway station where there is no cell service, do QR Codes really make sense? Or, if you are going to send information that is highly sensitive or private in nature, will a personalized URL actually cause people to not respond?
• How Will You Measure Success?: As a service provider, we may be constantly looking for ways to demonstrate and prove our value. However, in the rush to incorporate a new tactic, we may overlook what steps are necessary to help us measure the effectiveness of a specific tactic. By answering this question ahead of time, we will increase our chances of being able to present valuable data to our customers during the marketing campaign.

These are just a few of the questions that can help us to develop and deliver solutions that increase our revenue now and in the future. I hope that you find them find helpful! Yes, there will be always be new tactics that catch our attention, create some buzz, and get us excited (me included!). But no matter what the tactics are, having the right strategy will help to put us on the right path.

As QR codes go mainstream, we’re starting to see more and more data on their adoption and use. I love data. So that’s a good thing for me.

The most recent set I’ve seen come from ScanLife, which offers its own platform for 2D barcodes. According to its Q2 2011 Trend Report, 2D barcode generation is up 300% from one year ago, and scans of its codes are up from an average of 10 scans per minute to 60 scans per minute.

What are the top verticals? Retail, wireless, magazine editorial, entertainment, and consumer packaged goods — in that order.

In terms of product categories where these codes are most used . . .

• Food and drink — 35%
• Health & beauty — 18%
• Books — 13%
• DVDs — 12%
• Electronics — 10%
• Toys — 5%
• Games — 4%
• Office products — 3%

According to the ScanLife data, more than 400,000 unique UPC codes, or products, were scanned in a single month. The number of scans per user (3.2) shows the diversity of products being scanned.

What are people looking for?

• Online prices — 61%
• Get coupons — 17%
• Get local prices — 4%
• Product details — 16%
• Product reviews — 3%

These data clearly show that QR codes are being incorporated into the regular lifestyle of mobile users. Particularly if you have clients in the categories mentioned here, you’d better be paying attention.

Want more about data? Download the free InfoTrends white paper entitled “Data Driven Marketing… It Requires a Desire to Act!”

We talk about the great uses of QR codes, but have you thought about using them on coffee mugs? There was a recent discussion in an industry discussion group that discussed the challenges and opportunities associated with this application.

The challenge is the curvature of the cup. QR codes are designed to be scanned flat (hence why, for magazine advertisements, you have to keep them out of the gutter).  QR code scanning software is not designed to correct for distortion.

Among the options:

1. Shrink the code so that there is minimal curvature.

2. ‘Squeeze’ the QR code. Keep the height but reduce the width. One participant suggested that the width should be shrunk around one third.

3. Use a higher level of error correction (say 25%).

4. Keep the information in the code to an absolute minimum. Use URL shorteners to simplify the code.

5. Put the QR code on the inside bottom.

6. The reflectivity of the mug surface can drastically reduce the contrast. Use a matte finish on the cup to improve readability.

QR codes are successfully being used on a variety of beverage containers, including wine bottles, Pepsi and Coke bottles, and many others. It can be done. Just keep it simple.

If you’ve been paying attention to our blog – or to the world of print around you – then by now you are very familiar with QR codes and how they are being integrated into print almost everywhere. With an increased use of smart phones and the general public’s want of information hear and now, it’s no wonder these have become high profile marketing tools. But did you know that even the United States Postal Service has taken notice of these fabulous barcodes?

Well, they have. So much so that the USPS is offering a promotion on all mail pieces containing barcodes. Between July 1^st and August 31^st, the USPS is offering a 3% discount to all mailers who include 2D barcodes on their mailings. According to the factsheet, all companies, including Mail Service Providers, who mail using a permit imprint and submit their mailing documentation electronically, are eligible to participate.

This seems like more evidence that there is opportunity for print to thrive in the digital age. In this case specifically, we see how the digital aspect of the QR code actually makes print items more popular and increases demand for printed items with this digital functionality. Utilizing these codes for direct mail can improve the quality of your mail piece while allowing you to better reach internet-savvy consumers. It can also add a much needed spark in the mailing industry – a fact which the USPS seems to have noticed.

I recently read a blog post about someone’s positive experience with QR codes in Home Depot. He was thrilled that while shopping in the store’s garden center he was able to scan QR codes to find out more about how to plant and take care of plants, trees, vegetables, and fruit. He was over the moon about it. Me? Not so much.

