QR codes have changed how consumers interact with businesses for building long-term relationships, sharing experiences, and more. The value added comes from QR code tracking which gives more insight into the question that stumps all marketing teams - how many people are we reaching and is this even working?
Measuring campaign performance not only helps you manage the ones that you are presently working on, but it tells you what's working and what isn't so you can adjust them to your audience's needs. QR code tracking is the next necessary step in following through with your hard work so it doesn't go unnoticed or doesn't serve your audience. It's not only about seeing dates of scans and numbers of scanners, but seeing why action wasn't taken afterward so you can trace your steps and notice any red flags in your campaigns.
We'll address some of the common issues with scaling traditional marketing campaigns and why integrating QR codes will amplify them so you can easily adjust them to your audience's needs. Setting up the right dynamic QR code from the beginning will help and then you watch the scans pour in through real-time analytics.
We'll teach you everything you need to know about QR code tracking to bring you the best marketing return on investment (MROI) so you can adjust your campaigns for the best customer experience possible. We'll tell you why to track, how to track, and what you actually see when you track QR code scans.
Did you ever create an amazing marketing campaign and spend hours, days, or even weeks trying to figure out the outcome? How many people did you reach and how many actually responded? From there, what was the amount of profit gained or long-term customers you received? Did you achieve a positive or negative return on investment?
Before QR code tracking there were a few ways to measure MROI, like coupons online or even older, from the Sunday paper. Tracking MROI can be done differently according to different campaigns. Say you make a billboard at a subway station to generate leads and attract sales. But without a discount code or asking people, "How did you find out about us?" it's not easy to know if your campaign has reached anyone, or even worse, if it was ineffective.
QR codes are the best way to connect your offline campaigns with your online presence. They provide a seamless way for people to move from seeing your ad to acting on it. They are the next step to lead generation, building consumer trust, and establishing rapport all while comprehensively measuring your efforts to do so.
Not only is QR code tracking necessary for campaign management but for interaction and building trust with customers. Say they walk past a beautiful display on the high street and then they look up your website later. No way to tell where they came from and no interaction. Now put a beautifully designed, dynamic QR code on the same display or billboard and track QR code scans coming in through your QR code analytics dashboard. For example, you can see that 3000 people scanned on one street in New York but 6000 people scanned the code on the other in Chicago. You wouldn't know the exact number of interested people without tracking QR code scans.
The good news is that QR code tracking is available with all dynamic QR codes which are best to use for campaigns anyways because they are editable from the back end without having to be reprinted. This means the most current updates and experiences are always being shared with those who scan and if there happens to be an error it's fixable. Static QR codes are not editable and are used more for information that would not change like email QR codes or vCard QR codes. In any event, static QR codes could be tracked in Google Analytics but it's really best to use dynamic codes for marketing as they hold the type of information marketing caters to anyway. Please read our article for a more in-depth view of static vs. dynamic QR codes.
The best way to start QR code tracking is to make a dynamic QR code with Supercode's QR code generator software. The first 4 steps below is a brief instruction on how to create a QR code. We offer a more extensive guide if you need it. For the QR code analytics alone, please skip to step 5.
Go to Supercode.com and sign up for an account in minutes. We offer a 14-day free trial and to keep your QR codes scanning and available, you can proceed with any of our competitive plans.
If you choose to make a code with a URL, you’ll get the option to create either a static QR Code or a dynamic QR code. Make sure to choose a dynamic QR code if you want to track your campaign. Static QR codes don’t come with analytics.
After choosing a dynamic QR code, generate it with the correct and quality content to convey your purpose and design it well to attract the user's eye.
Add branded colors on your QR code with an external pick tool for brand recognition and awareness, and give a clear call-to-action so people know why it's worth it to scan. Having a beautifully designed QR code will evoke them to scan as opposed to a boring black and white one. QR codes pass on an element of curiosity for the consumer as they want to know more and crave that extra digital experience to accompany one-dimensional advertising.
After making a well-planned and executed marketing campaign it would be a shame to add a QR code that didn't route to an interesting and well-worth-it experience. Of course, there are other aspects, like an m-commerce store to directly buy the product being advertised and therefore the customer may not be expecting an extra element of surprise, as long as there's a clear message that that's what the QR code's result is. But we do recommend always keeping e-stores mobile optimized as shoppers who scan QR codes are on mobile phones and don't want to have to sign in to the computer later for the same experience. For more details about best QR code practices, check out our 50 Dos and Don'ts Guide for free.
