I stopped in at Carl’s Jr. the other today to try one of their Turkey Burgers today and noticed a display on the counter that read “WIN FREE GOOD* OR AWESOME PRIZES. DOWNLOAD THE FREE HAPPY START REWARDS MOBILE APP.”

Being the curious person I am, the ad got my attention. So I grabbed my Droid smart phone to see what the Happy Start Rewards app was all about. This is where I ran into an issue with the display. Since Carl’s Jr. didn’t provide me with a link to their application, I had to go find it! I went from excited to disappointed as Carl’s Jr. is making me find their app. I’m not lazy, but I firmly believe that if you want your clients to do something for you, you should make it as easy as possible. If Carl’s Jr. had included a QR code on the display piece that linked directly to their app, I would have scanned and downloaded it.

What Is A QR Code?
QR is short for “Quick Response” and was originally created for the automobile manufacturing business to track parts. With the advent of smart phones and mobile marketing, QR codes are popping up everywhere in print as smart phones with a camera can scan the code to display text or a website.

If you have a camera equipped smart phone, open your scan software – most Droid based phones have software preinstalled (I use QR Droid). If you are an iPhone user, you’ll have to download the QR software as it does not come installed on your phone. When you have the software open, scan the QR Code to the left and it will open the Simple Biz Support fan page on Facebook. Isn’t this much easier compared to opening the browser on your phone and typing in a web address.

How Can You Use QR Codes In Your Business?
Here are a couple of good uses of QR codes…

• Back of REI catalog
• In a used car magazine – linked to mobile site with current inventory
• Property for sale, lease or rent – now prospect can take property info with them
• Newspaper or magazine – link to story to you can read later
• Farm/produce stand – link to history or the story of the farm
• Trade show booth – scan to enter a contest

These are just a few ways that QR codes are being used today. Carl’s Jr – next time you run a marketing campaign aimed at smart phones, be sure to include a QR code. If you had made it easy to find and install your app, I would have!