I recently had the pleasure of speaking at the “Mobile Insider Summit”, a Scanbuy-sponsored event hosted by MediaPost. Having attended at least three or four times previously, I was prepared for a few quality days of discussing the many virtues of the mobile ecosystem.  As expected, there was an impressive line-up of panels with speakers who each had relevant insights to share.  However, what was most exciting to me was the common change of perception around QR Codes.  Of course I have a vested interest in QR, as the VP of Sales for Scanbuy, but similar to the rise and fall and rise again of the internet, QR Codes are experiencing an unprecedented renaissance. Over the years most brands, retailers and marketers have dabbled with QR Codes –just to see what they could do, but over the last few quarters they’ve embraced the technology to achieve more ambitious mobile marketing goals.

The underlying theme of this year’s Summit was CUSTOMER FIRST, and we were treated to some great examples of success.  Eric Weissberg, Executive Creative Director at JWT shared some terrific use cases including Macy’s use of QR within their red star logo. He said, “QR usually leads to crap on the back end”, but he believes they are very valuable if you use them properly.  Gary Shechner, Advertising and Marketing Manager for BP’s Arco AM/PM convenient stores shared a similar thought on QR.  In fact, he suggested QR has been very well received by his clients and has resulted in great success for his promotional campaigns. We heard similar stories from others including Melanie Allgood, Sr. Manager of Mobile for Autotrader, “consumers ability to scan a code on a car for information is the ultimate!”

Bon Mercado, Head of Mobile Solutions for Google kicked off and shared some incredible stats around mobile traffic to Google.  Only five years ago they saw 1% of traffic via a mobile device, today 13%!  This is overall traffic –which is amazing when you think of the billions of interactions Google sees daily.  With more and more interactions being executed via mobile each day, the need for marketers to deliver more personalized and relevant content is now expected by consumers.  When this mobile experience is done well, engagement increases, which in turn improves conversion–the Holy Grail.

At Scanbuy, we have spent the last few years in the market experiencing the “shiny object” effect to the “NFC will take over” effect. Now we are at a point where brands understand that there is a value and they are seeking the strategic advice to use QR Codes properly.  We are seeing this everyday with the clients that we work with.  Today, we have evolved our QR Code platform to a “Mobile Engagement Platform”, with the power to help our clients deliver personalized relevant content, regardless of the trigger (QR Codes, NFC, etc.) being used.  Circling back to the theme of the conference, CUSTOMER FIRST, there is no better way to achieve this then by delivering what they want, when they want it, and where they want it.  It was a great event and I look forward to attending it once again. The video below includes the presentation that I delivered at the Mobile Insider Summit.

Please send me an email at adam.gold@scanbuy.com if you’d like to discuss further. You can also watch a video of my presentation embedded below:

Video streaming by Ustream

For expert advice or questions on QR Codes and mobile engagement opportunities consider reaching out:
-  Visit ScanLife.com
- Join LinkedIn Group “Exchanging Smarter Ideas on Mobile Engagement”
- Or, simply contact us at sales@scanlife.com

This week, Google, released research on mobile searches and the ensuing consumer behavior.

For marketers seeking to tap into the potential of the mobile channel, this report (available here) has the merit of highlighting key paradigms underlying successful mobile engagement, namely:

• Context-driven: at home, vs. in-store, vs. on the go, etc.
• Action-oriented: “find more information”, “book a table”, “share with your friends”, etc.
•  Convenience and immediacy: right here, right now, at a click of a button.

Without further ado, here’s what you need to remember about the research.

What people search for

The chart below shows the categories of information respondents are most likely to search – entertainment, news, and shopping-related items top the charts.

The context of the mobile search

Overall, 81% of mobile searches are driven by speed and convenience. As a result, 77% of mobile searches occur at home or at work, despite the fact that respondents had access to a desktop computer. This should come as no surprise, as mobile devices tend to be always on and within reach -no need to boot a computer.

The chart below gives a more detailed picture of how mobile search contexts depend on what is being searched for by the consumer.

