QR CODES & How they are VERY IMPORTANT!!!!!!! Easier ways for customers to contact you!

December 20th, 2010 | Posted in Blog | No Comments
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In Japan, marketers have been using QR codes for years to link offline interactions with a brand, creating a measurable connection. A typical example is placing a QR code in a print ad. The user would take a picture of the ad with a mobile phone and connect to a mobile website, or they would be sent a text message or mobile application.

Many companies have tried to get into this space over the years in the U.S., but camera phones on mobile devices were just too low quality, and surfing the web on mobile devices was very uncommon. This is changing as the U.S. begins catching up with the rest of the world. Text messaging is more common, mobile web browsing has been popularized by the iPhone, and the desire to tie together online and offline behavior is growing.

So with that in mind, I have been digging into some of the companies and technologies that are primed to take advantage of this confluence of opportunity. The good news is that all of these companies have demos of their websites and you can try it out for yourself and see how it works.

There are two basic technical approaches that companies are taking to this problem, and two basic user experiences on top of those approaches.

Technical approaches: Image recognition or custom tagging
The image recognition approach is very broad — technically difficult and hard for consumers to adopt — only because there’s no inherent call-to-action. The basic idea is to take a picture of something with your camera phone, send it back against the database, match the image to an offering, and send something back to the user.

The custom tagging approach is less complex technically and has the benefit that if one format wins out, it can become a broad mechanism with a built-in. This is essentially the same thing that QR codes did in Japan. But despite lots of players in this space over a long period of time, nobody has really cracked the code — pardon the pun.

EFFECTIVE WAYS TO USE QR CODES

With the right target audience, QR Codes may have a positive impact on the success of your marketing and educational efforts.

Below are a few examples of how you might be able to utilize QR Codes.

COUPONS
“Virtual” coupons are a quick way to offer both online and offline discounts or rewards. Include a QR Code on your printed ad and your customers simply “scan and click” to take advantage of the offer.

WEBSITE
Use QR Codes to drive more traffic to your website. Put a QR Code for your URL on all your marketing materials to make it easier for your mobile customer to find you online.

LOCATION
Make it easy for your customers and prospects to get to your shop.
Include a QR Code that links to an online map and they’ll be at your door in no time.

PRINT MATERIALS
Personalized URLs are proven to increase response rates; make them even easier to use.

Include a QR Code pointing to a personalized URL on your direct mail piece, and your customer or prospect can simply scan and click to get to their personalized website.

Bonillas Plastic Surgery Holiday Card

December 17th, 2010 | Posted in Blog, Portfolio, Print | 1 Comment
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Project was for Bonillas Plastic Surgery. Client wanted a Holiday card to send out to his clients. Went with a clean

look the had the Holiday feel. We also included a QR-Code on the back so clients could receive a coupon on service.

Creative Ways to use Bookmarks for Advertising

December 15th, 2010 | Posted in Blog | No Comments
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Bookmark printing is a great advertising tool for your custom bookmarks because they are useful in the sense that people use them. The purpose of a bookmark is to mark your page in a book, right? It is a great advertising tool because it preserves your message for quite some time because of the bookmark’s usefulness. Take this for example- custom bookmarks tucked unobtrusively in books suddenly become advertising tools once the reader decides to reopen the book. And it does not stop there. Every time the readers feel like opening her book, she is constantly reminded of your product or service.

Custom bookmarks are also inexpensive marketing tools. From the designing to the bookmark printing, till the time you distribute them, you don’t have to shell out a huge amount of money. Want to know why bookmarks are not that costly? Read on.

1. Designing custom bookmarks do not have to be expensive because you can design it yourself. There are a lot of bookmark designs you can choose from. But why copy them when you can surely come up with something more unique or original? The more original, the more your bookmark becomes a collector’s item. There are a lot of websites that show bookmark designs. Try looking at them to get that inspiration.

Remember however, that apart from your objective of designing a bookmark that not only looks great, your bookmark also has to have maximum marketing effectiveness. If you are unsure whether your design achieves its purpose of maximum marketing effectiveness, you can always ask the help of a printing company. They would be more than happy to help you with it for a minimal fee.

2. Printing is where a chunk of your money would go into. However, bookmark printing need not be expensive. The trick here is to know the cost if you order in bulk. In printing anything, the more the order, the lesser the cost. So go ahead and shop for the printing cost that fits your budget. Talk to as many printing companies as you can to get the best deal. The key here is patience. Patience normally translates to big savings.

3. Distributing your custom bookmarks does not entail much cost. You can just leave your bookmarks on store countertops. Better yet, slip them inside books or magazines that your target clients normally read.

Bookmarks are definitely great marketing tools. They are inexpensive to produce yet they have the capability to bombard your target audience with your message continuously. A piece of bookmark slipped inside a book will definitely go along way.

