Have you noticed the square, strange-looking bar codes that appear on boxes, print ads, and signs? These are called QR codes. They can be easily scanned by a smartphone to automatically pull up information such as URLs, phone numbers, videos, photographs, text, and more. Businesses have been using them for years, though now political campaigns are starting to adopt them, too.
QR stands for ‘Quick Response’. They were first developed by a Japanese company named Denso-Wave in 1994. QR codes are two-dimensional bar codes that can be read both vertically and horizontally. The codes consist of a grid of tiny squares. This allows for far more data to be encoded in a much smaller space than a conventional bar code.
QR codes are readable by smartphones and QR scanners. So, whereas a bar code pretty much only identifies a product and needs a special device to be scanned, QR codes can embed much more information and trigger an action when read, such as downloading a music file or launching a website directly on your phone.
Initially, QR codes were used for industrial purposes, but now they have a much wider commercial use within the digital world. Their use grew during the COVID-19 pandemic. They can be added to a business card or an email to send someone with a reader directly to your website.
For political campaigns, QR codes can be used in a variety of ways:
Contact information: Add all your contact information, including phone number, address, website, and email, into one code. These images can go anywhere—even on the pages of your website!
Name tags or business cards: Add all your information to your name tag, and others can simply scan it to download all your details.
Campaign literature and signs: Add additional information without taking up much space. Use large codes for signs so they can be photographed easily.
QR codes are still fairly alien to most people, so make it a little easier for them by adding something of value. Don’t just send them to your website when scanned. Perhaps send them to a special offer just for users of QR codes, to add something of value. Whatever you decide to do, enjoy using your codes and start being creative!
Try the QR Generator Tool.
