Boost Sustainable Marketing Strategies: QR Codes Are Key

Jul 5, 2022
computer on glass desk with supercode qr code generator software on the screen
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QR codes are key for sustainable marketing strategies by sending information in an instant that traditional marketing could never achieve on its own. Here are just a few rewarding ideas that cut costs and deliver easy-to-measure MROIs:

  • Put a QR code on a poster, community board, or display instead of distributing flyers for sign-ups and registrations
  • Print QR codes on product packaging to save on paper and build an eco-friendly rapport
  • Make QR codes for feedback instead of checking boxes on cardstock comment forms
  • Save a vCard QR code in your phone for contacts to scan instead of printing physical business cards
  • Create QR codes for trade shows and networking events instead of handing out brochures
  • Print them on real estate marketing signs in front of homes for sale and offices in lieu of using printed materials
  • Put a discount QR code on your website or email to customers in place of sending out mailers for consumers to present in their smartphones at the store
  • Make digital gift cards to replace plastic cards for people to save in their mobile phones plus, they won't get lost or stolen
qr code on pink gift certificate

If you are keen to know why you need QR codes for your sustainable marketing strategy, how it will improve your brand rapport in the green economy, how QRs connect you to your audience effectively, why they are time and cost-efficient, and some amazing ideas about how to use them, then stick around. We'll tell you all you need to know about using QR codes for sustainable marketing.

Sustainable marketing promotes smart shopping

Sustainable marketing is a necessary main step in staying competitive in the green economy. Most consumers demand sustainability from companies, products, packaging, and services now and that need only increases with younger generations. Anyone can sell a product but if there are two competitors with the same product at a similar price then GenZs and Millennials will choose the brand with sustainability at their core.

Visibility matters to the smart consumer. Since so much information and various types of it can be stored in mobile phones by just scanning, there is no reason to not add a QR code to physical advertisements and packaging. 

Future Marketing Insights forecasted sales of smart labels to reach US$ 24.8 Bn by 2030.

FMI global smart labels charts

Sustainable marketing is reflected in your packaging

Not only is product packaging a means of safely handling and carrying materials, but it also brings brand recognition and awareness to a company. Smart packaging and smart labeling are on the rise and they are achieved best with QR codes. It strengthens a company's rapport when sustainable marketing is reflected in the way they package their materials. What's on the outside matters. 

QR codes have also been a necessary tool in food packaging and medicine packaging. The health of the consumer is now in the spotlight and by using QR codes to track the product journey and add ingredient and instructional information for the end-user, we now have a practical and transparent system that couldn't be so easily implemented before.

Communicate your environmental impact through the use of QR codes

Traceability is rapidly gaining momentum in the supply chain industry regarding materials used for products, how they are shipped, fair working practices, and ingredient descriptions for food and medicine consumed. The easiest way to communicate your environmental impact progress and stay accountable for corporate social responsibility is by using QR codes throughout the supply chain. Since you can add any content you want to your URLs, records, landing pages, etc., you can add information necessary to a product's journey or simply share its ingredients or instructions. By making a URL QR code for a specific product or by generating QR codes in bulk for separate product IDs, being transparent gets easier.

Since sustainable marketing visibly adds to companies' eco-friendly reputations, adding QR codes to products and their packaging with valuable content will build your sustainable rapport as a brand. 

Business Wire reports that up to 60% of consumers world wide take sustainability into account as one of their core reasons to purchase from a brand. Using technology that can back that up prevents greenwashing.

orange wall with shopping cart and lady

Effective waste reduction is achieved with sustainable marketing techniques

QR codes enhance sustainable marketing by reducing the printing that you would have had to do in the past to convey your message. This decreases the amount of clutter in public venues, events, and nature. 

Technology drives sustainable marketing with easy-to-do solutions that are time and cost-efficient. QR codes are effective, fast, and measurable for remarkable campaigns that deliver a higher MROI than traditional one-dimensional advertisements and costly heaps of prints.

Since corporations used to be large contributors to printing marketing materials and paper waste, QR codes are the answer to sustainable marketing because a PDF QR code could be used on any advertisement to route the person scanning the necessary information immediately. This cuts down on paper, ink usage and printing costs. What is more, the monetary cost of a safe and reliable QR code generator package is far less than prints and ink and doesn't weigh down on the environment.

Sustainable marketing is measurable with QR codes

You no longer have to wonder how to measure your marketing campaigns. QR code tracking is automatically done with Supercode analytics in real-time, enabling the QR code creator to see in what city and what time scans took place. Not only is this giving quality content to your TA but empowering you to know how many people cared enough to interact with your brand if they scanned a QR code on a billboard walking by for instance.

Traditional marketing can't be measured this way but it doesn't become obsolete either. Putting a QR code on a traditional advertisement just opens up two-way communication between brand and consumer much more conveniently, and sustainably.

Ruler Analytics claims 32% of marketers prefer monthly reporting, but with QR codes, analytics are tracked in real-time, empowering marketing teams to have a more precise and detailed view of their campaigns and address anything that needs to be changed sooner. Moreover, dynamic QR codes enable marketers to change content on the back end without having to reprint a physical code, making sustainable marketing more attainable by not having to redo physical advertisements but also keep their TA up to date at any time. 

qr code on a hotel ad with blue sky

Sustainable marketing with QR codes reinforce authenticity and anti-fraud of the product and brand

Since QR codes are customizable, it's easy to add your branded colors and logo to the design for brand recognition. But there are other ways to distribute QR codes into your sustainable marketing strategy such as sowing them into clothing tags or using them to authenticate luxury goods like bags or jewelry. 

When customers know what to expect when scanning your QR code, you can prevent theft of your brand and ensure consumers that they have an authentic product. Just make sure they know what should pop up on the other side of the code. It's more sustainable and practical than carrying certificates of authenticity that can get lost or stolen. Having a digital code with a product ID is more convenient and secure.

Final thoughts on sustainable marketing with QR codes

Sustainable marketing paired with QR codes is the perfect way to build a connection with your TA and gain an eco-friendly rapport at the same time. Transmitting your quality content to consumers and providing interesting ways for them to interact with you will only make your measurable sustainable marketing strategy more intriguing and successful in the long term.

Create QR codes with Supercode QR Code Generator and lower your environmental impact due to marketing materials. Try it for free and see how your sustainable marketing campaigns improve.

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