QR Codes for Small Businesses: How to Create & Use Them

Need a QR Code menu to replace physical menus in your cafe or restaurant? Check out our complete guide to QR Code menus.

Did you know there is a world record that exists for QR Codes?

Carved in a wheat field in China, the World’s Largest QR Code measures 36100 square meters based on the Guinness World Record data. While a QR Code that huge might seem entirely deviated from the original functionality of QR Codes, it does explain the extent of potential entrusted with a QR Code.

QR Codes when rightly synchronized with the marketing efforts can help expand your organization from a relatively unknown small business to a thriving one. The significance of QR Codes has been time and again proven by brands that are using it right!

Creating a functional QR Code for small businesses does not require a large wheat field or any intricate efforts; all you need is to make a couple of right choices and execute them.

Here are the top 10 ways how small businesses can use QR Codes – 

1. Giveaways to drive loyalty
2. Boost app downloads
3. Increase social media visibility
4. Help customers find you
5. Get customer feedback
6. Track campaigns & retarget customers
7. Boost website traffic
8. Build email marketing list
9. Instantly share contact details
10. Boost engagement rates

Read on to learn more.

Table of contents

1. How to set up QR Codes for your small business?
2. Best QR Code practices small businesses should follow
3. 10 ways how small businesses can use QR Codes
4. COVID QR Codes for small businesses
5. FAQs

How to set up a QR Code for your small business? A step-by-step guide

Step 1. Choose a QR Code Generator for your business

The key to creating a successful QR Code campaign is to find the right QR Code generator for your business’s needs. Choosing a QR Code generator like Beaconstac with an intuitive platform to instantly set up your QR Code campaigns is helpful. Turning to a ready-to-use platform for generating QR Codes makes things more comfortable as they do not require you to have prior coding knowledge.

Step 2. Choose the content

Once the QR Code is generated using the chosen QR Code generator, businesses then need to decide what would be the content linked to the QR Code. Here are some examples of the content that SMBs could utilize to connect with the QR codes based on the type of business.

1. Business consultancy: Add QR Codes to business cards and effortlessly share contact information.
2. E-commerce: Drive traffic to your store page by linking QR Codes with your business website.
3. Beauty & Lifestyle: Link your QR Codes to ‘how-to-videos’ that help customers understand your product better.
4. Real-estate: Connect QR Codes with an image gallery of the properties for sale.
5. Publishing house: Use QR Codes that connect to a pdf of a book sample.

RELATED: 30+ different types of QR Codes for your business

Beaconstac provides both static and dynamic QR Codes based on your requirement for scheduling single or multiple campaigns.

Buy the QR Code marketing solution for your business.

Pro tip: Always analyze where you want your QR code to point. You can link it to social media, but review your prospects’ customer journey and link your QR code to a touchpoint that furthers the customer journey. It is always advisable to point to your own website, with your own domain.

Step 3. Choose your design and customization

A QR Code is no longer all black and white. Businesses can design and customize QR Codes based on their specific requirements. Beaconstac provides you the option of changing the color of your QR Code’s background and foreground based on the theme and color scale of your campaign or business.

You can also include your business logo in the QR Code design. When it comes to customization of QR Code designs, the only limit is the extent of your imagination.

Businesses can choose to print these QR Codes on any marketing material that is best suited for the category of business.

Step 4. Track campaigns

Keeping track of your QR Code scans is an excellent way of defining the success or failure of your QR Code campaigns. For businesses with QR Codes printed on different marketing materials, tracking scans of each QR Code help to identify and rank the marketing tools from most to least effective thereby optimizing the results obtained.

The following are some fantastic uses of QR Codes that can apply to almost all small businesses irrespective of the categories to which they belong.

QR Codes: Best practices small businesses should follow

1. Include Call-to-action:

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It is always important to give your customers a valid reason to scan a QR Code. Incorporating a catchy phrase as a call to action with your QR Code is the way to persuade customers to scan them.

2. Insist on high quality and the right size:

For your QR Code initiatives to work, always ensure that the QR Codes are scannable. A QR Code that is too big or too small for a smartphone to detect is just a wastage of time and money that SMBs cannot afford.

3. Pay attention to positioning:

Another important aspect that you cannot afford to ignore is the positioning of your QR Code campaigns. Place your QR Code where it is easy for people to see and scan them.

Here’s an example of wrong QR Code positioning

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An example of the right QR Code positioning –

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4. Test it before you print it:

Spending some time to verify the design and functioning of your QR Code is an important step to take that will help you avoid mistakes that might result in a poor customer experience.

5. Make it rewarding for your customers:

Including something useful and engaging to reward those customers who take the time to scan your QR Codes is an excellent way of influencing them to scan the codes.

10 ways how small businesses can use QR Codes

1. QR Codes with giveaways to drive loyalty card memberships

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Incorporating QR Codes with giveaways and freebies is an effective way for small businesses to increase loyalty card subscribers. Giving away a few samples of your product and offering access to member-exclusive discounts and freebies are useful in building a loyal customer base.

