According to a recent study from Smith's Point Analytics, the mobile marketing industry is expected to grow to $2.3 billion by 2016, the Mobile Commerce Press reports.
One of the increasingly popular tenets of mobile marketing is quick response (QR) codes - those tiny barcodes featured in storefronts, on products or in magazines. Adoption of this technology has been slow, as the news source notes that outside of Japan (where the codes were first developed), many people are still unfamiliar with how to take advantage of the technology. What's more, in many cases there's a need to download an app that recognizes the codes to allow access to company information such as discounts, landing pages, websites or videos.
"Some companies believe that (QR codes) are nothing more than a novelty," the news source explains.
However, recent studies say different. Brainshark cites a comScore study which found in June 2011 alone, 14 million Americans scanned QR codes on their mobile devices. What's more, the study found that the number of QR codes scanned in all of 2011 represented a 1,400 percent increase compared to 2010 - so, adoption is well on its way.
Some of this has to do with the fact that consumers are becoming "increasingly mobile" and are more "attached" to their devices, using them to discover new information instead of waiting to go home and use a computer, notes MPC.
"People are more eager to interact with new technologies and are keen to engage in interactive marketing initiatives," explains the media outlet. "They are also more willing to engage in such marketing campaigns if there is some incentive to do so." These, as stated earlier, can range from discounts to contests to video.
Brainshark points out that QR codes and video go hand in hand when developing a widespread or local internet marketing campaign. Because of greater smartphone adoption and faster download speeds, video is becoming an actual marketing tool, since the time it takes to load a video - and the ever frustrating "buffering" time - has decreased or been eliminated.
QR codes can connect new prospects with video messages. This can be especially effective on, say, handouts at events. A scan of the code by attendees can bring up a short video presentation that tells them more about the company and its products or services.