 Post-search behaviour

This is where mobile shines, leaving any other communication channel in the dust:

• 73% of mobile searches trigger a follow-up action, whether it be further research, a store visit, a phone call, a purchase or word-of-mouth sharing. And 63% of these actions occur within 1 hour of the search.
• 28% of mobile searches result in purchase-related conversions (store visit, call purchase) and 55% of them occur within 1 hour.

Other statistics that are of interest are shown in the table below:

Conclusion

The mobile channel gives marketers plenty of new opportunities to connect with and convert their audience, while accumulating deeper consumer insights in real-time. And those looking for inspiration will find plenty of noteworthy examples and best practices on our blog (try here and here to begin with). Now it’s time to execute.

For expert advice or questions on QR Codes and mobile engagement opportunities consider reaching out:
-  Visit ScanLife.com
- Join LinkedIn Group “Exchanging Smarter Ideas on Mobile Engagement”
- Or, simply contact us at sales@scanlife.com

This year at Mobile World Congress, there was a sense that a new chapter was turned: smartphones penetration had shot past the 50% threshold and tablet penetration has reached 1 in 4 adults in the US. Android and iOS updates, which determine much of nowadays’ user experiences, were challenged by smaller but no less ambitious players, namely RIM, Windows, Ubuntu, and –surprise surprise – Mozilla, which managed to sign up 17 different operators to its Firefox OS. Moreover, countless companies introduced their mobile wallets and payments solutions, and NFC-powered e-ticketing systems. Tons of promising technologies, each with their strengths and drawbacks, as our CEO Mike Wehrs explains in this Mobile Marketer article.

Clearly, the mobile landscape has entered the mass consumption phase: for consumers this means that a world of choices is about to open up to them. For the 72,000 visitors who swarmed the Fira Gran Via in Barcelona, it meant that the stakes were higher than ever.

For marketers however, this is a double-edged sword: on the one hand the majority of people now interact with, and can be reached through their mobile devices. On the other hand, when targeting their audience, they will have to factor in the increasing diversity of behaviours and touch points, underpinned by the multiplication and ubiquity of these mobile technologies.

In some ways, this mobile technology boom is akin to the television boom of the early 2000s, when the multiplication cable TV channels, each focusing on a theme, meant that marketers could more easily identify and target specific segments. It also meant that they could no longer broadcast an advertisement confident that it would reach a wide audience.

Sure, many of the technologies on display at Mobile World Congress will take months, even years to take on; and many will disappear almost as instantly as they appeared on stage.

Regardless, mobile as a marketing channel has been propelled from “nice-to-have” to “must-have” grade.

The good news is that when it comes to execution, mobile engagement campaigns follow the same principles (i.e. call-to-action, context based and value-adding content, etc. For a detailed review of mobile engagement principles and best practices, click here) regardless of the technology. We therefore strongly believe that mobile engagement platforms which can process any digital triggers (QR Codes, NFC, images, etc.) allow marketers not to be distracted by continuous shifts in the technology landscape, while preparing them for tomorrow’s challenges.

For expert advice on how to integrate mobile engagement tactics to your marketing campaigns, contact us or visit www.scanlife.com

You may also…

• Join the discussions on the “Exchanging Smarter Ideas on Mobile Engagement” LinkedIn group
• Download the ScanLife app and start scanning by going to http://www.scanlife.com/ with the browser of your mobile app or searching for ‘ScanLife’ in your app store.

In the long list of industries transformed by the slow but steady digitization of our societies, retail probably tops the charts. And now the mobile channel promises to complicate matters further.

eMarketer’s latest mobile commerce projections (Jan 2013) gives us an idea of the volume of sales achieved directly through mobile devices.

This time though, I believe things are different. Most of today’s senior marketers and retail business leaders have seen how the online channel has gradually eaten both their sales and margins; and they’re not going to let it happen again… In fact, retail marketers could be credited with some of the boldest experiments to date: my previous article shows great examples of how the most resourceful marketers can extend considerably their reach through the online channel.

A couple of interesting case studies have since hit the headlines.

The first comes from Seattle-based retailer Hointer, which targets men who don’t like shopping and use technology to eliminate the hassle of shopping for clothes. The idea consists of displaying only one pair of each model of jean type, and add a QR Code to it. When scanned with the store’s bespoke app, shoppers can chose to try it in the fitting room inside the store. Once the jeans have been tried, customers can either send the jeans back or purchase it on the spot.

