Create a QR code for your link page and choose where to use it

A QR code lets someone standing in front of you open your link page on their phone. It sounds like a small step, but it can turn a trade-show conversation into an email address on your list.

Most business owners generate a free code, print it and never look at it again. That is a pity. Connect it to a campaign link and you can see what your flyer, packaging or trade-show stand brought in. Here is how to make one, where to put it and how to measure what happens.

What a QR code actually does

A QR code is a web address in an image. Someone holds their camera up to it and the phone opens that address. Every phone in recent years does this in the standard camera, so there is no need for an app anymore.

That makes it suitable for any place where someone sees you without being on their phone: a shop window, a flyer, a packaging, a presentation, an order form.

How to create a QR code for your link page

You have two paths. The first is a free code generator on the internet: you paste your address in, you get a picture back. Works fine and you know nothing about who scanned it.

The second option is a QR code connected to your link page. In Findori Links, you create a link for each campaign and get a QR code for it. When someone scans it, you can see the visit, sign-ups and orders attributed to that campaign.

This is how you proceed:

1. Create a campaign link with a name you recognize, for example “October fair flyer”.
2. Download the corresponding QR code.
3. Put it in your design, at least two by two centimeters for something you hold in your hand and much larger for a window or a banner.
4. Write in plain language what someone gets: “scan for the free workbook” works, a code without text does not.
5. Scan it yourself with two different phones before having it printed.

Twelve places where a QR code works

For a shop or maker

• On the receipt or order form, with “scan for 10% on your next order”.
• In the package you send, on a card.
• On the packaging or label of your product.
• In the shop window, large enough to scan from the sidewalk.

For a trainer, coach or speaker

• On your last slide, with your giveaway behind it. This is the best place there is, because the whole room has just listened to you for an hour.
• On the worksheet you hand out.
• On your business card, instead of a telephone number.
• On the flipchart during the break.

For a trade fair or event

• On your exhibition stand, at eye level.
• On a team member’s T-shirt at an event.
• On table cards at a lunch or dinner.
• On the flyer you hand out, with its own campaign link per event.

Why you want your own code for each location

This is where the profit lies. If you create one code for everything, then at the end of the year you will know that there were two hundred scans and not where they came from.

If you create your own campaign link per location, you will see that your last slide attracted thirty sign-ups, your flyer four and your shop window nothing. Then you know where your printing and your time go. That works the same as with your social channels, as I explain at statistics and optimization.

What should be behind the code

Someone scanning your code is already holding their phone and may give you only twenty seconds. They expect to find the promise printed beside the code. So put

at the top of your link page exactly that: the workbook, the discount, the sign-up. And let the next step happen on the page itself, with a form or a buy button. A code that ends up on a homepage with a menu is a missed opportunity that you had printed.

If you use the code for one event, you can make the top block on your page special for it and then remove it again.

An example from a live event

I give training and there is a code on my last slide. I used to have my web address there and tell people to look it up. Almost no one did that, because on the train your enthusiasm from an hour earlier has already subsided.

This is done in the room itself with a code. I leave the slide during the last questions and say once what is behind it. Phones ring up while I’m still talking.

The difference is in the moment. A QR code works where the attention already is and that is almost never behind a computer. So find the moments when people look at you and hang your code there.

What to pay attention to when printing

• Size. Use at least 2 × 2 cm on a handout and 10 cm or more on a banner or window. Test it at the distance from which people will scan it.
• Contrast. Dark code on a light background. Conversely, it works worse with many cameras.
• Space around it. Leave a white border of half a centimeter, otherwise the camera will not read the borders.
• No logo inside. A logo in the centre can make a code harder to scan. Put your logo beside it instead.
• Test after printing. Scan the printed version, not just the file on your screen.

Frequently asked questions

Are QR codes free?

Creating a code costs nothing. What you pay for is the service surrounding it: a code that you can adjust without reprinting and that keeps track of what it yields. At Findori Links, campaign links with QR codes are included in the paid plans, see prices.

Can I change the address behind a code later?

That works best when the code points to an address you control. Use your own link page or campaign link rather than a temporary page you may later remove.

How many people really scan such a code?

That varies too much from place to place to give a number. What I see: a slide at the end of a presentation does much better than a flyer on a table, because those people have just looked at you for an hour. Measure it per spot and stop what doesn’t work.

Does a QR code also work in an email or on a website?

Not very useful, because someone can just click there. Keep the code for the physical world and use a link online.

What do I put next to the code?

One line with the promise and command: “Present scan for the free workbook.” Don’t include your web address, because then someone will type instead of scanning.