Six Serving Men Blog

I have been meaning to write a blog post on QR codes and how to use them since I saw this poster advert whilst waitingfor the Tube in London.

QR (or Quick Response) codes are increasingly being used by marketers to link theoffline world to online content. Other applications such as Blippar exist that areaimed to facilitate the use of Mobile phones and tablets.

The idea behind placing the QR code on the advert is to enable me to scan it with mymobile device and to navigate me to a suitable website landing page 

However in the rush to embrace new technology it is worthwhile recalling that "Whilstthe roads Marketers are getting people to travel are changing, the people travellingthem (and their needs)  are not".

In the example vital aspects do not appear to have been taken into account whensetting out the activity i.e.    

1. The location of QR Code on Poster, (Bottom Left) means part of it cannot be seenor scanned 
2. The complexity & granularity of the QR code - From a distance of 10 yards my iphone (other mobiles are available)had no chance of picking up the complex QR code.
3. I'm on the underground and can get no mobile connection so even if I can scan the code I have no ability to accessthe designated content.

Other examples of poorly planned activity are found in this post  eConsultancy Post - 11 Dubious uses of  QR Codes

So before falling down a similar trap if you are considering running a QR initiative 3 things you should consider

1. Plan the customer journey - try it out and see if the roads you want people to follow are clear and well lit 
2. Include tracking code - link it in with your destination tracking e.g. Google Analytics. Include a specific source codeor medium. 
3. Simplify the resolution - The more data you include the more complex the image. Use a URL shortened QR link

For Example both the QR codes below lead to the same destination but highlight

  

I read a great blog post on the Econsultancy website talking about "What is the secret to a successful website?"
It highlighted the benefit for any site of having a Vision of the objectives and a Roadmap of/for development.

Makes a lot of sense but in practice a large number of websites appear to be "Orphans" i.e. set up and ignored rather than managed and refined based upon a set of "SMART" (Specific, Measurable, Agreed, Realistic & Time Bound) Objectives.

Free web analytics packages such as Google's and Yahoo Analytics have enabled the reporting and distibution of a multitude of management reports enabling reporting on range of metrics. However it appears that many of these reports are produced but then are never read or actioned upon. One of the main reasons behind this is that many companies start the journey from the wrong point and do not appreciate the journey is an ongoing activity that requires effort and time.
 
Listed below are three steps that will hopefully stop you falling into this trap?

1. Start and keep the end objective in mind. 
There is a start, middle and end to any web visit - Visitors find you, they interact and then they leave. Unless the site is driving revenue from advertising  the success of the visit from the website owners view and the effectiveness of the site  will be based upon the goals set e.g. purchase made, contact information provided etc. 


Whilst not unimportant measures regarding traffic source & content will show the efficiency of the site in helping anonymous visitors navigate and omplete the website goals. Don't be embarrassed to write down what the website owners' objectives are! This will then enable you to determine functionality that will support your visitors to complete that task. For example I still see examples where the objecti is to provide visitors with a means of contacting a company but have home pages with no phone or email address!

2. It requires some work when it comes out the box !
Installing the code on the web is a simple job and (with some technical knowledge / help) you can be up and running quickly. However if all you do is install the initial one size fits all capability you will get lots data but limited insight !

Out of the box the dashbord will look good but can only provide "efficiency" information i.e. where people come from, how long they spend etc but not do they do what you would like them to.

To make the tools effective requires goals to be set or events to be coded. Without this its a bit like watching a football match but only knowing the statistics of which team has had more possession or the most corners.

3. Make it a habit !
Once the analytics package is installed data will be collected. However the data must be translated into actionable information. As with any habit people/companies will go through the 4 stages of becoming proficient in the same way as learning to drive a car (say) i.e. from 1st driving lesson in box 1, to aware but unable without support during driving lessons, through early post test driving to "just driving" in the 4th box  


To introduce & embed this culture of Do, Review, Refine with regard to making any website smarter requires management to move forwards through the stages   

So where are you on the journey ?
This is possibly best assessed by asking the following questions
1. Do you have analytics tracking on your websites - No ? Stage 1
2. Do you have tracking but don't see/read the information - Yes ? Stage 2
3. Do you look at and make enhancements based upon the information occasionally - Yes ? Stage 2-3
4. Do you have a regular formal website review process based upon the information produced that drives action i.e. changes to the website navigation, content etc - Yes ? Stage 3 - 4

Once you have done that ask the question where are your competitors ?

The Forrester report by Suresh Vittal @sureshvittal does provide a good overview of the state of the market with regard to service providers. In particular the "plumbing diagram" provides a good canvas for marketers to overlay their current capabilities and help identify weaknesses in their ability to provide a seamless customer service to their customers and prospects 
  


However the truths of technology related marketing are that you will never

1. Have perfect customer data
2. Analyse all your customer data 
3. Control every customer interaction.
4. Be content with your in-house marketing expertise
5. Be content with your in house IT expertise
6. Achieve the vision of one to one marketing
7. Have a centralised Marketing dashboard
8. Be immune from legislation.

This should not stop companies striving to improve how they do things and particularly with constantly evolving technology requires the discipline to reguarly evaluate what they do and why. The Econsultancy 2010 customer engagement report highlighted that 64% (249 responders) didn't even know how many touchpoints they have with their customers!

Rather than act as deterent to action the 8 truths should help determine the ongoing decision process upon how to best allocate resources to what is important - how to achieve your business objectives. Otherwise (To paraphase) "If you don't know where you are now or where you are going any road will take you there".

In the last month two significant Digital birthdays have occured with The internet itself and Google reaching 40 and 10 years old respectively.



Google celebrated (and marketed themselves) with an excellent collage of their fantastic growth over the last decade 

 

So as Google enters those traumatic teenage years it will be interesting to see how they develop - what's next and if the internet copes with any mid Life crisis!

2010 will no doubt see a continued growth in advertising expenditure targeted at the Internet as companies continue to invest in Digital channels   
  
Source - Ofcom's Sixth annual Communications Market report   

A recent e-consultancy report into website conversion rates highlights the potential missed opportunities that companies are ignoring by using their web capability solely as a static brochure. This is particularly relevant given the survey participants are drawn from a more digitally aware population. 


Moving forward the clear commercial advantage for companies who start treating their website and associated digital assets as a Sales person rather than as a Receptionist!  But this means applying the same disciplines.

The increasing awareness of tools such as Google analytics and website optimiser have made people focus upon the importance doing something they have done subconciously for years – Experiential learning.

From an early age we have all learned from our experiences i.e. doing something expecting a certain outcome, reviewing what actually happened and then refining our thinking and ideas. This Do-Review-Refine (or Kolb’s learning cycle) process is in built.

However how many companies actually embed or institutionalise this process in their ongoing business development activities. The web has thrown up lots of information but to (mis)quote Albert Einstein ”not everything that can be counted counts”. 

The British Army’s Special Air Service (SAS) have an approach that

1. You should always learn from your mistakes
2. It’s quicker, cheaper and easier to learn from other peoples

Even organisations such as the British Standards Institute in PAS 124 recognise the need that your digital presence should be in a continuous state of beta – But in order to profit from this companies need to be aware of what they are trying to achieve, what they are achieving and then reacting to benefit from their learnings.

Without putting in the regular disciplines of validating experience against expectations many companies are not benefiting from Learning from their mistakes – The definition of madness is doing the same thing twice and expecting a different result!