2. Use QR Codes to boost app downloads

If you just started your LLC, are in the small business stage, and have launched your app, placing QR Code embedded posters on display windows and storefront is a brilliant way of creating awareness and boosting app downloads.

3. Add QR Codes on products and flyers to gain social media visibility

QR Codes on products like these can create visibility for your social media presence and enhance the number of likes, shares, and followers for your business profile pages on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram.

Creating flyers can be an arduous task. Try Venngage to create beautiful flyers for your business within minutes.

4. Use QR Code embedded billboards to help customers locate you

If you have a newly opened outlet that customers are not quite aware of, you can help customers navigate to your store by linking QR Codes to your location on Google maps. Placing such QR Code embedded billboards on busy highways and densely populated areas can boost your in-store traffic.

5. QR Codes on receipts and labels to get customer feedback

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If your business has just started picking up, you should be looking at considering customer feedback that would help you improve. QR Codes on receipts, product labels, or customer purchase invoices can help you gain valuable customer insights if you link them to feedback forms.

Check out these professional, ready-to-use, and free invoice templates.

6. Track your campaigns and retarget customers using dynamic QR Codes

Small businesses can use dynamic QR Codes to track campaign metrics such as the number of scans, scan demographics, best/worst performing campaigns, and much more. This allows you to optimize your existing marketing campaigns and improve the ROI for your business.  

Additionally, dynamic QR Codes can help small businesses retarget potential customers on Facebook and Google with relevant ad campaigns. This allows your business to meaningfully engage with prospects who have interacted with your brand but haven’t converted yet.

7. Direct customers to your website/landing page with QR Codes

URL-based QR Codes can help your business direct customers to your own website or campaign landing pages, which in turn, can result in more online traffic and sales.

Small businesses can use these QR Codes outside their establishment, print material, etc., to drive customers to their desired URL destination. 

8. Build your email marketing list with QR Codes

Using URL QR Codes can also help small businesses direct customers to lead generation landing pages where they can capture users’ emails by having them fill forms and sign up for discounts or additional information.

RELATED: QR Codes and Email Marketing

9. Instantly share your contact details using vCard QR Codes

With vCard QR Codes, small businesses can instantly and easily share their business contact details with their potential customers. Prospects just need to scan the QR Code and save the details on their smartphones for future reference.

Moreover, dynamic vCard QR Codes can allow you to update your business contact details as and when required without reprinting the QR Code.

10. Boost your engagement rates with video QR Codes

Every business wants its prospects and customers to be engaged with its products/services to improve conversion rates and build brand loyalty. Your business can also achieve so by using video QR Codes, which once scanned, lead users to your ad campaign videos, product tutorial videos, and more.

Here are 15 QR Code examples from brands that are killing it!

How can COVID QR Codes help small businesses?

With lockdown restrictions lifting up across the world, here are some ways how COVID QR Codes can help your business comply with the latest reopening regulations and maintain high safety standards – 

1. Display operational hours using dynamic QR Codes

Since the reopening, different businesses have been allowed to operate for a specified number of hours during the day. As restrictions change based on the COVID situation in a particular region, businesses need to constantly inform their customers of their availability.

Dynamic QR Codes can help small businesses efficiently display their operational hours to customers. As dynamic QR Codes allow you to update the content as many times as required, businesses can leverage these codes to constantly update their opening hours and keep customers up-to-date on their availability without reprinting the QR Code.

Whenever customers cross your business establishment, they can quickly scan the QR Code and get to know your opening hours.

2. Share safety protocols with your customers

Even though COVID restrictions are being gradually lifted up, many businesses/places are still required to adhere to certain safety protocols such as the capped capacity for large events, mandatory masks for unvaccinated people, regular sanitization of the premises, and more.

Businesses can use PDF QR Codes to ensure customers are aware of the mandatory safety measures. These QR Codes can be placed at the entrance so customers can easily scan the code, view the instructions, and comply with the necessary protocols. 

3. Have customers fill contactless forms using QR Codes 

Many business establishments still require customers to present negative COVID reports, vaccination certificates, or declare symptoms, if any, before entering the premises.

Businesses can deploy contactless visitor forms using QR Codes to get access to the required information about their visitors, set conditions for denying access, and ensure a safer environment for everyone involved. 

These QR Codes can be placed at entry points so visitors can scan the code, fill in the necessary information on the form, and proceed only if they meet the requirements.

Frequently asked questions

1. How do I get a QR Code for my business?

Setting up a QR Code for your business with Beaconstac is extremely simple. Here’s how you can create one in 5 simple steps –

a. Go to Beaconstac’s QR Code generator. You can also sign up for a 14-day free trial (no credit card needed).

b. Choose the type of QR Code you want to create (location, URL, app download, social media, etc.).

c. Enter all relevant details that you want the QR Code to direct towards.

d. Customize your QR Code to make it more appealing by trying out various templates, frames, CTA text, brand logo, and more.

e. Generate, test, and download the QR Code in your preferred format and use it wherever required.

• Author Details

Author Details

Chaitra Joshi

Check out other posts by Chaitra on Beaconstac! You can also explore the related posts below to help you maximize your ROI.

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