The GeekWire video below shows the system in action

Another case study, this time by Procter & Gamble shows how simple tweaks to their print ads can boost significantly their power to convert customers on the spot. This experiment applies to any retailer that has, or will use catalogues, flyers, and other below-the-line collaterals to push their latest promotions. The screenshots below shows how P&G connected their ads to a mobile space where shoppers would find out more about the P&G products, get coupons, watch demos, check out customer reviews, and crucially, purchase the product! (Click on the image for a close-up)

Research by Hitashi shows that the number of people who scan QR codes would be three times as much what it currently is if consumers believed that it would offer them value in the form of discounts, rewards or a more personalized service. Hointer’s and P&G have shown that delivering relevant and personalized experiences to consumers does not take rocket sciencewith a reasonable dose of consumer insights and the will to reach out to them in meaningful ways.

What’s more, these experiments show that the mobile channel can enhance traditional campaigns and open up a new sales channel. Other retailers should pay heed.

For expert advice on how to integrate mobile engagement tactics to your retail marketing campaigns, contact us please visit www.scanlife.com

You may also…

• Join the discussions on the “Exchanging Smarter Ideas on Mobile Engagement” LinkedIn group
• Follow us on Twitter
• Like us on Facebook
• Download the ScanLife app and start scanning by going to http://getscanlife.com/ with the browser of your mobile app or searching for ‘ScanLife’ in your app store.

So you’ve secured your marketing budget for 2013 and now want to connect with your customers via mobile. Since all research indicates that the majority of them have a smartphone, you know it’s the right move.

Now “all” you need are original ideas. Fear not my friend, as you’ve come to the right place. What follows is a recap of some of the best and quirkiest mobile barcode campaigns, as well as tips and tricks to help maximize your results.

Best 2012 QR Code campaigns

For a review of the best campaigns of last year, we invite you to check the following blog posts:

• Best QR Code Campaigns of Q1 2012: In the first quarter of the year, brands such as Maserati, Starbucks, Heineken, and Budweiser top the charts in terms of creativity and impact of their campaigns. But not-for-profit, hospitality and airline companies also engineered some of the most impressive campaigns to date. Read more.
• The Best QR Code Campaigns of Q2 2012: This quarter has seen some of the boldest (and the least politically correct!!) campaigns ever. Indeed, we could hardly believe Emart’s revolutionary QR sundial, Americano’s QR stripping campaign, or Axe’s sizzling hot Body Spray campaign. But the most ambitious is that of Coca-Cola. Read more.
• Roger Smolski’s excellent Top 10 QR Codes Of 2012: It includes a mix of quirky campaigns, such as the world’s smallest art gallery QR Code, as well as Hointer’s revolutionary retail experiment. Read more.

So now that you’re feeling inspired, it’s always good to pause and consider best practices. After all, one of the advantages of mobile campaigns and QR Codes in particular is that you will be able to measure the results; so you may as well maximize them:

Do’s and Don’ts

In two excellent blog posts, David Moth, from eConsultancy, looks at several QR Code campaigns and dissects their strengths and weaknesses. The first post looks at six campaigns from well-known brands such as Lacoste, Toyota, Police, HMV, Helly Hansen, and Go Entertain. In a second blog post, he analyzes a Toyota campaign, by far the best of the lot. These are a must read for any marketer who aspires to create bold and exciting mobile barcode campaigns. While the author does a great job at analysing the execution of the campaigns, it is important to emphasize the fact that mobile engagement differs from traditional digital marketing in several meaningful ways:

