Have you ever run a promotional campaign? Then you’d know that it’s not enough to just curate quality content and put it out for your audience in the hope that they’ll take the desired action.
You rather need to nudge them to take action. That’s why many campaigns have a call to action (CTA) that urges the audience to take action.
For the uninitiated, call to action (CTA) is an instruction statement. It tells your target audience what action they need to take or what to expect after taking the action. This way, it helps you draw the audience’s attention to your advertisement or promotion.
You might have seen them already. For example, do you remember getting a discount coupon that said ‘Visit a nearby store soon to grab your discount’? Well, that’s exactly what a CTA is.
A call to action statement is frequently used alongside a QR Code. QR Codes are used rampantly in marketing and advertising today. Their ability to redirect the end-users to not just text but also weblinks and multimedia is unparalleled.
No wonder why every other industry is using them for use cases ranging from operational to promotional in nature.
You probably want to use one too. And you’re keen on learning why people add a call to action statement with a QR Code. This article will explain everything about the same. Let’s get started.
A. Why add a call to action with a QR Code
First things first. QR Codes make it easy and even fun for the end-users to engage with a brand. They do it through a quick, simple, and interactive process. All that the users need to do is open the camera on their smartphone and hold it in front of the QR Code. Doing so takes them to the target content.
Before someone takes a scan, they don’t quite know where it would take them. It could lead to some text, a website, images, or even a landing page.
This is where the CTA comes in handy. It tells the end-users what they can expect after scanning the QR Code. For example:
That’s not where it ends. A call to action also nudges the audience to take action in the first place. And you’ll be surprised to see how far a little nudge like this goes.
Now that you’ve gone through the basics, here are some best practices you can follow:
B. Best practices to follow
As emphasized already, a CTA works as a direct call to your target audience. So make sure you follow the best practices to deliver your message the right way:
1. Keep your CTA very clear, bold, and simple for the audience to understand. But at the same time, it should be strong enough to grab the audience’s attention
2. Use only one call to action with a QR Code. Don’t spam it with multiple CTAs. Doing so might rather confuse your audience
3. Measure your engagement rate with a different set of CTAs. For example, you may have the CTA as ‘Scan here to visit our website’ with QR Code on one creative. On the other creative you could have something like ‘Scan to learn more’
You can then see how each of them is performing by tracking the QR Code performance. Not sure what it means?
QR Codes have a feature called scan tracking that helps you monitor audience engagement. You can see how many people scanned your QR Code, their location, date, device used, etc.
Doing this analysis will help you take data-backed decisions while working with CTAs.
C. Examples of brands using catchy CTAs
Here are some examples of different brands using really catchy call-to-action statements with their QR Code:
1. L’Oreal Paris
In 2018, L’Oreal Paris unveiled a virtual makeup try-on with the help of QR Codes.
It helped customers try out foundations, blush ons, lipsticks, and more without going to physical stores.
They could scan the QR Codes that had the CTA: Discover Mineral Fusion’s New Virtual Try-on.
2. Mc Donald’s
In 2020, McDonald’s launched contactless takeaway and delivery along with QR Code-based payments.
It helped customers and staff maintain safety and contactless relations with each other.
They could scan the QR Codes that had the CTA: Scan to Pay & Order.
3. Burger King
In 2020, Burger King partnered with Lil Yachty for giving whopper discounts and 2021 VMAs tickets with the use of QR Codes.
The campaign kicked off with a performance and the QR Codes started to flash throughout the performance.
It helped Burger King connect with the viewers and have better employment on their website and stores.
For more such QR Code Marketing Campaign Ideas, you can download a free e-book curated by experts on QR Code Trends 2022 and unleash the potential of QR Code technology.
D. How to add CTA with a QR Code
There are two ways to do the needful:
1. By printing it with QR Code
This one is really simple. You can just print the CTA as text with the QR Code. No complex procedure or technicalities required!
2. By adding it to the QR Code design
CTA can also be integrated into the QR Code design. How? You can add it as a logo to the centre of the QR Code. Let’s talk more about it:
E. QR Code generator with call to action
You just need to find a QR Code generator that helps you add text as a logo to the QR Code. One such player in the market is Scanova. Here’s how it helps you do the needful:
1. Visit Scanova and sign up for a 14-day free trial first. Don’t worry, you’ll not have to enter your credit card details
2. Select the QR Code category of your choice (depending on the content you need to add to the QR Code)
3. Enter all required data and click on Continue
4. On the next page, add an appropriate name for the QR Code file
5. On the next page, you’ll get a preview of your QR Code image. Under it, you’ll see two options to design the QR Code:
- Custom Logo Design
- Custom Background Design
Here, select Custom Logo Design.
Adding the CTA
You’ll see various tabs including Logo, Eyes, Data, and Background. Using these, you can alter the color and pattern of the required QR Code elements.
Since we wish to add CTA (text) as a logo to the centre, go to the Logo tab.
6. Now under the Logo Settings section, click on Add Text button
7. Here you’ll see various options to add and customize the CTA. For example,
a. Template designs
b. Text box size
c. Font type
d. Font color
There will also be a box for you to type the CTA text. As you do it, it’ll start reflecting in the QR Code image on the right
8. After you’re done with the design, click on Done Editing button on the right
9. Click on the Download button. A window will prompt you to enter the size and format of the QR Code image. Enter the details as per your wish and click Export
That’s it. Your QR Code will be downloaded with a call to action added as a logo in the centre.
That’s all you need to know about a CTA for QR Codes. The next time you plan a QR Code-based campaign, make sure you add a CTA with it. It’ll improve your scans drastically.
