Billboard advertising is a part of print marketing that has been extensively used by marketers since the 18th century. Earlier, billboards were one of the easiest and quickest tools to attract the masses and share product information with them. However, these days, marketers face three major challenges with billboards: They contain static information, limited space for information sharing, and of course, penetration of several digital mediums that make our marketing streamlined. Placing QR codes on billboards can help to overcome the challenges of traditional billboards.
QR Codes on billboards
Nevertheless, billboards still play a humongous role in marketing products and services, and therefore, to make sure the customers are able to connect with brands’ physical and digital worlds, marketers have started including QR Codes in their outbound marketing strategies, such as billboards.
QR Code is the aptest tool to make your customers become a part of both marketing campaigns – inbound and outbound. And, with the introduction of smartphone camera scanners, QR Codes as a part of your marketing campaign is quite possible now.
QR Codes (Quick Response Codes) have the ability to store photos, website URL, social media accounts, videos, texts, contact details, documents, and other digital links inside them. QR Codes are quite popular in countries like Japan, China, India, Australia, and the US, the Middle East, and the UK. They are used by almost all the industries, but prominently in healthcare, retail, education, and advertising.
QR Codes on billboards – A great way to catch customers’ attention
Since billboards have a widespread application, you can print QR Codes on them and place them on trams, metro, taxis, buses, trains, and other public transports, as well as on scaffolding tarpaulins, buildings, and advertising spaces.
The only aspect you must keep in mind is that the QR Codes printed on the billboards must be big enough to catch users’ attention and scannable enough regardless of the long distance between the users’ camera and the billboard.
Remember that your customers are not always in the vicinity of your advertising billboard. Most times, billboards are placed at places that catch the attention of a passerby. Therefore, your QR Code on a billboard should be scannable in all possible angles and most convenient distances.
To achieve this, you must generate a billboard QR Code using a QR code generator, such as QR Code Chimp, that employs a tried and tested formula, and guarantees that your customers will be able to scan the QR Code on the distant billboard.
Few ways you can use QR Codes on billboards
A well-designed QR Code can be used to let potential customers know many things about your business. It could also be an important strategy to retain loyal customers.
Here are a few useful ways to use QR Codes on billboards:
Use as store navigation to drive more footfall
You can add your store’s location or direction in case you are opening something new or at a new place. This will help you to receive more visitors who got the right direction beforehand. When users scan the QR Code, they would be directed to their Google Maps app with directions of your new store location. This saves hunting time considerably.
Sales and promotional offer announcements
Billboards are a great way to announce festive offers, seasonal sales, and heavy discounts. You can use your QR Code to guide your users to the right page for buying the products with discounted prices. If customers are able to retain the information, their chances of returning to you will increase. They will be able to bookmark the link to the festive sale, go back home, and browse and purchase things at their convenient time. You can also provide a calendar event link for future exhibition and sales fair.
Boost your online traffic
Billboards usually contain static, unchangeable information. But, what if you have more to add and more to show every day? Designing a new billboard for each addition will not justify your creativity, and spending on a new billboard with a fresh advertisement campaign is pointless and expensive. However, with the help of the QR Code on the billboard, you can show customers what you are doing and share links to your latest work. For instance, wedding photographers can add QR Codes containing links of their most recent photo gallery; online retail stores can add a link to their eCommerce product page; online companies can share the link of their product and services web pages, and influencers can share their social media pages.
Offer 24/7 support
Most billboards fail to attract people these days, for they don’t offer helpful information. With the help of QR Codes, brands can actually provide crucial information and support that a billboard or even at times a website does not do. For instance, the local traffic law can add their new traffic guidelines through a downloadable PDF QR Code on their advertising billboard; a school or university can add a link of application form on their billboard or a health care provider can add a link to their emergency ward contact number in their QR Code.
QR Codes can generate traffic in several ways. All the user has to do is point their camera at the QR Code.
QRcodeChimp has made it easy for marketers to generate code for their branding and advertising strategy. All you have to do is choose the type of QR Code, enter the information, select between static and dynamic code, customize it according to your business, test it, and generate it. You can get your QR Code in PNG, SVG, and EPS formats.
The best part of generating a QR Code is that you can change its contents at the backend without developing new code. For instance, you can add more products to your sales page, or change the guidelines of the PDF document and not worry about generating a brand new code for the changes made.
While generating your brand’s billboard QR Code, just remember two things: the QR Code should be big enough not to get lost in your billboard (don’t forget to add a clear description) and test your QR Code before you mass-produce them for your billboard.
