QR Codes: What Are They and How Do They Work?
QR Code, short for “Quick Response Code,” is one of the latest trends hitting not only the smartphone market, but also the real estate industry. By using a downloadable application or ‘app’, you are able to scan a QR Code to your phone, simply by loading the app, positioning your phone’s camera at the code, waiting until you hear the ‘beep’ and then pressing Scan. In some cases, you don’t even need to press Scan; it will automatically scan when it recognizes the code. If the scan is successful, your phone will automatically load the intended resource or information, or even give you an option to save the information to your smartphone. Interested in testing one out? Download a QR Code Reader and try scanning the code at the top of this blog.
What type of actions can you set up with a QR Code?
- Calendar Events
- Contact Information
- Email Address
- Geo Location
- Phone Number
- SMS
- Text
- URL
- Wi-Fi Network
How can a QR Code benefit you in your real estate business? It gives you another means to provide on-demand information to potential leads, or even to existing clients, without having to directly interact with them. A lot of people don’t necessarily have the time at the moment they spot a property of interest to talk with the agent (or vice versa, you’re busy with an existing client and don’t have time to talk). However in passing by the property, they’ll likely have a spare 30-60 seconds in which they can scan the QR Code, which should be prominently located on your sign rider. Now they have all the information necessary to contact you, learn more about the property, or both!
Where else might you place QR Codes?
- Business Cards
- Marketing Flyers (mailbox campaigns, e-mails, open house brochures)
- Social Media Sites
- Car Wrap
- Bench or Public Transit Ads
- Magazines
Despite the fact that QR Codes have been in use for over 15 years in other industries, the technology is not perfect. Different scanner apps handle the data differently and, in some cases, do not save all information correctly, but it does provide some information and is generally better than providing no information at all.
Now that you’re aware of many of the possibilities that QR Codes offer, why don’t you give one a try and see if it can help take your business to the next technological level?
Let us know your experience – what scanner you tried and how it performed, where you placed QR Codes etc – by adding comments below.
Authored by: Bryan Coughlin, Client Relations