Jury's Still Out On QR Codes

You've seen them everywhere: In glossy magazines, plastered on the walls of a subway car, even in unexpected places. Laura Lee Jones, CEO of Lion Share Marketing, says she spotted one covering the back of a golf cart.

QR or "quick response" codes are the little black and white patterned squares (a 2D bar code) which can be scanned by a smartphone and link to a web page. And lately, they are shooting into the marketing world like fireworks on the fourth of July.

QR codes are a way to connect a print campaign with an online campaign, while tracking the results. A URL-shortener can shrink hyperlinks used to create the code, and the unique URL can then be tracked using analytics. According to ScanLife's 2010 Trend Report, mobile bar code scanning grew 1,600% in 2010.

QR codes are undeniably quirky and can spark curiosity – but are they effective marketing tools? At the Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development Annual conference in Phoenix last week, I attended a round table luncheon addressing the topic. Not everyone expressed confidence about this emerging marketing tool.

"All my clients want me to slap a QR code on a campaign, like a logo" said Carson Kraig designer/production manager at Obrien Marketing. "I'm skeptical if this is really working."

All six healthcare marketing professionals at my table were in the beginning stages of figuring out how to adapt QR codes to their needs. One of the features of QR codes is that they are easy to create. Websites such as Wasp Barcode Technologies allow users to  generate unique QR codes for free. Yes, I said the "F" word. The codes can be had for free and can be printed on nearly any surface and location such as---

• Newspapers
• TV ads
• Temporary tattoos
• Product packaging
• Clothing
•  Cake frosting

Sue-Ann M. Villano, Director CPMP Marketing, Communications & Practice Services, is testing out QR codes in a letter to 2,300 referring physicians this week. The letter includes a QR code linking to a website with a short survey.

"[The survey includes] referral guides which we have been producing for over 6 years in order to gather info about their likes, dislikes, and/or wants so that we can update them over the next year or consider just utilizing the online printable directory," Villano said in an email.

Villano has found positive results using QR codes for other communication engaging physicians, saying response rate was "through the roof." Though the codes are simple, the message needs to be well crafted. What will it link to? What's the message/end result? So what?

Another benefit of the codes is to provide cost savings relating to patient education. Instead of installing costly patient education kiosks, health leaders can provide QR codes in waiting rooms. Patients can then scan the codes to gain more information about a particular topic or procedure.

"Also, it's more private because you can view the information on your phone, without having to ask anyone," Jones says.

A potential downside to QR codes is usability. Knowing your demographic is important when deciding where and if to implement a QR code.

Not all people have smartphones and thus, do not have the ability to scan the code. Although 83% of Americans have a cell phone, only 35% of the population has a Smartphone, according to Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project. 

Bernie Schultz, senior marketing specialist for WI-based Monroe Clinic, knows that his patient demographic is mostly elderly patients who would see the print ad but most likely would not have the right technology to access the online portion.

If a healthcare facility is looking to use the QR code, it also must make sure that the linked website will be compatible with the mobile platform. Example: Is your website in flash? Then it will not work on a tablet PC. The user must also have a mobile app with the ability to scan the code; many of these apps are available for free.

Also, in order to scan the code, the smartphone must be placed close to the code in order to work correctly. Unscannable codes can kill and delay the adoption rate for 2D bar code campaigns. QR codes for billboard or bus campaigns are not practical because users will have difficulty scanning.

Because the idea is relatively new in the U.S., no one at the table had hard and fast evidence about QR code return on investment. 2-D bar codes have been popular in Asia for over a decade, originally designed by a Japanese company to read at a quicker speed than conventional barcodes.

The U.S. healthcare system is working on QR code catch up.

At the end of the round table discussion we handed around business cards to keep in touch. On the back of mine is a QR code. Need I say what happened next? My peers each pulled out their smart phones to test it out.

The person to my right had no problem scanning but the website took a while to load.

The person across from me scanned and could see the site without a problem.

That pretty much sums up the current state of QR codes. But stay abreast of these codes: they're here to stay.