*Special thanks to member Jenna Watson for guest blogging this week!*

Get your smart phones out! First member to comment with where the code took you gets double participation points!

Being out of the loop. If you’re anything like me, you know how frustrating this can be. As the new age of smart phones and rapidly changing technology is upon us, we are exposed to more and more effective ways to practice public relations but we don’t always fully understand them. So what are these funny looking squares we see everywhere?

This is a method that I’ve noticed gaining lots of popularity in the last year (especially on ads around campus) known as QR codes. We see them in magazines, on flyers, business cards, and even on popular websites like YouTube or Amazon. Asking around, it doesn’t seem like many college students are familiar with their purpose or function. They may seem odd or pointless at first, but when used correctly, QR codes can be an effective way to connect the public (or target audiences) to clients.

There is a lot of information about QR codes and their many uses in different industries around the world. I would like to briefly inform you about the basics of QR codes.

QR codes, short for “Quick Response” codes, were created in 1994 by Toyota to track cars during the manufacturing process. While commonly used in Japan, they have gained popularity in the U.S. in recent years. It is a barcode that links physical objects to more detailed information or online content. Its uses are  (as of 2011) used over a wide range of applications, including commercial tracking, entertainment and transport ticketing, product marketing and in-store product labeling. Examples of content a user might be “hard-linked” to can be a movie trailer, a website, coupons, photos, or mapped directions.

Accessing these codes is simple because all smart phones can download a free app that will scan the QR codes and link the user to the product content. The only issue here is that cell phone users without a smartphone can’t access the informative content QR codes provide. But it is very common for a non-smartphone user to have a friend around who could easily share the content with them. According to SmartOnline, in 2011, smart phones made up 54% of all mobile phone sales in the US.

QR codes are an essential tool in public relations because they are a quick and effective way to link audience/consumers to content regarding an event or product. Think about it; you’ve worked really hard on putting an event on campus together for your client. You make flyers and put them up with the basic information, but what if the readers of the flyers could quickly get hard-linked to your client’s Twitter account, YouTube video, or product discount coupon for coming to the event? It would make much more of an impact and add depth to your advertising.

Marc Lyne, a “Small is Beautiful” columnist for Search Engine Land, suggests creating QR codes to specifically link users to product details, contact details, offers or event details, competition details, coupons, Facebook or Twitter IDs, or links to videos.
(Check out his full article). Google and other online entities provide QR code generators.You can quickly and easily make your own for free! A simple one to start with is www.qrstuff.com!

We can see that these simple QR codes gives your audience the “inside look” at your product or event announcement, and you can get the content you want them to have, in their hands instantly. And now you know “the in” about the application of QR codes to
start enhancing your PR projects. I’ll bet we’ll continue to see many more QR codes as we grow and learn in the awesome industry of public relations.