Print your QR code on materials that can sustain them and at a place and angle in which they aren't driving, difficult to get to, or at a distance with an insufficient size. We offer a free QR code printing guide to assist you in any campaign with tips and tricks that are necessary. Always test your code before printing, especially on thousands of materials. Another reason that dynamic is great is for the edibility in the event an error was written.
QR code scans begin to show up in your dashboard as soon as your audience scans them. This allows you to track how your campaign performs in real-time. You can filter your options by dates as well. View when people scan in different cities and countries and with feedback QR codes, the star ratings and comments they leave.
Additionally, you can export analytics pages to CSV files to make the results easily shareable with other team members for more scalable future campaigns. QR code tracking over time will enable marketing teams to view tangible data based on evidence of interaction. Not only will you receive insight as to where your target audience is, but how you can adjust your campaigns to cater to the customer.
Say people are scanning your QR codes for social media but they begin to follow you on Instagram and not Twitter as much. Is it because they don't use Twitter or because the content there needs to be modified to suit their uses? Since QR code analytics are so telling, they will help you catch red flags like this along the way so your efforts don't go unnoticed and your customers remain underserved.
Get a quick overview of your most popular offers and QR code placements. The dashboard shows which of your codes have the most scans based on the chosen period. Use this information to influence future QR code campaigns.
Overall analytics (that can be accessed in the top header) can show you all the scanned codes over time to show your most popular codes, how many are active, and when they are receiving the most action from users. Filter by QR or by the folders toggles on the right.
The Supercode QR code dashboard has all the tracking functionality you need to stay on top of your campaign. You’ll see a complete picture of your dynamic QR codes scans and with the details below. The data is presented in a visual, easy-to-read way.
Analytics per QR code can be seen by going into your main dashboard and clicking the number of scans next to the code. We'll give you a step-by-step below on how to do this below. Here you will see the number of scans, unique scans, what dates they are being scanned, be able to see cities and countries, operating systems, and filter the dates as well.
(Please see explanations of the red numbers below.)
See the number of scans each QR code and your entire campaign receives. This highlights which codes are performing best. Use this insight to see the best places to put future codes and your most effective offers. Even reevaluate how you have placed the codes on the campaign as stated above with the link to the free printing guide.
Discover the countries and cities that people scan your QR code in. Perhaps you've used one code for the entire marketing campaign or you can use a different code in every city although the campaign stays the same. For the sake of easier scaling, we suggest a different code for each place. Use this to track the effectiveness of national and international campaigns in different locations. Find out if people react better to your offer in certain places than in others. Going further, different campaigns are enticing to different audiences.
You could say the same on a smaller scale, like a shopping mall where teens are frequent shoppers vs. the high street where there are many high rises with professionals going to work each day. You're going to attract a different demographic and your target audience could just be in a different location.
If your campaign is running in newspapers or magazines or another printed advertisement, you may see that there are certain moments more popular than others. You also may see that you're better off printing the code on a display or billboard than in an expensive magazine. Or vice versa. Additionally, some printed publications are more localized and some are national so you'll receive exceptional insight as to where you need to up your game or on what demographic deserves more attention. Even more, where not to waste your time, energy, and money.
Track the exact date and time people scan the QR code. Some campaigns last longer than others. Obviously between Black Friday and New Years is a heavy shopping period in many cultures and if you've got an e-store then you're more likely to attract more scans over the holidays. There are many other considerations that you will realize are important to you as you begin your personalized campaigns for your needs. You can filter dates by using the drop-down next to the calendar. You can filter by days, weeks, and months.
See the number of unique scans your QR code receives based on the IP address of the scanner. Use this metric to see the number of people that interact with your campaign. Venues or restaurants can use unique scans to see the percentage of repeat customers. So if 1 person scans 5 times, it will show as 1 unique scan.
Discover the operating system people use to scan your QR code. Are they iOS or Android users? Ensure your website, app, and other materials work well on the operating systems that receive views.
We strongly suggest choosing dynamic QR codes for your campaigns to be able to track QR codes on Supercode's analytics dashboard vs. an external source. The reasons are as follows:
If it is important to you to use an external system for static QR code tracking, Google Analytics works with your QR code generator dashboard. It shows information about how your target audience uses your website.
To begin tracking QR codes with Google Analytics you need to:
You can then view information about your marketing campaign in your Google Analytics dashboard.
Supercode's QR code analytics dashboard is the best tool to use for easy QR code tracking done for you. Make digital marketing campaigns interactive, measurable and memorable to understand your consumers and increase your MROI.
Try it for free and watch the scans roll in. When you become a member, your codes never expire and you always have access to your analytics dashboard on every code.
