Top Three QR Code Myths We Hope We’d Never Hear Again!

Over the years, we have talked to businesses about QR codes and how it would benefit their marketing campaigns.  It used to be that we had to explain what a QR code is, what it does and how it fits into their marketing campaigns.

It has gotten so that we created a FAQ for this.

QR codes have gained mainstream prominence, with more and more people scanning it and more brands using it.  Just search for QR code on Google and you would finds lots of pages, news stories, articles, press releases and companies dedicated to it.  But still, we are hearing a lot of things about the QR code that is simply not true.

Here are three myths about QR codes that we simply can’t stand hearing again.

1. QR codes are expensive to use.  We at BeQRious.com really do not know where this comes from.  With a myriad of services offering QR code generation services for free including our very own QR code generator, a lot of people still think that QR codes are expensive to use.  The truth is, all it takes is a few seconds of your time, inputting your URL or text and voila, you have a QR code to use.  For free, forever.

What’s more, incorporating them into your marketing materials does not require a big investment.  You can print your QR code on stickers and stick them on your existing flyers, business cards or brochures.  Or you could easily incorporate the QR code into the marketing collaterals you are going to print.  It can be as small as 1 inch on all sides and it will still be scannable.

2. QR codes = fad.  A lot of new technologies come and go.  We remember when Twitter was new, a lot of naysayers predicted that it would go away in less than a year.  It came out at a time when blogging was hot, and here was a service that broadcasted your thoughts in 140 characters or less.  It seemed that for the blog crazy world, 140 characters will just not cut it.  But Twitter stayed for two reasons.  It addressed a need for people to connect in a convenient and fast way.  It was also continually improved on.

And this is where QR codes rule.  QR codes addresses the needs of both marketers to put out and customers to access more information.  In this information-hungry world, QR codes acts as a bridge for both the online and the offline world. 

Plus with various companies coming up with innovative ideas on how to use the QR code, you could very well see how marketers and brands are streamlining its use in the future.

3. Consumers cannot or are not going to scan QR codes.  Well, this is not exactly a myth, but if you take it on a general sense, then it is downright wrong. 

For one, we are sure that a well thought out and well-planned QR code campaign would surely bring in customers and potential clients.  You just have to give them some sort of benefit that they could use when they scan your QR code.  As such, you need to think more about the content you are going to offer behind these codes.

As for the first part, that consumers CANNOT scan these codes, well think again.  For one, the use of smartphones is on the rise, plus mobile broadband is getting speedier and improved on worldwide.  What’s more, QR code scanner applications come free and sometimes pre-installed on these smartphones.

It’s just going to be a matter of time before we see QR code scanning become an everyday part of daily life.