From marketing, education, and payments, to health care, QR Codes are everywhere. They are widely used across various industries for different use cases across the globe.
In fact, QR Codes have seen quite a surge in their usage. For example, according to Bluebite, the following data was reported from 2018 to 2020:
- 96% growth in QR Code Reach
- 94% surge in the number of interactions
- 98% growth in the number of interactions per active object
This data clearly conveys the increase in QR Code usage over the years.
Moreover, in September 2020, Statista conducted a survey to estimate an increase in QR Code usage. The participants belonged to regions US and UK. Among the respondents, 46.75% agreed on an increase in QR Code usage.
In this article, we are listing 14 QR Code facts that you must know about everyone’s favorite 2D barcode.
Read this ultimate guide on All About QR Codes
A. Perform Many Actions
It is safe to say that QR Codes are one of the most versatile technologies. These 2D barcodes perform many actions such as:
- Driving traffic to a website
- Showing documents
- Pointing out the exact map’s location of a business or venue
- Redirecting end-users to a landing page with links to all your social media profiles
- Redirecting the end-users to a specific app download page depending on the operating system of the scanning device
- Helping you to share contact details
- Giving detailed event information in a creative way while making your invitations hi-tech
- Redirecting the audience to an audio file
- Providing detailed product information
Depending upon what content you want the end-users to see, you’d need to select a suitable QR Code category. In fact, you’d be surprised to know that you can create up to 31 different types of QR Codes.
B. Designer QR Codes
QR Codes need not be plain black-and-white. A QR Code can be made visually appealing by adding color, logo, or an image. In fact, custom QR Codes scan 50%-200% more scans than basic black-and-white ones. Here is how you can customize your QR Code:
1. By adding a logo and colors to it
You can add your brand or company’s logos and colors to it. Just make sure that there is enough contrast between the QR Code and the background. It is mandatory for good scannability.
A logo can be either an image or a text. You can also change the size and color of both the eyes and data modules.
2. By adding an image as QR Code’s background
QR Codes can be customized by adding any image as its background. It helps to blend QR Codes with any print media creative. You can change the shape of both the eyes and data modules in this design alternative.
For more information, here is a detailed guide on how to generate custom QR Codes.
C. Editable Content
Dynamic QR Codes allow users to edit their content at any time without the need to recreate a new QR Code. For example, the user can share a link to website A now and change it to website B at any time. This is helpful for print marketers who do not wish to create different QR Codes for each campaign. Simply change the QR Code’s content before each marketing campaign.
D. Track scan activity
A challenge that most print marketers face is tracking campaign engagement. Dynamic QR Codes address this challenge. A Dynamic QR Code allows marketers to track scan analytics. Users can view scan analytics by geography, date and time, device, and operating system used.
Read more about QR Code Analytics.
E. Track event activity
Some QR Code providers offer a feature called event tracking. It gives valuable insights into how the end-users interact with the encoded content after they scan the QR Code. This could be clicking on buttons such as ‘Sign-up’ or ‘Register Now’.
With this, you can analyze the engagement rate of your audience for actionable elements. And optimize your future campaigns even better.
F. Generate leads
QR Codes allow you to capture end-users information to build a list of potential customers or target audiences. This feature is called Lead Generation.
You simply need to select a QR Code generator that offers this feature. Here’s how it works:
– You create a QR Code by encoding some content (relevant for your target audience) and enable the lead generation feature
– End-users scan the QR Code to see a form
– They fill the form and submit the details you asked for
– Once they submit it, they can view the encoded content (which can be text, a document, a video, discount coupon, etc.)
So if you want to collect leads, ensure that your QR Code generator offers this feature.
G. Password Protection
Did you know QR Codes can be password protected? This feature is exclusive to Dynamic Codes. Users can set a password while creating a QR Code and share it with people they want to share the QR Code’s content with.
H. Error Correction
QR Codes when printed on products or marketing creatives or products are susceptible to wear and tear. Adding the Error Correction feature in a QR Code renders it scannable even if damaged by upto 30%. Very few online QR Code generators have this advanced feature.
In case you are interested, here is a detailed comparison chart of the best QR Code generator available online. This would help you make a sound decision.
I. Custom URL and custom domain feature
A dynamic QR Code comes with a short URL that the end-users see before accessing the actual content encoded. This URL is usually given by the QR Code service provider. But as a marketer, you might want to make sure that your audience sees your domain as soon as they scan the QR Code and not someone else’s.
After all, that is how brand-building works. In such cases, you can use the custom domain and custom URL feature of QR Codes. It will help you show your domain to the end-users before they access the target content. All you need is a QR Code generator that provides this feature.
J. Omnidirectional
One of the best features of QR Codes is that they are scannable from any angle, unlike barcodes which are unidirectional. This means QR Codes possess 360-degree scannability.
K. Scanned by any smartphone
To scan a QR Code, all you have to do is open the inbuilt camera of your smartphone. And hold it in front of the QR Code. You’ll receive a notification if it gets scanned. A lot of smartphones these days, such as Motorola, Lenovo, Samsung, and iPhone come with an inbuilt QR Code scanning feature.
In case it doesn’t, don’t worry. Just download and install a third-party QR Code scanner such as QR Reader, QR and Barcode scanner, QR and Barcode Reader, from the Play Store or App Store
L. Storage Capacity
Unlike 1D barcodes, QR Codes can store both numbers and alphabets. A QR Code can store up to 7,089 numeric characters (without spaces). Or 2,953 alphanumeric characters with spaces and punctuation.
This is more than enough for most use cases.
M. Keep your data secured
While generating a QR Code, you encode data in it. And you’d want to make sure that your data is in safe hands.
All you have to do is select a QR Code generator that is GDPR compliant. Don’t know what it means?
Well, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a regulation on data protection and privacy. It ensures that the EU residents have control over how their personal data is stored and processed by organizations.
N. Easy to Make
The long list of features does not mean that creating a QR Code is rocket science. In fact, QR Codes are very easy to make. All you need is an online QR Code generator such as Scanova to create a QR Code with advanced features.
Do you know any other QR Code facts? Share them with us in the comments section below
Now, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and create your first QR Code with Scanova.