Thursday, April 21, 2011

What’s a QR Code and how are we applying it to real estate?

What’s a QR Code? It’s the bar code shown to the left. You might be asking yourself what you’re supposed to do with that. Well, if you take your smartphone (Android, Blackberry, iPhone, etc) you will find there is a free app called QR Code Scanner. Download this app and you will be able to read the information the code provides.

You might have seen these around and not known what they were or what to do with them. Originally these were made in Japan to track vehicle manufacturing parts back the early 1990’s. Today you can find QR codes in and on video games, tourist locations, in-store displays, mailing campaigns, tradeshows, museums, and even billboards. The codes provide anything from general information, to instructions, to customer feedback forms, to even your receipt for a purchase.

What exactly is a QR Code? QR stands for Quick Response. Essentially data such as a website link is stored within the code and it allows you to scan the code and receive the information via the internet. It can also store simple text that can be viewed right on your phone. This is also known as mobile tagging. The difference between a product bar code you see at the store everyday and a QR code is the amount of data it can hold.

Fun facts: 57% of Facebook and Twitter users say they have scanned a QR code at least once in the last 12 months. 40% consider themselves frequent users having scanned more than 5 times. There’s a 1200% increase in scanning QR codes in general from July 2010 to December 2010. Starbucks is starting to use QR codes for payment.

The population of smartphone users is growing. According to Burson Marsteller, research shows 78% of Fortune 500 companies use QR Codes and that number is still growing. This is just the beginning.

So why use QR Codes in real estate? While Internet searches and print advertising are grand, using QR Codes is mass marketing in the area we are selling or leasing property. In a real estate office how often does the phone ring and the conversation begin with, “I saw your sign at…”? It’s a huge number of times. If someone is walking downtown Portsmouth and sees my retail space they can take out their phone, scan the code, and receive the data to their phone immediately. Customer satisfaction achieved on the spot. And, it’s completely traceable. We can track how many people are scanning our code at any given time. It’s one of the easiest, free marketing strategies available. Because of all of the reasons above, the number of people who use and feel comfortable using QR codes is growing. It also allows us to give more data to our customers than a normal sign will allow, and then can then share that data with other decision makers in their company.

But what about you? How will you personally use QR codes outside of the business world? Jade Monkey Tattoo in Phoenix is now offering QR code tattoos. The reason? In case of an accident there can be medical information, personal information like your name and address, or perhaps it goes to your website when scanned. If this becomes the way of the future will your first tattoo be a QR code?

Written by Sarah Carson, NAI Norwood Group, scarson@nainorwoodgroup.com




Our offices: 116 South River Road, Bedford, NH 03110, (603)668-7000 or 100 Market Street Suite 200, Portsmouth, NH 03801 (603) 431-3001.