4 Ways to Use Flyers to Promote Your Business

December 14th, 2010 | Posted in Blog | No Comments

Fliers are a common and inexpensive way to get the word out about your business. Online printing services make it even cheaper than using local printshops for getting your face or message out in the community. Another benefit of using an online printing company to produce your marketing materials is that they usually have experts on hand to help with the design and layout of your products, often at no charge. Here are some of the ways to use fliers to promote your business:

Handouts

Trade shows and free public events offer a chance to get out and meet prospective clients face-to-face. Make sure they leave with business fliers in hand so they will remember you and have a reminder about who you are and what you do when they get home. A business card is the traditional way to do this, but supplement with something that’s more visual and attention-getting; then they won’t have to try to remember why they have your business cards.

Posters

Fliers serve beautifully as small posters. Put them up in windows and on bulletin boards. You’ll usually need to get the proprietor’s permission, but the time invested is worth it: you certainly don’t want to print flyers and spend the day distributing them, only to find them being taken down as soon as you leave.

Stuffers

Businesses and trade groups often give out plastic bags that are preloaded with “goodies.” Pens, pencils, and magnets are common stuffers, and they are always accompanied by fliers about the sponsors. If you are a member of an organization that promotes this way, be sure they have lots of cheap flyers and business cards of yours ready to give out.

Mailers

Fliers about upcoming events can be included with mail that is going out, or they can even be folded and mailed without having to be stuffed into envelopes if you plan ahead and design it in such a way as to have a properly-placed address panel.

Business fliers don’t have to be boring. Online printing companies offer full-color printing on good quality stock and can easily use your photographs or graphics in the design. Many online printers even have templates on their website, so you can go in and design the layout you want with their software. The above are some widespread ways to use flyers. Small print runs can be done to make fliers specific to events or times. Look into online printing companies for your next flier printing. You may find you can save money and get a better product that way.

QR Code Generator

December 14th, 2010 | Posted in Blog, QR Code | No Comments
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Add QR Codes to all of your marketing. When we design any of your projects we will generate a QR-Code that will either have your contact info, website link, text advertisement, or location.

Call us with questions.

480.626.0395

10 Ways to Use Postcard Marketing to Boost Your Business

December 10th, 2010 | Posted in Blog | No Comments

Interested in using postcard marketing but don’t have an idea where to start? Here are a few ideas that’ll help you get those creative juices going.

Grand Opening/Open Houses:

Grand Opening postcards or open house postcards are a great way to drive traffic to your local business. If your customers happen to be any resident in your local area-Saturation direct mail campaigns are a great way to deliver your marketing message to everyone in your neighborhood. The best part about Saturation mail direct mail programs is that it is the lowest price postage that you can get from the post office at 13.9 cents. That’s 70% less than the cost of a stamp!

Announcement:

Do you have a new product or service to unveil? A printed postcard is a great way to release the news! The benefit of mailing postcards compared to letters is that the message is read by the recipient even if they end up throwing the mail piece away. Letters have to be opened to be read. One of the best things that we’ve seen direct mail marketers do is to follow an announcement postcard with an email to their customer on the same day. Combining both direct mail mediums provides an explosive increase in response, guaranteed!

Birthday:

Restaurants see huge success with birthday greeting postcards. The postcard should include a birthday greeting, and of course a discount coupon only to be used on the recipient’s birthday. Rarely do people visit a restaurant for their birthday by themselves. This one coupon is sure to bring an extremely high redemption rate.

Anniversary:

Send your customer a postcard celebrating their anniversary of the first order with your company. It may sound silly, but if the customer has been with you for several years, they will be impressed to the attention that your company gives. If they haven’t ordered with you in a while, the postcard campaign should be a free or aggressively low priced offer to come back! If they’ve used your services before, there is a great chance they’ll need you again in the future.

Mini- Newsletter:

Don’t have the budget to send out a full newsletter? A large 6×11 postcard can fit as much information as a 2-page newsletter if done designed correctly. Mailing a 6×11 postcard will cost less than a traditional newsletter for a variety of reasons. First, postage will cost less than mailing an 8.5″x11″ and secondly, you won’t have to fold and stitch like you would a newsletter.

Bring a friend:

If you are a hair salons, fitness center, health club, tanning bed the “bring a friend for free” promotion is an amazing tool to generate a lot of interest. You’ll find the best results using this postcard on your internal mailing list. This type of promotion is sure to incite your customer to refer your business.

Catalog requests:

Instead of sending out expensive catalogs to a large list, send a postcard with a tear-off stub, and your customer can return the stub for a catalog. Don’t forget to put your web address on the postcard with a special form to go online and request the catalog. This little trick will save you thousands of dollars in wasted catalog printing and mailing expenses.

Survey:

Customers like to know that their opinion matters to the people they do business with. Mailing out postcards to get feedback shows that you want to meet their needs. They can either go to your website or use a postcard with a tear-off stub that they can fill out the survey and send it back to you. You’ll find the best results when your customer can fill out the survey online. Driving your offline customers to your online website is a great way to get higher quality traffic to your website.

