Conclusion
Figure Credit: Matt Edwards, Image Creator; Fred Beecher, Photo; used with permission.
QR codes are a lot like me when I was a teenager.
My mom used to say that I had potential. At the time I just assumed she meant I was awesome.
It wasn't until I was a parent that I really understood what she was saying.
Potential meant that right then, teenage me, sucked. But one day, she hoped, she'd be able to talk to the neighbors about me without mentioning the word parole.
QR codes are full of potential—when they work.
Just now, I saw seven QR codes in a magazine. Three led to error pages, three went to non-mobile-friendly pages, and one worked.
We can do better than this.
If websites worked only one out of every seven times we tried them, there would be nobody surfing the Internet.
If you answered your phone only one out of every seven times it rang, people would stop calling.
I say, take a mulligan on QR codes and start fresh. We need to ask ourselves if our market is ready for them. Are we ready for them? Is our website ready for them?
Until the answer to those questions is yes, we should focus on creating great products, great services, and great experiences.
If you have any examples of your own that you'd like to share, you can tweet them to me @unmarketing, tag them on Instagram ...
