How to Boost TV Performance With QR Codes: Original QR Code Research

It was 2020. With a global pandemic pushing people toward contactless interactions whenever possible, QR codes meant you could order at a restaurant without handling a menu. Pay for your weekly grocery haul without pressing buttons on a card reader. Even check in at your doctor’s office touch-free.  

By the end of that year, smartphone users who scanned QR codes had grown nearly 25%, from 53 to 66 million. By 2025, the number will be just shy of 100 million.  

But while consumers rapidly embraced QR technology out of sheer necessity, advertisers haven’t progressed much in their understanding of best practices for QR compared to pre-pandemic days.  

We wanted to solve that.  

Conducting a survey with more than 1,000 participants, extensive user testing, and in-market campaign tests with our own clients, we explored best practices for QR codes with TV advertising. We compiled our findings into an extensive QR code report explaining everything from how to optimize for conversion to how long a QR code should be visible on-screen.

In our QR code report, you'll learn:

1. Why marketers are so excited about QR codes for TV. QR codes have the potential to give brands a direct line to consumers, increase campaign measurability, and reduce operational expenditures.

2. How QR beats traditional response methods on TV. QR codes provide an easy, low-commitment way for viewers to respond to a commercial that can feel more novel and engaging than more traditional methods. The result? QR code call-to-actions have repeatedly increased TV response compared to 1-800 numbers and URLs.

3. Whether consumers feel QR codes on TV are trustworthy. No matter how incredible a commercial is, a user isn’t going to scan the code if they feel concerned about their safety. The top factors affecting a code’s perceived trustworthiness are the channel it’s shared on and the brand sharing it. The good news is that TV’s one of the most trusted marketing channels out there.

4. How long a QR code should be visible on-screen to optimize scans. Seconds matter. How long a QR code remains on a TV screen can significantly influence its success rate. And scanning can take longer than you might think, especially if a user’s phone loads the camera slowly, the code is too far away and the user needs to move to scan, or the device fails to register the code.

5. How to set clear user expectations for a streamlined experience. Driving response is only half the battle. For that response to impact your bottom line, it needs to convert into sales. Which is why matching a user’s expectations after they scan a QR code is crucial.

6. A bonus tip! We improved a brand’s conversion rate by 10% using this strategy that added the QR code to their spot in a unique way.

Read the full QR code report to learn more.