Lowe’s is doing something similar, and I, too, scan the code during my shopping trip. But unlike this writer, who apparently makes shopping decisions based on planting instructions, I scanned the code because I was hoping to see the bush I was thinking about buying in full bloom at full size. I wanted to see what — after it was planted — it would look like.

As in Home Depot, what I got was lots of planting instructions and plant care. I appreciated the effort, but that’s not the kind of information I need. I need to see what the bush actually looks like. Not just the little square showing the flowers in bloom they have on the tag. I want to see the entire plant in a landscape somewhere.

After all, I’m not planting the bush in the store. I’m making a buying decision.

When we talk to our customers about QR codes, it’s important to talk to them about why someone would scan the code. It’s not all about benefits to the marketer. It’s about benefits to the person using the code— at the moment they are most likely to be scanning the code (like standing in the aisle surrounded by perennials in the Lowe’s garden center).

For that, you have to get inside their minds.  It’s not, “What can we put on there that’s cool?” It’s what does that person who is scanning the code need at that exact moment? What type of information would exceed their expectations at the moment they scan the code?

That’s marketing — and if they want to be successful using QR codes, those are the kinds of questions we should be encouraging marketers to ask.

I’ve been posting about QR codes in Digital Nirvana for about a year now, and whether in comments to my posts or in industry discussion groups, I continue to be amazed how often people question whether QR codes are just a lot of hype. QR codes are just a gimmick, aren’t they? Well, the data says, “Not so!”

According to MGH’s QR Code Usage and Interest Survey:

• 65% of people have seen a QR code.
• Of these, 49% have scanned them.

According to Mobio’s “The Naked Facts” (based on data pulled directly from the company’s servers July – December 2010):

• QR code scanning is up 1200%.
• 62% of QR users have scanned codes multiple times.

This is not a fad. QR code use is part of a growing trend of consumers using their phones to interact with their environments, including print. Mobile is becoming one of the most important methods of communication in both B2B and B2C environments.

As I said in an interview with Dr. Joe, the mechanics may ultimately change, but whether it’s a QR code or some other technology, the dynamics of using mobile phones to interact with printed materials and environments is here to stay. Naysayers had better get used to the idea.

You may have noticed that more and more URLs are being shortened with bit.ly. If you’re still using TinyURL or other non-trackable shortener, you’ll want to check this out. Not just for your email marketing, social media, and e-newsletter efforts, but also for creating QR codes to add to print.

Log into bit.ly and put the URL into the box. Hit “shorten” or, better yet, “shorten and share.” The “share” option allows you to automatically post the shortened URL to your Facebook profile or Twitter account. Built in social media marketing!

Now sit back and watch. Bit.ly not only shortens and posts to social media, but it also tracks. It provides you with the number of clicks to each link, when those clicks occurred, and where they came from. It gives you referring sites and the countries where the clicks came from. On the reports page, there is also a QR code you can download to add to blog posts, email, print, or any other marketing medium you might be using. It’s all free.  (Google offers goo.gl, a trackable shortener, too.)

For my previous Digital Nirvana post on mobile websites, I created QR codes for readers to check out the differences between traditional and mobile sites themselves. I used bit.ly to do it. Not only did I add the QR codes to my post, but I also used bit.ly to share the mobile link on my Facebook profile and my Twitter account. By the time I uploaded the post (about 40 minutes later), bit.ly told me that I had 5 clicks already — 40% direct, 40% Twitter, 20% from Facebook — from two different countries. Not from the post itself (since it was scheduled for two days later) but from my social media connections.

As John Foley of interlinkONE / GrowSocially likes to say,

“In marketing, if you can’t measure it, don’t do it.”

Bit.ly is a powerful tool that allows you to measure the success of your marketing efforts. Instantly, you know what’s working, what’s not, and what’s working better than something else. Not only this, but it has sales implications, too. Imagine the value to clients in saying, “Sure, you can create your own codes for free, but we’ll create them for you and provide you with tracking and results measurement.” It’s a powerful value-add.

It’s a great tool that doesn’t cost you a dime!

I don’t know what form QR codes are going to take in the next 5-10 years, but I’ve decided that — until something else replaces them — they’re the real deal.

