Are QR Codes Still a Viable Marketing Element?

Techcrunch https://techcrunch.com/2017/01/31/website-snapcodes/

Remember QR codes? They're sprinkled through the latest edition of my Marketing Plan Handbook and they therefore date the book to a period when QR codes were everywhere. Then apps became ubiquitous and many experts declared QR codes a thing of the past.

Not so fast. In fact, QR codes have new life among social media sites! Snapchat, for instance, invites businesses to create Snapcodes that are QR codes. Updating the QR code for the Snap generation, in other words.

Pinterest is also updating the QR code idea, with its object-recognition lens that can understand a QR code and then open the website associated with that code. No special app, just use Pinterest.

Facebook recently tested a QR code reward program, geared toward retailers and their customers.

Google Allo can also work via QR codes to quickly expand a user's friend base or share chat functions. QR scanning is easy and convenient.

So the answer is YES--QR codes are not only viable, they're trendy. Again. Watch for creative marketing with QR this year.

Brands Pin, Pin, Pin on Pinterest

A growing number of brands are doing more on Pinterest to promote new products, cast a wider net, strengthen relationships with brand fans, and reinforce brand associations.

Pinterest, and its Promoted Pins, have attracted interest from L'Oreal, Burberry, La Mer, and other established brands.

• L'Oreal studied one of its Pinterest campaigns and find gains in new product awareness, message associations, and purchase intention. 
• Burberry is partnering with Pinterest for a personalized campaign starring its new Cat Lashes mascara.
• La Mer is seeking to stimulate Pinterest word-of-mouth for its skincare products.

Oh, and that old "Buy It" button? Goodbye--now Pinterest users can simply click to "add to bag" and shop their way across boards and platforms.

Marketing Around the World

Whether you're writing a marketing plan or looking for fresh takes on marketing themes, check out these selected sites featuring marketing ideas and information from around the world.

• Creative - From Think with Google, a gallery with graphics and coverage of the latest in the marriage of marketing and technology. 
• Asahi Shimbun business pages - See what Japanese businesses are doing with new products and new marketing.
• The Guardian UK business - Coverage, by the UK newspaper, of business and news in the UK and beyond.
• Canadian Business - Just what the publication title says: news about marketing, entrepreneurship, and finance in the world of Canadian business. 
• Business Day - from the Sydney Morning Herald, business and marketing in Australia and the region.
• Advertising Around the World - As shown above, Pinterest board with ads from everywhere.

You can use key words like "global marketing" or "advertising around the world" to search out other sites on your own. Try different searches (and click on "web" results or "news" results to look at different lists of results).

Hashtags Keep the Marketing Conversation Going

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It's a hashtag world for marketers these days. On Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, Vine, and Facebook, marketers and consumers use hashtags to identify content about specific brands, products, topics, events, occasions, people, and more. The idea is to start or add to a conversation, potentially propel a hashtag into viral territory, maybe even make people smile--and, ideally, give the brand a promotional push.

One key element of hashtags is that they must be short and to the point. A brand like KitKat uses a Twitter hashtag like #HaveABreak to encourage consumers to post photos or other content related to enjoying KitKat bars as, well, a break. For tips on choosing a hashtag for marketing purposes, check this MediaBistro infographic. To see which hashtag campaigns Search Engine Watch named the best of 2013, click here.

For more impact, keep the marketing conversation going across social media sites with hashtags. For visual impact, think Pinterest or Instagram. Instagram explains how to use hashtags for photo campaigns here. Don't miss the links to marketing uses by General Electric and #charitywater.

'Tis the Season to Pin: Retailers and Pinterest

'Tis the season to pin! Retailers are increasingly pinning their hopes on Pinterest, with marketing campaigns geared to the visual and viral. Here's a quick overview--Pin numbers are as of December 19:

• Macy's is a Pinterest heavyweight, with more than 10,000 pins, including "Star Gifts," a seasonal board featuring holiday gift ideas.
• Topshop, the UK-based apparel retailer, partnered with Pinterest on "Dear Topshop," a gifting campaign (see screen shot at left) that lends itself to sharing. Pinterest users can pin their gift wish-lists, exchange ideas about holiday outfits, and more. 5,300 pins and counting.
• Neiman Marcus continues its Pinterest series of pins under boards with titles like "The Art of Celebration!" and "The Art of Giving." More than 7,300 pins.
• Walmart has 3,000+ pins, including seasonal gifts, crafts, and entertaining ideas/products. 
• Target (which today announced a security breach involving as many as 40 million credit/debit cards) has 6,000+ pins, from party goods and gifts to holiday food ideas. 
• Home Depot has 5,000 pins, covering the usual DIY products plus gifts for him, gifts for her, gifts for kids.
• Lowe's has 2,275 pins, including gifts for him and gifts for her, and holiday home ideas.
• Amazon has, surprisingly, only 524 pins. Topping the list: holiday gifts, electronics gifts, toys, and lifestyle.

