Joe Waters

Step by Step / Updated 03-30-2017

A generator site is where you can create and design your very own QR Code. Most QR Code generators come with tracking tools. Sometimes they’re free, but sometimes not. Make sure to check your generator for analytics before you create and use a QR Code in a campaign. One of the good QR Code–management systems is uQR.me. You can purchase the Campaigns account (for $50 per year) and pay just $1 per QR Code. Many other QR Code–tracking services have similar management systems that give the same data and work the same way as uQR.me. An example would be delivr.com, a free QR Code generator and tracker. After you create and use a QR Code, visit uQR.me, log in, pick the QR Code you want statistics for, and complete these steps:

Cheat Sheet / Updated 03-27-2016

Cause marketing is a partnership between a nonprofit and a for-profit for mutual profit. The profit in cause marketing comes in two forms. For the nonprofit, the profit is money and branding/visibility. For the for-profit, the profit is greater favorability with consumers and, potentially, increased sales. The premise is a simple one. Consumers buy from companies they like and respect. Cause marketing is a conduit to earning their favor.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

After you create a QR Code, you want to test it before you use it in a marketing campaign, to make sure it’s working. Here are some suggestions for testing your QR Code to make sure it works in the real world. Scan the QR Code in different lighting. If it doesn’t work, you can increase the contrast of the code (a darker color on a lighter background if you started with something lighter than a black code on a white background) or you can take steps to make sure it’s displayed in an area with the right amount of light. Try it out on multiple devices. Scan the code with as many different types of devices — old and new — and QR Code readers as possible to make sure it works. Test the code at the distance it will be scanned by people. Sure, the code works correctly when you scan it on the table in your office. But what about when the QR Code is on a billboard and hundreds of yards from where people will scan it? Will it work then? Test Internet access in that area. Make sure people have Internet access at the very spot at which the code will be scanned. Everyone knows how temperamental mobile and Wi-Fi service can be — one spot might be a dead zone, but ten feet away you might have coverage. It’s frustrating but a reality you need to prepare for. Giving people a QR Code with no Internet connection is like giving them a car with no wheels. Using a QR Code at a trade show is a great idea, but not when it’s in that part of the exhibit hall that has a notoriously bad Internet connection. You won’t know until you try to scan the QR Code at the very spot others will be scanning it. The bottom line is test, test, test as closely as possible to where, when, and how regular people with ordinary technology will be scanning the QR Code.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

Sometimes your QR Code reader won’t read the code, or the reader will just keep working like it’s trying to do something but won’t. Or it will take you to the wrong page or an error page. Here are the first things you should check if this happens: Are you scanning a QR Code or a barcode? It sounds silly, but people try all the time to scan a regular barcode with a QR Code reader. The good news is that a lot of QR Code readers also read barcodes. But not all do, so this may be your problem. Don’t forget what a QR Code looks like: small squares within a larger square on a white or light background. Is your device connected to the Internet? QR Codes link the offline world with online content, so being connected to the Internet is kind of important. If you’re not on a network (such as AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and so on) you need to be in a hotspot, a location with Wi-Fi. Even if you are, make sure you’ve enabled your Wi-Fi in your device’s settings so it can find and connect with the network. Are you too close to or too far away from the QR Code? Most readers indicate a sweet spot, so to speak, within which your code can be scanned. Make sure the QR Code is within that area. Is the QR Code blurry? Make sure it appears clearly within the screen by moving your device back or forth to adjust the focus. Is the problem the QR Code or your reader? Try scanning a different QR Code. If your reader works, the problem probably lies with the QR Code. Did the reader not scan a second code? Try deleting the QR Code reader from your device and reinstalling it, or try a different reader.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

You can easily find a QR Code generator online or in your device’s app store. Many readers are also generators. Regardless of whether you’re creating a QR Code online or with a mobile app, consider these features when choosing a free or paid generator: It creates a QR Code in a minute or less. The goal is to have you use QR Codes in several different ways, but you can’t if you can’t create one on the fly. The generator you use, regardless of all the extra features it comes with, should allow you to create a QR Code in under a minute. It produces a QR Code in a standard size. Some generators, especially those found online, generate larger QR Codes when long URLs are inputted. But large, unwieldy QR Codes aren’t practical or attractive. Stick with those generators that produce a standard-size QR Code with the option of making it smaller or bigger based on your needs, not on the size of your URL. In general, use shortened URLs with your QR Code. Your QR Codes will be less dense, scan more quickly, and will be less likely to fail. Most generators can shorten URLs for you, or you can shorten them yourself at www.tinyurl.com, Goo.gl, www.bitly.com, and many other sites. Just type shorten my URL into your preferred search engine. It gives you the flexibility to redirect the QR Code to a different destination whenever you want. Some generators allow you to create a QR Code, but then you can’t change what it links to unless you create another code. What a pain. Avoid an awkward conversation with your boss and choose a generator that allows you to change the URL without changing the code itself. It doesn’t limit your QR Code campaigns to URLs. Maybe you want a QR Code that dials a phone number, passes on contact information, opens an e-mail, or links to a map. Pick a generator that gives you the flexibility to choose what the code links to. It gives you a way to track the QR Code. At a minimum, the generator should track the number of times the QR Code was scanned. This is a key data point in measuring the success of the code.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