1. Mobile engagement is contextual. Whether it’s while commuting to work, browsing the aisles of a supermarket, or watching a TV program—consumers generally use their smartphone with the purpose of taking an instant action or answering a question in relation to the activity they are undertaking at the location of the moment.
2. Mobile engagement is action driven. With the contextual nature of the engagement comes the sense of urgency: “do this to book a ticket now”, “click there to check stock availability”, “swipe here to identify your local restaurants”, and the list goes on. Smartphone users more so than in an online desktop environment, often use their device to take a specific action within a specific context. Moreover, smartphones –unlike traditional computers- have the ability to connect in a variety of ways: call, text, email, web, etc. This facilitates a wealth of underutilized engagement opportunities for businesses.
3. Mobile engagement must be simple and instantaneous. In an age when the attention span goes not much further than 140 characters, any small delay or complication in the online journey will result in it coming to a brutal end (and possibly some rant on social media). Any mobile experience should be straightforward and seamless from start to finish.
4. Mobile engagement is personal. Smartphones contain all contacts and mobile apps linked to a user’s social media accounts; smartphones are basically the gateway to a consumer’s whole digital life. The corollary of this reality is that any business aspiring to connect with its audience through their mobile will have to tread with caution, respect, and show the value it brings right from the start.

Having established the framework for mobile engagement, here are the 8 commandments of successful QR Code campaigns:

1. Make sure it fits within your business and marketing strategy. It sounds obvious but you’d be surprised how often it seems that a QR Code was slapped on a print material as an afterthought, in a “because I can” sort of way. Don’t waste such an opportunity. Create a new sales channel. Enhance your CRM efforts. Connect with your consumers. Get deeper consumer insights. In summary – execute with a clear purpose in mind.

2. Guarantee your campaign creates real value for your audience. Ask yourself: what value am I bringing to them? Are you sending them to your e-commerce website? Or are you giving them exclusive information or special deals? Are you asking them for their opinion and feedback? Is it content that will motivate them to scan again in the future? If you can’t think of a compelling reason for them to scan, then it’s probably not worth it.

3. Link to a mobile optimized site. If you’re still hesitant on the possibility of linking to your non-mobile-optimized website, then these results from Google will almost certainly make your mind up for you: On the one hand, 50% of people said that even if they like a business, they will use them less often if the website isn’t mobile-friendly. On the other, 74% of people say they’re more likely to return to a mobile friendly site, and 67% of mobile users say that when they visit a mobile-friendly site, they’re more likely to buy a site’s product or service. Do we need to say more?

4. Make a clear call-to-action (CTA). It is crucial that you give information on why it’s worth scanning your QR Code and possibly brief instructions on how to download a QR Code reader. Also, make sure you place CTAwhere they can be seen. If a user sees a QR Code just floating around without any indication on why they should scan, they are highly less likely do so. A compelling CTA can double or triple your scanning and conversion rates.

5. Think about the QR Code placement. Before you place the code on the back of a racing car or on a TV commercial, ask yourself: will people notice it? Can they safely, and comfortably, scan the QR Code? Do they have enough time to scan the QR Code? Will they have a data connection? Remember: mobile engagement is contextual. Turn this into your advantage, not the contrary.

6. Size does matter: The smaller the QR Code, the more difficult it will be to scan it, plus the closer the user will have to be to the code. If you use the ScanLife QR Code generator, you can safely print codes which are 0.75 inch (1.9 cm) large. Moreover, the scan distance to QR Code size will be roughly 7:1 (in other words, a 1 inch code can be scanned from a 7 inch distance).

With other QR Code generators, we recommend you set the minimum to 1 inch (2.4 cm) and keep the scan distance to QR Code size ratio to 10:1.

7. Test your codes. Realizing that the QR Code you printed on all your collateral isn’t working can be a soul crushing experience. We have seen countless examples of embarrassing – and often very expensive – mistakes: a typo in the URL, a QR Code printed on a shiny curved package, making the code too dense etc.  At ScanLife, we’ve almost completely eliminated these problems because customers can edit the QR Code content , or the action it triggers at any time, and as often as desired. In addition, our engineers are continuously testing to ensure that ScanLife codes work on all the millions of devices and apps available around the globe. But this is not necessarily the case with other QR Code generators. Whatever the circumstances and QR Code generator you use, test the codes with different apps, different devices, from different angles and distances. Don’t become the butt of a joke.

8. Track the results of your campaign. QR Codes are one of the easiest and most practical ways to measure the impact of your campaign and acquire rich consumer insights. Top tier mobile engagement platforms such as ScanLife, will help you understand who scans, how often, when, where, what happens after the scan, and more. Marketers get a proxy for the ROI of their print advertisement, identify which billboard ad works and which do not, etc. In fact, performance tracking and consumer insights data is one of, if not, the greatest values that modern mobile engagement platforms bring. Don’t miss out.

