How QR code responses can be measured with web analytics

The real world and the online world became much more merged with the widespread interest in Quick Response codes (QR codes).  You may have seen QR codes around -- those black-and-white squares meshed into a near psychedelic design.   Those eclectically-arranged squares hold information just like barcodes, but containing much more information. There are thousands of alphanumeric characters, permitting numerous combination of multimedia information.   Customers retrieve information on a QR code through a scanner, usually on smartphone. This is part of their appeal.  Marketers can create QR codes that link to a web page, text, phone numbers, or a SMS message.

QR codes can be woven into an ad design, big and small, such as this JetBlue ad in a New York subway

Businesses generate QR codes through free online generator sites such as Kaywa and Kerem Erkan.. Some URL shorteners, like bit.ly and goo.gl, generate a QR code associated with the shortened links created.

For customers, there are a number of QR readers available. Most phones contain a reader; iPhone, for example, has a few reader apps available,  I-nigma, QR Scanner, and Red Laser.

Measurement from an analytics perspective requires inserting a destination URL that can be distinguished by an analytics solution.  Approaches include:

• Have the QR code send the user to a landing page with an analytics tag included in the code.  Page traffic data would indicate  respondent interest in the QR code.
• If the QR is part of an overall campaign, a tracking link can be appended at the end of the destination URL.  The variable is constructed from an online builder, such as the URL Builder Google supplies for Google Analytics (see here), or from an excel sheet with concatenation for numerous campaigns.
• MyQR.co provides analytics and the ability to customize the color of your QR codes. This combination of analytics and shortening will continue, but user should be mindful of the traffic sources in which the analytic solution can monitor.   For example, MyQR.co is used for response regarding the code itself, but users may still need a shortener that can sync with a web analytics solution.  Unilyzer offers a free shortener which tracks visits from a tweet and retweet within Google Analytics, so a user can embed it into a QR code.

With QR codes, the ability to connect people with multimedia digital content is only limited by the imagination.