9 out of 10 companies using QR codes will continue to bet on this channel in 2013, but only 23.8% offer optimized content for smartphones. 12.1% linked QR with social networks.

Companies are convinced that QR codes generate business opportunities. 94.1% of those who have already used them will continue betting on this channel of communication in 2013, according to the “II Study on the use of QR codes in companies” by the marketing and communication agency Selenus. 91.4% consider them useful in times of crisis. However, only 10.5% of companies use them as a marketing strategy.

And is that, although two-dimensional codes are increasingly popular in our country, the vast majority of companies are content to include them in their promotional media without adding any added value to the user. 45.2% of the analyzed codes leads to a website that is not adapted to smartphones, by a 23.8% that does offer its own content and optimized. Linking to a social network (12.1%) or showing a video on YouTube (11.4%) are other common uses.

The main purpose of companies that use this technology is to convey a cutting-edge image of their brand, according to 82.4%. A good part of them (76.5%) is also intended to attract potential customers, but only 35.5% is set to increase sales. QR codes are also often used to differentiate themselves from competition (70.6%) or to open a new channel of contact with customers (76.5%). Cases the QR code is the key element of the campaign. The rest, 89.5%, links to content that provides some kind of information but in no case are part of a strategy previously defined. Many of them also do not have scan data, 42.2%. Only half pay attention to how users interact with their QR code to make subsequent improvements or offer a better service.

Nevertheless, the companies surveyed rate their overall satisfaction with 7.7, slightly more than 1.7 points compared to a year ago, in large part because having a QR already meets their objectives (convey a vanguard image) and The popularization of two-dimensional codes among the population.

Preference for the poster

Although QR codes can be located anywhere, posters (76.5%) and brochures (52.9%) are long preferred by companies, who also prefer to include them in business cards (47.1%), advertisements in press (35.3%) or merchandising (20.2%). Few still dare to place the code in products or packaging (11.8%).