For expert advice on mobile engagement…

• Please visit www.scanlife.com
• Join the discussions on the “Exchanging Smarter Ideas on Mobile Engagement” LinkedIn group
• Contact us
• Follow us on Twitter
• Like us on Facebook
• Download the ScanLife app and start scanning by going to http://getscanlife.com/ with the browser of your mobile app or searching for ‘ScanLife’ in your app store.

As 2012 comes to a close, it’s always good to take a step back to reflect on the evolution of everything over the past year. 12 months are an eternity in the mobile space and 2012 has been particularly full of innovations and remarkable events. Here are some of the year’s highlights:

SUMMER 2012 OLYMPICS –THE FIRST MOBILE GAMES EVER

The London Olympics have been to Mobile Engagement what Woodstock has been to Rock ‘n Roll: the moment where Mobile Engagement officially joined the mainstream by becoming the focal point of social, m-commerce, location-based experiences, and apps. The ScanLife Mobile Engagement Platform helped bring all of these experiences to life, generating 36% more connections than Foursquare check-ins during the games, according to published LOCOG numbers. Check out the Olympics video and case study to see it all in action: Olympics webpage to download the case study!

APPLE LAUNCHES THE IPHONE 5 WITH PASSBOOK

After months of speculation, Apple finally released its 4G-enabled iPhone 5. Of all its new features, the one we are most thrilled about is Passbook. The proto-wallet stores boarding passes, loyalty cards, coupons, event tickets etc. to display the information in the form of a mobile barcode (QR Code, PDF-417, and Aztec) to be used in a store, concert venue or wherever appropriate. It’s a big first step towards enabling m-commerce, m-payments, and m-identity, and more. This approach exposes mobile barcodes to millions of people around the world and is among the best things that could happen for the mobile barcode industry. Thank you Apple!

NEW APP. NEW FUN.

2012 will be known as the year when scanning mobile barcodes became fun. The ScanLife app now includes new social features: users can like what they’ve scanned and share their favourites with their networks – a great way to create gift wish lists. Users can also create an electronic contact card in the form of a QR Code right from the app: enter your details et voila! You can share your contact details in one scan with the “QRcard” feature. The app is now sexier too: iOS users can choose over 20 themes. Dreaming of the beach?  We have a cool summer theme – palm trees included.  If you’re more of a sports nut we have an entire pack dedicated to baseball, basketball, football, and more. On the other hand, Android users are enjoying a whole new user interface with The Hub. The Hub is the first thing you see when you open the app, and it gives you easy access to everything in ScanLife – your history of scans, live scan activity from around the world, the ability to customize your scanner screen from Settings, and of course the scanner itself from a super cool animated iris. All of these new features are just the beginning in a major evolution to make it easier than ever for users to discover and share information.

Intrigued? Try it out yourself:

Google Play Android Store

Apple App Store

THE MAJORITY OF MOBILE USERS OWN A SMARTPHONE. WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR YOU?

2012 marks the first time when the majority of mobile users possess a smartphone in the USA and Europe. This fact has profound implications for businesses: smartphones now serve as the most common starting point for our digital lives across devices with nearly 100% of smartphone owners using their device to go online every day, 85% of smartphone owners seeking local information and 1 in 5 make a purchase after finding that information. As a result, mobile is evolving into a channel in its own right. The table below shows the most popular mobile tactics businesses use to engage their customers, according to research by eConsultancy.

Several factors explain the prominence of QR Codes as a mobile channel. For one, they’ve become a highly effective medium when executed properly. Research by Nellymoser shows that average response rate is 6.4%, versus only 4.4% for Direct Mail and the 4.3% for catalogs, according the Direct Marketing Association. Indeed, as our own trend report shows, 2D barcode scanning increased 71% during 2012.

