The concept and usage of Quick Response codes, better known as QR codes, is not new. They have been around for many years. However, their popularity and ease of use have recently started to take off.
Do you remember the Superbowl ad for cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase? It was one minute of a color-changing QR code floating around the tv screen. If it wasn’t successful as a marketing campaign, it was successful in getting people to talk. And following Covid, restaurants started placing QR codes on tables, directing people to their online menu, in lieu of traditional menus.
Those are two examples of mainstream use of QR codes, and they have become more user friendly by allowing the user to scan the code on the camera app on your smartphone, rather than needing a specific QR code reader app. This has opened the door to campaigns for candidates who want to integrate them into their mail or digital marketing plans.
Here’s how they can be useful.
Add a QR code to your next direct mail piece
By design, campaign direct mail pieces are meant to be quick, easy reads – with just a few details about a candidate and their platform. But what if someone wants more information than what is provided? Adding a QR code to a direct mail piece allows the campaign to send the user to a website or landing page with more detailed information about a candidate’s platform than a mail piece can offer.
Add a QR code to your next fundraising letter
In our digital world, it’s not uncommon for any generation – but particularly the younger generations, to not own a checkbook. When a fundraising letter comes in the mail, it typically provides a mailing address for checks to be mailed. But what if you don’t have checks and want to contribute immediately? Add a QR code to the fundraising piece and immediately send the user directly to the campaign’s online fundraising portal. From there you can add your credit card information and have the contribution made in seconds. Campaigns prefer it because it allows for the money to be used right away, with no lag time in the mail.
Add a QR code to your next social media post
Like campaign direct mail, social media posts are supposed to be short and to the point. But what if a candidate posts about his or her tax policy, and the text of the post doesn’t fully answer the reader’s questions? Add a QR code and the user can be taken to a website or dedicated page with the candidate’s complete tax policy.
QR codes are becoming more and more a part of marketing culture because they are easy to use, and they allow the user to gain more information about what is being marketed.
If you’d like more information about this growing trend, or how to integrate it into your political or marketing campaign, reach out to us by scanning the QR code below with your smartphone!
