When the pandemic changed our daily lives, QR codes quickly became the norm going beyond direct mail into every conceivable channel right into our living rooms via— you guessed it— television.
Like many broadcasters, JTV wanted to jump on the trend, so the marketing and technical teams started out like many companies do. They found a low-cost QR code generator, entered a URL, created a QR code and then placed it on air. Easy right?
The results were disappointing. The team saw very few scans, which was surprising. Did the low scan rate mean viewers didn’t scan the code? Or did they try scanning, and it didn’t work? A QR code fail would not only be frustrating and result in a lost sale, but it would also reflect poorly on the brand. It was not clear to the team.
The first thing that came to mind was the QR itself. Perhaps it wasn’t working because of the distance from which JTV customers would try to scan (e.g. from across the room, from their couch). What was also unclear was if JTV’s average viewer used older devices with lower camera resolution. How would that affect their ability to scan the QR code? Another consideration was the hosting domain of the low cost QR code generator. Not only was the 3rd party domain unfamiliar to viewers, it was distracting to the brand experience. Perhaps upon scanning the QR code and seeing this 3rd party QR domain, customers decided not to click.
After doing some research, the team concluded there was more to creating a successful high performing QR code strategy than they realized. They needed some expert advice on creating and optimizing QR codes for television and other channels.
The JTV team turned to URLgenius to begin a process of auditing JTV’s QR code usage and exploring strategies to increase performance. The team wanted to understand how QR codes could be used more effectively across channels in ways that included the company’s mobile apps for iOS and Android which catered to JTV’s most valuable and loyal customers.
After conducting an audit of their QR execution, URLgenius identified key performance opportunities around QR link branding, on-screen display size, QR density, and call-to-action.
With URLgenius guidance, the JTV team created a new, optimized QR code for their live Mother’s Day broadcast which included a branded QR link that uses the JTV domain. Some of the adjustments made to improve performance of the QR code included:
The new URLgenius QR codes delivered five times more scans than the previous QR code technology used. QR scanning was measured in a way that could be attributed directly to sales and increased product engagement.
The dramatic increase in scans with URLgenius made us view QR codes in a much more strategic way. Not just a shortcut, they act as a key that lets consumers unlock the value of the JTV brand. We’re just scratching the surface of what we can do with QR experiences, but we’re already seeing the results. – Vice President of Marketing at JTV
JTV was also delighted to discover that increased QR performance unlocked new cost savings. Their web analytics already showed a link between customers seeing a product on-air and performing mobile searches for keywords like “JTV” or for the promoted product. By providing viewers with an immediately shoppable, and more easily scannable QR code, JTV avoided tens of thousands of dollars in search engine marketing costs that normally would have been incurred by their own broadcast. Just as importantly, the on-air QR codes also meant JTV customers now avoided seeing competitor search ads, further increasing their sales and customer retention.
The QR code campaign for Mother’s Day was so successful the team is now considering many other ways to design content experiences that will drive loyalty and consumer engagement along with rich first-party data for remarketing. Key plans include QR codes for personalized direct mail, email, phone calls, and SMS text messaging. In addition, the company plans to use QR codes to increase app installs and app re-engagement.
URLgenius Enterprise QR codes have created an entirely new marketing channel for JTV that will dramatically increase customer engagement and loyalty while not compromising the company’s brand consumer data. It’s a solid gold strategy.
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Deep Linking, Deep Linking Analytics, Mobilize Blog, QR Codes
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