THE RISE OF MOBILE-SAVVY RETAILERS… AND CONSUMERS

Retail is perhaps the domain where Mobile Engagement has had the greatest impact. Research by eConsultancy shows that the number of consumers who have made a purchase on mobile since 2011 have more than doubled, from 12% to 28% in the US and 13% to 25% and in the UK. For retailers and brands, this trend brings unprecedented opportunity to connect with shoppers. For example, Tesco, which pioneered the concept of virtual store during 2011, extended its virtual stores in Q1. As a result, their app is now the number one shopping app in Korea, with nearly one million downloads since it was launched last April. The most impressive of all is Chinese retailer Yihaodian, which opened 1,000 virtual stores located in iconic areas of Shanghai, Bejing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. The video below shows what a virtual store looks like.

The ubiquity of mobile has also caused the “showrooming” effect, which is the tendency consumers have to go to a brick and mortar store to do for merely research and then purchase the goods online. In fact, in the UK, 43% of respondents said they had used their mobile to compare prices and look at product reviews while out shopping (up from 19% in 2011). Among US consumers, the number has increased from 20% to 50% year over year. Our whitepaper, “The Showrooming Effect. How Retailers can use QR Codes to Create Opportunity”, outlines several ways to tackle this obstacle.

SCANLIFE UNLEASHES A SMARTER MOBILE ENGAGEMENT PLATFORM

To help brands create more relevant mobile experiences, the ScanLife team worked around the clock to launch dynamic new features:

1 – Mobile Landing Pages with Analytics

To aid our customers in understanding post-scan behaviors, we’ve added another valuable piece of business intelligence to the ScanLife platform: any ScanLife business customer that creates mobile landing pages from our platform can now view click-tracking data generated from those pages. Learn what this means for your business now.

2 – Language Detection

We already have codes that change dynamically based on the operating system or number of scans. Now we are thrilled to announce our latest innovation which uses language detection to deliver content that is unique to the language of the user’s device. Find out how it can be used here.

3 – Designer Codes

In April, ScanLife released custom design functionality, where marketers can create a custom design code, with their logo embedded, in seconds. But wait, it gets better: our QRcheck™ technology automatically verifies the readability of the code. If it doesn’t meet a certain level of readability, it will automatically warn the creator. Discover more now.

AND THE WINNER IS…

December was another fun month here at ScanLife! Our highlight was been winning the Business award for Mashable’s Innovation Index for 2012. We’re completely honoured and humbled to be recognized among the prestigious group of leaders who are revolutionizing the digital and social landscape around us. You can check out Mashable’s formal announcement here. This award is especially meaningful for our entire team at ScanLife, which is driven by the mission to create new and better ways to transform our lives through technology.  We’re grateful to everyone who voted and appreciate your continued support of what we do here.

As we look to 2013, we are more energized than ever to develop new ideas, push the boundaries of possibility, and unlock tomorrow’s innovations.

We wish you a very happy, healthy and prosperous New Year!

At ScanLife, we are constantly developing new ways to personalize the mobile experience and make it as relevant as possible for the person scanning a QR Code.   We already have codes that change dynamically based on the operating system or the number of scans on a code, and now we are thrilled to announce our latest innovation which uses language detection.

Watch the video below to see it in action:

This dynamic QR Code action detects the language setting of the user’s device to deliver content that is unique to that language. There are two obvious scenarios for this kind of technology:

1. A marketer or publisher has content in 2-3 languages within a specific diverse country (like Canada or the US) and now they can run a single code that automatically delivers the right content.
2. A marketer is running a campaign across multiple countries (like Europe) and now the same code can deliver any number of experiences based on the native language of the user

Now ScanLife offers a simple way to connect to a diverse customer base with no additional programming:

• Choose from 12 different languages
• Offer up to 6 different experiences
• Based on settings from the device, regardless of location
• Works with any app around the world

If you’d like to learn more about Language Detection or to discuss other ways for smarter mobile engagement, please contact us at info@scanlife.com

It’s no secret that marketers have been slow to adjust and re-balance their media mix to reflect the increasingly mobile-centric world. According to a report from IT services provider Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) marketers spend $1.59m per $1bn in revenue in Europe 2012 and $1.43m in North America. By 2015 this amount will increase to $1.76m in Europe and $1.98m in North America. This represents a year-on-year increase of 3.4% for Europe and 11.5% for North America, barely enough to keep up with the exponential adoption of smartphones.

