Tips for using QR Codes in Business Cards

Posted by SolidShops on May 11, 2011 at 12:54 PM

We recently made a couple of business cards for our team to give out whenever we meet interesting people. When creating these cards we’ve learned a number of things that make the use of QR codes on print such as business cards more efficient.

If you are thinking about using QR codes for your next round of business cards, the following tips may come in handy to save you time and frustration.

Always use short url’s

QR codes tend to get more complex when you put more information in them. Therefore it’s best to use a URL shortener if you want to open a web page when the users scans your card. We use goo.gl which creates a QR code for you automatically, bit.ly does the same thing. The only downside is that they don’t provide a vector version of the QR code, which is handy when designing your cards.

If you want to generate a vector QR code, use this tool which even has an API.

Make the QR code large enough

Not everyone is packing a 10 megapixel camera on their mobile phone. Make sure you test your QR code on different devices. Our first test printout had a QR code that was slightly smaller and while it worked great on iPhones, some older Android and Windows Mobile devices were having trouble recognizing the code.

This has nothing to do with the platform you are on, but with the resolution of your mobile camera. Test, iterate and test some more until you have found the perfect balance between QR code size and scannability.

Use black on white

Although we’ve had some success with a dark blue QR code on a light background, things seem to work best when just using a black QR code on a plain white background. Use colors anywhere else on your cards, but try to stick to plain black and white for your QR codes.

Track results

You will want to track how your networking efforts are working out. While sending a short email reminder after meeting somebody in person is a good idea, it’s a good idea to track your QR code campaign in any analytics tool. We use Google Analytics to keep track of how many people have scanned our cards.

Tease, reward, provide value

Reward anyone who takes the time and effort to see what that QR code on your cards is all about. Don’t just send a person to your homepage but create a separate landing page for those adventurous souls that have scanned your card.

We have set up a landing page with a little surprise for anyone who has gotten their hands on one of our cards.

Happy networking everyone!