Why You Should Be Using QR Codes in Your Marketing (And Not Just as a Gimmick)

QR codes have quietly gone from “weird techy box no one uses” to something your audience will happily scan in a restaurant, on packaging, in store or on a poster.

Brands now use QR codes. Very few actually treat them as part of their marketing and measurement strategy.

Used properly, QR codes do three very valuable things for marketers:

1. Turn offline assets into clickable media

2. Give you behavioural proof your brand activity is working

3. Feed cleaner data into your analytics / MMM so you can defend budgets

Let’s break that down.

1. QR codes turn “passive” media into clickable journeys

Any surface your brand controls can become a clickable touchpoint:

• TV, OOH, print, direct mail

• Store windows, packaging, shelf wobblers

• Events, pop-ups, uniforms, lanyards

Instead of expecting people to:

remember the brand → search later → find the right page

…a QR lets them:

see something they like → tap camera → land exactly where you want them

You decide what that is:

• Product page

• Offer / promo

• Lead form

• App store

• “Book a demo / viewing / consultation” journey

You’ve effectively turned every physical surface into a performance ad unit.

2. With campaign parameters, QR scans become real marketing data

This is the bit most teams miss.

If your QR goes straight to: https://yourbrand.com/whatever

…then in analytics those users just show up as Direct or Unknown. It “worked”, but you can’t prove anything:

• Which channel drove them?

• Which creative?

• Which branch / store / region?

• Which campaign?

Instead, you want every QR on a campaign to point to a short URL that redirects into a tagged URL with campaign parameters (UTMs).

Example pattern:

What the user sees on the QR: https://your.brand/tv1

Where it actually redirects to:

https://yourbrand.com/landing
  ?utm_source=qr
  &utm_medium=ooh
  &utm_campaign=summer_launch
  &utm_content=city_centre_billboard

Same idea for any channel:

• utm_medium=branch_window, store_poster, direct_mail, event, etc.

• utm_campaign = the campaign concept (e.g. valuation_push_q3, new_range_launch)

• utm_content = creative, placement or location

Now every scan from that QR carries useful information into your analytics:

• Channel

• Campaign

• Location / creative

You can report on QR journeys exactly like you would a paid social or email campaign.

3. An everyday example: estate agency windows

Take something very ordinary: property cards in an estate agent’s window.

Most agencies today:

• Put a QR on the card

• Point it at the property page

• Call it a day

From the customer side, that’s fine.From the marketing side, you’ve just lost a huge opportunity.

What happens if you tag it properly

Imagine every QR in the windows uses a structured link, e.g.:

https://your.agency/kensington-12a
→ redirects to
https://youragency.co.uk/property/1234
  ?utm_source=qr
  &utm_medium=branch_window
  &utm_campaign=sales_core_stock_q2
  &utm_content=branch_kensington_panel_a

Now, every time someone scans a QR from that window card, you know:

• It was from a branch window, not a portal or email

• It was part of your Q2 sales stock push

• It came from the Kensington branch, panel A (e.g. top-left of the window grid)

In your analytics / CRM you can now see:

• How many sessions, enquiries and viewings came from branch window QRs

• Which branches generate the most engagement from passers-by

• Which window designs / templates drive more scanning and enquiries

Instead of “our windows look nice” you can say:

“Our window QRs brought in 180 viewing requests and 25 valuation leads last month, mostly from these three branches and these two template designs.”

And when those numbers are rolled up into MMM or broader reporting, “branch windows” stop being décor and become a measurable channel.

4. Why this matters for measurement & MMM (without going full data-nerd)

When budgets get squeezed, every channel gets asked the same question:

“What did this actually do?”

Your digital channels have solid answers:

• Clicks

• Sessions

• Purchases / leads

Offline often doesn’t. That’s where QR data helps:

• It gives you behavioural evidence that people are responding to offline assets

• It creates extra inputs your MMM / econometrics can use, e.g.

  • weekly_tv_qr_sessions

  • weekly_store_qr_signups

  • weekly_window_qr_valuations

The model still looks at spend, impressions, promotions and seasonality – that fundamentals don’t change. But now it can see:

• When offline QR engagement spikes, do sales or leads spike too?

• Are some campaigns or formats consistently driving more of that behaviour?

That makes your MMM:

• More believable (because you can point at real journeys, not just a curve)

• More actionable (because you can see which offline formats actually move people to act)

And it gives you better stories for leadership than “the model thinks OOH is worth it”.

5. How to start using QR codes properly in your marketing

This doesn’t need to be a huge project. You just need some rules.

a) Agree a simple tracking schema

Before the next campaign:

• Decide how you’ll set utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign, utm_content for QR

• Build a tiny internal tool or spreadsheet that takes:

  • Channel

  • Campaign name

  • Placement / creative…and outputs the correct URL

b) Always use short links

Long, ugly URLs make dense QRs that are harder to scan.

Use:

• Your own branded short domain, or

• A URL shortener that preserves your UTMs

Print the short link in the QR. Let it redirect to your fully tagged URL.

c) Design for scanning, not just aesthetics

For every creative:

• Make the QR big enough, with good contrast

• Put it where it’s natural for the eye to land

• Add a clear CTA:

  • “Scan to book a viewing”

  • “Scan for 10% off”

  • “Scan to see it in AR”

Designers still have freedom – you’re just giving the QR a proper job to do.

d) Create one simple “QR report”

For your analytics or BI team, agree a basic table per week (or per day):

• Channel (e.g. tv, branch_window, packaging, event)

• Campaign

• Location / creative (if relevant)

• QR sessions / scans

• QR conversions / revenue / leads

That’s enough for:

• Day-to-day marketing optimisation

• Your data team to plug it into MMM or other modelling

The bottom line

QR codes are no longer a novelty. Your customers know how to use them.

If you:

• Treat them like real campaign touchpoints, not just decorative icons

• Always back them with tagged URLs and short links

• Build a simple habit of reporting on their performance

…you turn every poster, window, box and leaflet into measurable marketing.

And when someone asks, “Does this stuff actually work?” you won’t be waving your hands. You’ll have the scans, sessions, and revenue to prove it.