Communication is an underrated skill - even in the business world. Businesses and even marketers sometimes overlook the fact that their audiences don’t speak their language, especially when it comes to new technologies. Just because certain technologies seem hot and popular doesn’t necessarily mean that all, or even most, people are familiar with them. For example, although web usage is widespread, older users tend to access it only for practical purposes, like email and browsing. So, how do you make the latest and greatest marketing tools work for them?
Thankfully, smartphone adoption is increasing so that many of your potential customers have the ability to access something like QR codes. But many companies, it seems, don’t anticipate the obstacles that lay hidden toward customer conversion. Simply pasting a QR code in your advertisement or flyer isn’t enough. For some customers, this square plot of seemingly random black and white blocks is cryptic and foreign. It looks like a barcode, but it’s not. To reach your goal of getting your customer to the website you’ve linked to with your QR code, you need to lead the way. Next to your QR code, include a simple call-to-action, like “Scan this code with a QR app to get a coupon”. That way, they know what to do and why.
Even though text-message marketing has been around longer, it’s still important to make it clear to your audience how they can opt-in to your marketing campaign. As with QR codes, you can’t just advertise your mobile keyword and short code. You need a little bit of explanatory text and the benefit for your customer. For example, “Send a text message to 69302 with the keyword ‘pizza814’ for our 2-for-1 offer!” Or, if you have confidence in your audience, you can go for brevity (which is what many businesses do) with “Text ‘pizza814’ to 69302 for our 2-for-1 offer!”
So, don’t forget today’s two golden rules for using new tech with your audience:
- Show them how.
- Tell them why.
