Emily Williams
Published: 07/11/2012
Posted by: RET Staff

Eric Holtzclaw of Inc. Magazine (Inc.com) thinks you shouldn't bother with QR codes. In his article, he provides five points to support this position. Is he right? Well, it took us only seconds to come up with counter-arguments to his objections. We'll provide both perspectives here, but the only person who can truly determine whether or not QR codes are "worth it" is YOU. Please comment below and share your perspective with other agents and brokers.

Objection 1: People don't know what they are.

According to Holtzclaw, "97% of consumers don't know what a QR code is." Whether or not this is true, it's certainly changing. Awareness of QR codes is steadily growing. According to an article on MarketingCharts.com, QR Code scans were up 157% in Q1 2012 from Q1 2011.

Objection 2: They're too much work for consumers.

Holtzclaw argues that, in order to use a QR code, consumers must find an app, download the app, take a picture of the code, and then (once they've made it to the destination of the QR code) dig around the site to find what they're looking for. What he fails to mention is that:

• The selection of a QR-reader app and downloading the app only needs to happen once – not every time someone wants to scan a QR code – and only takes a few moments.
• Most QR-reader apps (including the one I use) do not require the user to take a picture of the QR code; instead, you simply open the app and hold your phone's camera over the QR code and the app automatically scans it.
• A smart mobile marketer knows how to choose a strategic destination for their QR codes – whether it's creating a designated landing page or wisely choosing an existing page from their website. Although the burden is on you to give the consumer what they want without them having to dig, this is far from impossible to do.

At the root of being a consumer is being a shopper. When consumers recognize that they can get more detailed information about a product or service by using a QR code, many will try it if only to satisfy their curiosity.