The Benefits of Using QR Codes on your Tickets
1. What is mobile-marketing and why is it important?
Mobile-marketing is a digital-centric, multi-channel marketing strategy aimed at reaching a target audience on any mobile device. That means aiming content at smartphones, tablets or any other handheld device through websites, email, SMS, social media and apps. This essentially changes the way people engage with your brand, so it’s important to, at most, develop a mobile strategy and, at the very least, include it in your brand campaign.
Here are some basic tips on how to get started on developing your mobile strategy:
- Understand your audience, a mobile buyer persona.
- Optimize your web content for mobile.
- Make sure your call-to-actions (CTAs) are fit for mobile use (do not require too many steps.)
- Monitor your mobile metrics.
With Americans averaging 3.6 hours a day of mobile usage, the advent of the 5G network, the steady increase of smartphone use, and Google’s mobile-first indexing, the trends are showing that the future is leaning towards a more digital and mobile way of interacting with day to day life.
2. QR Codes are paving the way forward
Who would have thought in 1994, when Denso Wave first created the Quick Response (QR) Code, that these little squares would come so far? Their rise to power in the early 2000s, however, was too much too soon, and the various missteps in the process of implementing and scanning them generated several blunders.
Turns out they were just ahead of their time. Now that more and more people carry smartphones, use them on a regular basis, and expect more convenience, transparency, and eco-friendliness from brands, it is no surprise QR Codes are building a bridge to the future, enabling direct access from the offline world to online platforms by engaging your customers with your products, they are sustainable, and offer up-to-date information about your company and event.
3. Optimize your tickets with QR Codes
Using QR Codes for your event tickets can really help your attendees speed up the check-in process, as Eventbrite has promoted. But that’s not all they can do for you. QR Codes can help you seamlessly fuse events with your social media platforms, allowing event attendees to go directly to each one of your profiles without having to type and search.
You can also give your customers something back by adding a Coupon QR Code on your tickets for your next pop up party. This can help you not just reward your loyal customers, but also target new customers with amazing deals. You can also link music venues to your website with the Dynamic URL QR Code printed on ticket stubs, which allows you to redirect to any target URL, this could be your About us page, your online shop or upcoming events section.
Additionally, you can give audiences easy access to offer feedback and rate your events, or give them a fun preview of a music event with an MP3 QR Code. QR Codes are a wonderful asset to your mobile marketing campaign and really help you optimize your print marketing to connect more people to your digital platforms.
4. Metric tracking
Get real-time statistics with QR Code Generator’s tracking feature, which gathers statistical values. It is vital to optimizing your marketing campaign by seeing what did and did not work with your QR Code.
In addition to amassing the frequency of scans and unique scans, you will get information about the location, date, time, device, and operating system used for each one. With this real-time data, you will always be up to date on your QR Code’s performance success. Find out more about all the benefits you can glean from our tracking feature here.
How to create a QR Code for your Tickets?
- Go to QR Code Generator and select the type of QR Code you’d like on your tickets. We recommend using the URL QR Code to start with.*
- Enter your website address.
- Your QR Code will be generated automatically.
- Now, customize the design of your QR Code by adding a frame and a “Scan Me” logo.*
- Select colors to match your style or company brand identity.
- Select ‘Download’ to receive your QR Code file in .jpg format.
- Integrate your newly-created QR Code to your ticket design.
*Sign up to choose more QR Codes such as Event, Video, and Coupon, where you have the option of adding more information, more visuals, and edit or replace all the information without reprinting a new QR Code. You can also choose from a variety of frames and upload your own logo.
QR Codes on Tickets Best Practices
No longer constrained by a monochromatic exterior, the QR Code has been revamped! Which means you no longer have to give it a dull prescriptive approach. You can now design it to fit your brand or your very own identity with a variety of creative tools. Here is a guide to some of the features at your disposal.
1. Add instructions
One big mistake QR Code users have made in the past is printing them without a short written explanation of what the consumer would gain or learn from scanning one. Make sure to incentivize your consumers to scan your Code, or else all your marketing efforts will be for naught.
2. Frame it
With our customizable frames, you can make your QR Code complement your creative design. When generating your Code, you will be offered a wide variety of ready-made frames with different Call to Action (CTA) messages and color options from which to select. If you want to add personalized details, you have the option of customizing even more by choosing a different shape, a different icon, and even adding your own text. Check-out our guide to QR Code frames here.
3. Add a logo inside your QR Code
Once you have selected a frame option and customized your Code’s shape and color, you can choose to incorporate a brand image or company logo at the center of your QR Code. Our system automatically detects the best and largest size for uploaded logos to make sure QR Codes remain scannable, so you do not have to worry about making the correct adjustments.
4. Save your designs
Reuse the same, branded QR Code design without fretting about recreating an old one manually. QR Code Generator PRO allows you to save all your designs as templates, so you can reuse them for any of your marketing or service endeavors.
5. Customizable URL
By default, every Dynamic QR Code gets a random short URL that redirects to any page you want when the QR Code is scanned. The short URL can be customized to your preference, using your company’s name, for example, to help you stand out from competitors and build more trust among users. Follow these steps if you would like to edit your short URL.
6. Test before printing
The minimum recommended printing size for a QR Code on any marketing material is 2 x 2 cm (about 0.8 x 0.8 in). From there, you can always make it bigger, but we do not recommend going smaller as it would render your Code unscannable or even unnoticeable. Elaborate designs and low color contrast, or a large number of encoded characters require a larger printing size. To ensure your Code is perfectly readable, you should do extensive field testing with various smartphones and apps, which gives you the assurance that every user will be able to scan your Code.
For more information on getting started with QR Codes, visit our Help Center page. And visit our blog to get tips on how to get creative with your QR Code design for optimal results on your tickets.
See QR Codes on Tickets in Action
The following examples from fictional brands, which put QR Codes in active use on tickets, can illustrate how these little squares will improve your event marketing. So, if you want to get inspired to use QR Codes in an innovative, creative and unique way, read on.
Retailers
For one night only, Elle Boutique hosted a popup party. The theme was out with the old trends and in with some new fashion pieces. And to simultaneously promote their store and increase their online sales, they added a Dynamic URL QR Code to each ticket provided for the event.
Photographers and Videographers
Through the Lens were invited to take part in a photography fair a town over. They decided to promote their services by hosting a mini-lottery at their booth, handing out tickets with a Business Page QR Code printed on each one. This ensured that all participants took with them contact and location information about their store, such as their address, opening hours and, by adding a button, they also linked to their online portfolio.
Musicians and Artists
The Three Sparrows were going on tour and as a special treat to their loyal fans, they printed an MP3 QR Code with the exclusive, never before heard first track of their new album, creating hype around both the event and their new music.
Software and Game Developers
eGo Gaming Studios was hosting a tournament for the Shuriken Chronicles game, and printed the App Store QR Code to promote their new mobile game to customers and visitors. From the page, they included a personalized button linking to a video trailer. If interested, the App QR Code made it easy for them to download the game from the Apple App Store, Google Play Store or Amazon Appstore.
Cities and Cultures
Springfield City promoted related events with the Event QR Code printed on each one of their local ticketed events. The Dynamic QR Code allowed them to update the information regularly so after each event, the promotion would inform attendees of a new get together, whether it was chess club tournament, local tours or music festivals.
