Quick Response codes — usually referred to simply as QR codes — are popular tools that content providers use to interact with an audience. Companies publish the black-and-white, patterned images so that users can whip out their mobile devices, scan the images with QR-code readers (downloaded via various apps), and then are directed to that company’s URL of choosing. It’s essentially the apex of early 21st century interactive marketing.

And now QR codes are turning up in digital signage content — and why not? Digital signage content is intended to reach the masses — people sitting in waiting rooms, queuing for elevators, eating in cafeterias — so why not hit them with a QR code that pushes out to the content of your choosing? Or at least, so think the marketing folks behind this new push.

As Manager of Operations at West Virginia University, Spencer Graham oversees a digital signage network with over 100 displays that reach some 45,000 students, staff and visitors each day, and his staff has dabbled with inserting QR codes into their digital signage content. But, says Graham, doing so is tricky business. Done properly, QR codes get users to buy into a literal or figurative product and can create a positive experience that will encourage them to do so again. Done improperly, you can chase away potential users from your system and burn the bridge to veritable brand loyalty before you’ve even built it.

“Just because it’s a QR code… doesn’t necessarily mean its good,” Graham says.

To that end, Graham offers three essential tips to successfully using QR codes in digital signage content. Click on the above slideshow for Graham’s tips.

View the 3 photos attached to this entry

How to Use QR Codes in Digital Signage

View this slideshow