StrandVision Digital Signage

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  4. February, 2014
  5. Digital Signage QR Codes Can Provide the Doorway to Increased Sales and Information

Digital Signage QR Codes Can Provide the Doorway to Increased Sales and Information

QR Codes help invite viewers to your web site and take advantage of special offers.

Quick Response (QR) codes are the latest in information sharing and marketing. You see them in magazine ads, pasted to store windows and included in coupons. They're also a natural extension to digital signage because they turn the typically one-way communications of digital signage into a truly interactive platform. QR codes are the gateway to give immediate and direct response to digital signage promotions.

I got excited when I realized the digital signage potential of QR codes. They're right up my alley since my previous company, StrandWare, was a barcode label software company. So it was easy for us to develop QR codes to work with our cloud electronic signage service. We've made it so you can automatically add QR codes to your pages as easily as adding text or a picture.

Digital Signage Meets Smart Phones

With QR codes viewers can use their smart phones to interact with an electronic sign in any number of ways. They can visit Web sites, bookmark pages, dial telephone numbers and send text messages or emails. QR codes can be generated to target specific information on the product being shown, allowing viewers to download product, location and even advertisement-specific coupons, which can be scanned from the phone at the register.

QR codes can also be used to access location-specific promotions making the digital media player an interactive communications medium. They give digital signage marketers additional feedback on advertising effectiveness (and sales opportunities) by connecting electronic signage viewers to advertisers' more traditional marketing resources.

We've found that digital signage network administrators and designers are limited only by their imaginations in how they use QR codes for business marketing and general communications. Here are some of the ways that QR codes can be used with electronic signage:

  • Link from company pages to home page or corporate-level information;
  • Link to business hours, additional locations, or to call a support/sales phone number;
  • Link to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social media sites;
  • Engage customers with trivia contests or other interactive activities;
  • Send instant text messages to gain additional savings or details;
  • Feature special promotions and flash sales;
  • Offer coupons;
  • Offer links to community sites.

Opportunities also exist to sell paid advertising links to business marketing resources:

  • Offer joint promotions with related businesses (maybe neighboring stores);
  • Offer links to local or national advertisers' Web sites or product pages;
  • Offer links to sponsored products and services;
  • Send text messages to advertisers;
  • Instantly call an advertiser's support staff with questions or to make a purchase.

There's also an opportunity to tailor promotions to the particular location or even a single screen:

  • Link to store-specific promotions;
  • Link to flash sales events to reduce inventory;
  • Link to menu specials, appetizer/dessert promotions;
  • Link to contests or memberships that offer in-store prizes.

For employee, visitor or student communications:

  • Link to employee benefit sites, forms and other resources;
  • Link to more detailed medical information;
  • Link to class schedules, course syllabi or materials;
  • Link to social media pages to share information;
  • Send emails to confirm acceptance of memberships, meetings or to ask questions;
  • Call the HR office or insurance company hot lines;
  • Send a text message with ideas to make suggestions or improve productivity.

Easy QR setup:

At StrandVision we decided to make adding QR Codes to your digital signage as easy as possible - it just takes a few simple steps. We've integrated a QR code generation tool in the add/edit pages menu for each eligible page type. In this way, you are able to simply make your selection and the familiar QR code is automatically generated and added to the page that is viewed by the public on their digital signage player.

Here's how it works when you go to the "Add" or "Modify" pages sections of the console:

For any Company page ("Welcome," "Company Description" or "Company Mission") you simply select the QR code dropdown menu that offers "Open a Web Page," "Bookmark Web Site" or "Call Main Number" and that information will be automatically coded into the QR code and added to that page.

For virtually all other pages, with the exception of "Weather" and "News" pages and a few others, you are able to create ad hoc Web page, bookmark and phone number QR codes by simply typing in the URL or phone number in the space provided. This means that you can direct viewers to special promotions or employee benefits resources or any Web address of phone.

You also have the option to place the QR code in a number of locations on your page.

Try it out! It's free, it's easy. You don't have to know anything about QR codes and you can add them in seconds. You could have people visiting your Web site or accessing other company information directly from their smart phones today!

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