Forget the clumsy YouTube videos of how hard they are to use. I’ve seen those videos, and there was a time they represented the real user experience. Not anymore. I take out my iPhone, launch i-nigma, hold the phone over the code, and before I’ve even got it centered, the browser has launched. I’ve scanned pretty much everything that’s come across my path lately, and only problem I’ve had is when they link to larger videos that take forever to play on my 3G phone.

In case you’re wondering which of your competitors are inundating me with these codes, I would venture to say almost none. I’ve been scanning QR codes on my direct mail here at the house, most of which is consumer mail. Here in the Pennsylvania heartland, I have trouble finding QR codes out in “real life,” but fortunately, they come to me in my mailbox.

But the codes I’ve been most impressed with are not from my mailbox. They are in the field and have some kind of really functional purpose. One of my favorites is the QR codes now being put on building permits in New York City. You walk by, and if you want to know what’s going on, you snap the code and find out. You aren’t going to type in something like www.newyorkstate.gov/housingdepartment/newyorkcity/2011buildingpermits/hotshotbuilders/project102938484747474747. You’ll snap the code and be taken directly to the permit.

Other personal faves (from a functionality standpoint) are codes designed to take you to pages where you can download apps for your phone. Like the Sherwin Williams Blackberry app that allows users to capture real world colors on their cellphones and then mix up a paint to match.

Marketers using QR codes are already moving quickly past novelty to real functionality. Even in the past three or four months, I’m seeing widerspread adoption and greater functionality. Marketers are figuring this thing out — quickly.

There has been a lot of discussion in this industry about the value of QR codes on mail that goes into the home. Why would people scan QR codes when there is a home computer available? I’ve cited a number of case studies that show that, in fact, the data do support the fact that people will snap QR codes even when another computer is available. I’ve had rotten tomatoes thrown at me for saying so, too.

Yesterday, I had something fun happen to me. I got a QR code in the mail. Well, to be more accurate, I got it the day before, but I didn’t look at it until the next morning. I’d dropped the mail on the counter and ignored it until the next day when I was making coffee and getting the children ready for school. As I was waiting for the toast to pop, I was getting around to what I should have done yesterday.

There it was — a well executed QR code campaign. It had all the elements that make QR codes work. The code was not over-crowded, it had nice clean white space around it, and the marketer had designed a large arrow to point from the code to an image of a cellphone with an image from the video to which viewers would be taken. The QR code even had instructions below it, including a URL where those without a reader could download one.

The mailer was from Samaritan’s Purse, which runs Operation Christmas Child, which distributes Christmas boxes to needy children around the world. The campaign was well done, and sure enough, it made me want to snap the code so that I could view the video.

I stood there, coffee in hand, and was hit on a personal level with the value of QR codes, even for home-based direct mail. I work from a home office, but what if I had been on my way out to work? How many millions of people read their mail as they are waiting for the coffee pot before running out the door? They might not have the time or attention span to go to the link or view the video right then, but they want to view the content and know that, at some point before they get to their desks, they will.

If I had been on my way out to work, there is little chance that I would ever have seen the video if I’d waited to log in at home. By the time I got home, I’d have forgotten about it, someone would have thrown the envelope away, or I just know myself, it could sit there for six months and I’d never get around to it. But put it on my phone. . .

So this post is for the nay-sayers who threw tomatoes at me for my post, “It’s Official! People Snap QR Codes Even When a Computer Is Available.”

One of the questions often asked about QR codes if whether people will read them at home or in their offices where their computer is available. Desktop computers have larger, easier-to-read screens, so it makes sense that people would prefer their computers over snapping the QR code to view content with their cellphones.

Except that isn’t what’s happening.

Case study to case study, we see that from 65% to 70% of people who respond to campaigns with a QR code use the QR code even when they are in the presence of a desktop computer.

Just this morning, I released “QR Codes: What You Need to Know,” a 40-page report on the technology, use, and best practices of QR codes. In it, there are three case studies that specifically tracked QR code use in the presence of a home or office computer. Overwhelmingly, people chose the code.

It’s why QR codes are showing up on everything, including email and webpages.

What’s the reason? Is it because it’s faster than typing in? The QR code option stores the information on their phones? They’re heading out the door and don’t want to be tied to the chair? They want to test the code? Maybe they have just become so accustomed to use their phones for everything that it’s compulsion.

Whatever the reason, this appears to be a well-established trend. When given a choice, people are choosing to snap QR codes over typing in URLs at least two-thirds of the time.