In fact, marketers currently allocate less than 1% of their marketing budget to Mobile advertising. According to a study released by the MMA, titled “MXS: Mobile’s X% Solution” and conducted by marketing ROI specialist firm Marketing Evolution, the optimized level of spend in Mobile advertising for U.S. marketers is 7%, or about the same as the amount spent on online display and sponsorships in 2011.

The optimum share varies according to industry category, marketing goals and size of budget. For “high involvement” categories such as auto and finance, the proportion should skew a bit higher at 9%. Conversely, in “low involvement” categories like CPG and entertainment, the share would dip down to 5%. Campaigns aimed at building awareness would also have a smaller allocation for mobile (5%), while those geared toward boosting purchase intent and consideration would increase the share to 8%.

Are marketers missing an opportunity? So much focus is placed on media that delivers brand awareness, but what happens when that interest turns into consideration and your customer wants to take action?  We believe that mobile is the perfect platform to convert that interest from physical media into real action via digital.  Whether you want a Like or an email opt-in, or a purchase – mobile tactics like QR Codes can deliver big time!

For expert advice on QR Codes and mobile engagement, please visit www.scanlife.com or join the discussions on the “Exchanging Smarter Ideas on Mobile Engagement” LinkedIn group.

QR Codes are a simple yet very effective way to engage your audience and measure the impact of your marketing assets and ROI. And with its  explosive growth this past year, QR is showing no signs of slowing down.

Despite its massive growth, we’ve come across a new stat that even surprised us! According to research by Nellymoser, QR Codes beat out direct mail in driving response. Readers of national magazines in the US scan QR codes, Microsoft Tags, digital watermarks and other mobile action codes at an average rate of 6.4 percent. In comparison, the average response rate for direct mail is 4.4 percent, according to the Direct Marketing Association, and the average response rate for a catalog is 4.3 percent.

Other key findings include:

• Mobile users are actively engaged and view an average of 18.9 mobile pages.
• The total number of scannable codes has the strongest impact on response rates, with more codes raising visibility and interest to consumers.
• Codes promoted with the promise of a discount, coupon or chance to enter a sweepstakes have a higher response rate.
• Finally, magazines that repeat a program in multiple issues get higher response rates over time than those who run a campaign just once.

As awareness and adoption of QR Codes grows exponentially, in Europe and worldwide we expect the level of engagement to increase further. Marketers should act accordingly…

For expert advice on QR codes and mobile customer engagement, please visit www.scanlife.com or join the discussions on the “Exchanging Smarter Ideas on Mobile Engagement” LinkedIn group.

Last February, Google and Ipsos released “Our Mobile Planet: Global Smartphone Users” (read more on it here) which explained the behavior of smartphone users.

Now, in their latest research, Google and Ipsos have gone a step further with “The Newscreen World: Understanding Cross-platform Consumer Behavior“. The report examines how the multi-screen world (with its ubiquitous TVs, smartphones, computers and tablets) impacts the bahavior of consumers and how the different devices play in relation to one another.

The study finds that context drives device choice and that, unsurprisingly, consumers own multiple devices and move seamlessly between them throughout their day. In sum, computers keep us productive and informed, smartphones keep us connected, and tablets keep us entertained. For digital marketers, it means that that they need to take into account the needs of a consumer on a specific screen, and adjust conversion goals to account for the inherent differences in each device.

Interestingly, the research shows that smartphones have positioned themselves as the backbone of our daily media use: they are the devices used most on a daily basis and serve as the most common starting point for activities across multiple screens.

Adding to Google’s research, is the consensus is that mobile searches will outpace desktop local searches by 2015 (and by some estimates they already have). Going mobile is therefore, more than ever, imperative to the growth of your business.

In this context, businesses which facilitate and control the connections between the physical and digital world stand to reap great benefits: for example by delivering product information or discounts right from a product package or PoS material; or video demos and tips & tricks right from a print advertisement (plenty of case studies to illustrate all this here).

Today, we believe that QR codes are the most effective way to bridge the physical with the digital world: mobile engagement platforms, such as ScanLife, allow marketers to create QR codes, track who scans what and where, and therefore understand better consumers’ journey across the different media.

For expert advice on how to reach your consumers through their smartphones, please visit www.scanlife.com or join the discussions on the “Exchanging Smarter Ideas on Mobile Engagement” LinkedIn group.