Holiday Retailing 2013: The Year of the Pins

Pinterest is front and center for many retailers during this holiday shopping season, leveraging the power of social media to showcase products that are popular "pins."

Above, Target's Pinterest board (via New York Times), showing "Pins You Love" at top left, and other products by category (sweets, fashion, food, gifts, etc.). Target's CEO explains that Pinterest is "where the customer is" and therefore, “We ultimately concluded that if that’s the way the guest is going to live and shop, then we want to be a showroom. And we love showrooming — provided we can capture that sale.”

Zappos is one of a growing number of retailers partnering with Pinterest to showcase the most popular of their pins drawn from Pinterest every day. Nordstrom (which has more than 4.4 million Pinterest followers) is promoting products in its stores that are the most popular on its Pinterest board.

Happy pinning!

Lowe's Goes Social and Mobile

Lowe's, the second-largest US home improvement retailer, has more than 5.8 million Pinterest followers as of today. Visitors to its Pinterest page are greeted by this heading: “We're Lowe's and we never stop pinning!”

Customers who are readying for a kitchen or bathroom makeover, thinking about gardening season, or planning another home improvement project can find ideas and inspiration on the 40 Lowe's Pinterest boards and 1600+ pins. Isn't that an excellent way to use Pinterest for marketing?

Lowe's is doing more and more with social, mobile, and digital marketing. For instance, one of several Lowe's apps offers instant access to its free digital Creative Ideas magazine, a great way to add value for customers who are at home or in the store with their tablet computers or phones.

Click to Lowe's Facebook page (which has more than 2.2 million likes) and you can see more photos, home improvement ideas, links to promoted products, and links to photo posts on Instagram, where Lowe's has almost 3000 followers.

Yes, Lowe's tweets--early and often. It has 80,000+ followers and 10,000+ tweets. And here's something I especially like: On its Twitter banner, Lowe's says: “Got a complaint, compliment or question? Let us know!” In other words, Lowe's invites customers to join the conversation and speak up about what they like and don't like, or ask for more information.

Lowe's latest ad campaign is cross-platform, on TV and online. The digital ads are keyed to the weather and appropriate home improvement or gardening projects that start with a shopping trip to Lowe's. Watch for more social and mobile marketing ahead.

Etsy and the Hand-Made Market

Etsy has built a solid business connecting craftspeople with customers who like buying hand-crafted or vintage items. It calls itself "the world's handmade marketplace."

Now nearly 1 million online "shops" sell artsy and craftsy items through Etsy's marketplace. Its revenue topped $525 million in 2011.

Not surprisingly, Etsy was the domain with the most "pins" in a recent study of Pinterest--and that means a lot of people are following the "pins" back to Etsy crafts, making it a social experience as well.

Etsy is also testing a "similar items" search feature to help buyers locate and browse crafts they might want to consider before narrowing down their choices.

However, Etsy's reputation depends on keeping mass-manufactured goods off the site--and that's why the company has a team of people checking up on sellers to be sure they're complying with the rules. This helps Etsy protect its image and its unique connection with both customers and crafters.

Pinterest and Marketing

Pinterest is the social media sharing site du jour, a cornucopia of images "pinned" to online walls, loosely organized by interest. Pinterest supports hashtags (like Twitter's #) and encourages "repinning" to spread the word, two important elements for building buzz.

Less than two years old, the site's audience is largely female, says Mashable, and that's attracting the interest of marketers who target women.

For example:

• Whole Foods Markets "pin" photos of food products, grouped by category or occasion, to its Pinterest wall. It has more than 18,000 Pinterest followers!
• Walker's Shortbread. The Scottish company "pins" photos of its food products to Pinterest, along with "pins" of its favorite bloggers (sharing!) and items of interest such as "all things Scotland."
• Nordstrom. Want to see the latest fashions in full-color, large-scale photos? Nordstrom "pins" its collections on Pinterest.
• Real Simple, Weddings, and other lifestyle mags are reaching their audiences through Pinterest.

Will Pinterest become a staple of social media marketing? Or will another new site emerge as the next new thing?