Once you have a QR Code reader installed on your smartphone, you’re ready to scan your first QR Code. Doing so is very easy. Just follow these simple steps. Open the QR Code reader on your phone. Hold your device over a QR Code so that it’s clearly visible within your smartphone’s screen. Two things can happen when you correctly hold your smartphone over a QR Code. The phone automatically scans the code. On some readers, you have to press a button to snap a picture, not unlike the button on your smartphone camera. If necessary, press the button. Presto! Your smartphone reads the code and navigates to the intended destination, which doesn’t happen instantly. It may take a few seconds on most devices. You will begin to see QR codes all over the place. They are used to educate, inform, explain, and for many other reasons. Watch for them and have your QR Code reader handy! Once you get the hang of it, QR Codes will save you a lot of time and effort.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

The fact that QR Codes are so cheap and easy to make, and that consumers are so eager to scan them to see what they reveal, makes a QR Code a good tool for cybercriminals. Think about it: Scanning a QR Code poses a lot of the same threats as opening a dubious web page without any of the warnings that generally come with the latter. One advantage of opening web pages is that you can see the link you’re opening, and if it doesn’t look right, you can pass on clicking it. That’s not true with QR Codes. You just point and scan and don’t really think about the risks. The threat is that the QR Code could have a malicious URL embedded in it that takes you to site malware — short for malicious software — that can be, unbeknownst to you, installed on your mobile device. Malware can comprise your device’s software and share sensitive information with cybercriminals. Some of the ways that malware poses a threat to you include: Making your calendar, contacts, and even credit card information available to criminals Stealing your Facebook, Google, and other passwords and posting without your knowledge or permission Tracking your location for criminal purposes Infecting your device with malware that can disable it The security and privacy threats QR Codes pose are real. Fortunately, documented cases of abuse are low, as QR Codes are just beginning to catch on with consumers. As interest in them grows, QR Codes could become a favorite for cybercriminals bent on exploiting unsuspecting users. This all sounds dire, for sure, but you use your computer every day where the virus threat is probably a hundred-fold greater. It doesn’t stop you from going online, nor should the risks of scanning QR Codes stop you either. Why let the cybercriminals win! The key is to do what you should do when faced with risks: Take precautions.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

To understand the present utility of QR Codes, you have to at least be aware of what the future might hold. Here are six alternatives to QR Codes that could either compete with code technology or replace it altogether. Microsoft Tag is most like a QR Code Microsoft Tag is probably the most similar to QR Codes. Like QR Codes. Tag is a type of bar code that when scanned by a Tag reader links the user to online content. Some of the advantages of Microsoft Tag include these: They’re faster than QR Codes. You can store more data on a Tag than you can a QR Code. You can make them as small as 3⁄4 inch. Generally, QR Codes should be one square inch or larger. But Microsoft Tag has one big drawback: You can read them only with a Microsoft Tag reader, which may be acceptable if Microsoft mobile devices were as popular as iPhone, Android, and BlackBerry, but Microsoft devices command less than five percent of the market. Google Goggles searches based on a picture Google Goggles is like regular Google search, but instead of inputting words to search, you open an app on your mobile device, take a picture, and search on the image. For example, if you take a picture of Fenway Park, where the baseball team the Boston Red Sox play, it brings up search results related to the park, its history, and other relevant facts. Google Goggles is interesting and useful, but the technology is new and it doesn’t work on everything — yet. Also, in most instances, snapping a picture and searching on it takes you to search results, not a specific web page or destination. Augmented reality converges online and offline It’s accepted that augmented reality is very, very cool. QR Codes connect the offline and online worlds, but augmented reality overlays the real world with digital content. Augmented reality is a live, direct or indirect, view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented by computer-generated sound, video, graphics or GPS data. With augmented reality, you can let potential real estate buyers see the inside of a building from the sidewalk using their smartphones. They just align the screen of their phone with the building, as if they were taking a picture or recording video and digital data overlays the image, showing what’s inside. This informational video from Layar, a company pioneering this technology, shows some of the incredible uses of augmented reality. Scan this QR Code with a reader to see augmented reality in action. Near field communication for device-to-device connections Near field communication (or NFC) involves a mobile device and an NFC chip. When the device is placed close to the chip, which can be placed in many things, including another phone, it prompts the device to take a specific action (such as open a web page, dial a phone number, share a picture or video, and so on). NFC between two devices works similar to the Bump app you might have used on your smartphone to exchange contact information. Although Bump uses different technology, the swap is initiated by two enabled devices “bumping” together for a just a second or two. NFC is very easy to use. Just put your smartphone near an NFC chip and you’re done. No scanning, no reader, no holding up your phone. You don’t even need to physically “bump” the devices. One of the challenges of NFC, however, is that an NFC chip can’t be put in a magazine ad, business card, or anything else printed. Using a QR Code is much easier.