Thank You Note:

As the old saying goes-”a little thank you can go a long way.” I don’t know about you, but I do business with companies that are appreciative of my purchase. Sending a hand written thank you card to a customer for their order is a great way to show appreciation for the order. Additionally, it’s also a good time to ask for a referral or feedback regarding the customer’s experience.

Website, Facebook and Blog Promotion:

From my experience, driving “offline” interest to your website is a great way to get people to view your website. If your company does business online-using postcards may be a great way to get more business. You can drive people to your website just by putting your website on your postcards. To take it a step further, you can try personalized URLs which is the process of making a unique website URL and content for each mail recipient.

Inkblot Printing provides offset and digital printing services of postcards, flyers, business cards, brochures, posters as well as full bindery and direct mail services. Also QR Codes are created for free with any printing done by Inkblot Printing.

Phoenix Brochure Design

December 5th, 2010 | Posted in Blog | No Comments

Brochures and Presentation Folders are very good marketing devices. They can be used in many ways to try to persuade people in the business world to make a certain decision. Due to their effectiveness many companies use these tools for success. Businesses from small travel agencies to large beverage corporations use brochures and presentation folders to increase awareness and profits. There are many reasons why these companies use these devices.

One reason why so many companies use these tools is because they work. The bottom line is that they are effective. The distribution of pamphlets entice people and capture their interest in the subject. For instance, if a travel agency is offering a discount on trips to the Great Wall of China they will make a flashy, glossy pamphlet that advertises the China vacation package. The pamphlet will attract people to the offer and perhaps will even make them want to go on the trip. The fact is that pamphlets are used to generate interest in something. Because pamphlets increase interest, profits are most likely going to increase too. Lecture binders will also help create interest and keep all your information organized. Organization is often key to success. Companies use lecture files so that they can get their message out in a orderly way. The combination of pamphlets and lecture files is a winning one. With both these tools companies definitely make more money therefore experience more success.

Another reason why businesses use pamphlets and lecture files is because they are easy to make and easy to manage. You can make basic and even more complex pamphlet designs on a basic computer using design software. A great deal of expertise is not required to use the software and therefore to make the pamphlet. But, after putting in a small amount of time you are able to experience a lot of success. The input is minimal, but the output is immense. Similarly, lecture files do not require a lot of work to make, and they save a lot of time in the long run. They allow you to be organized so that whenever you need access to a file you won’t have to be shuffling around like a maniac. You’ll be able to locate the file with great ease. Both these devices make your life easier and that is why they are such excellent tools.

There are numerous advantages to using pamphlets and lecture files. The chief reason why your company should use these devices is because they are effective. They are part of the recipe for success. The attract attention and create interest in your product or subject or service. Lecture files also generate interest. But, more importantly, lecture binders keep everything within organized. When you are organized everything is easier to handle and manage. This is another reason why companies should use pamphlets and lecture files. Lecture files make it easy for you to access all your files very quickly. The organization that lecture binders offer saves you time. Pamphlets also save you time because they are easy and quick to make. These are reasons why companies should use pamphlets and lecture files.

Call and speak to a design specialist about your next brochure design. Design with us and get your brochures printed at wholesale cost!

QR Codes – Using Mobile Technology to Market Your Business!

December 5th, 2010 | Posted in Blog, QR Code | No Comments
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Yes QR Codes are great for our real estate industry.  Everyone is noticing and more and more are trying to obtain their phone specific applications to read them.  Real Estate agents are very proactive in utilizing their mobile applications for their business, their cards, their inventory etc.

Below is a great resource for obtaining them, generating them and how to utilize them.

Everyone is familiar with bar codes. They make retrieving information easy with a simple scan, helping businesses run smoothly and efficiently.

Wouldn’t it be great if this technology could be used to market your real estate business and connect with your clients? Well, now you can using QR Codes!

What Are QR Codes?
QR Codes are the latest and greatest emergence in mobile technologies, allowing you to transfer and link to information with a simple click of a cell phone camera.

So what exactly are QR codes? QR-Codes are two dimensional barcodes, designed to have their contents decoded at a high speed. To put it simpler – think of them as a bar code that works like an online link.

The acronym QR is derived from the term Quick Response and that is just what these are!

How Do they Work?
Most mobile phones with a digital camera will work. The camera, along with decoding software, captures a picture of the QR Code and translates the information stored on that particular code.

This information can be a link to a website, contact information, MP3 file, a coupon, and much more.

Get Your Own QR Codes!
To get a list of decoding software/applications just do a quick Google Search for QR Code Generator and you’ll find a plethora of sites and widgets just waiting to create your QR Code. Here is a QR Code generator that we tried. You decide what type of information you want to store in your QR Code (Link, Contact information, Calendar Event, etc.), and then just add the information, click generate and there is your code!  You can save the image and imprint it anywhere you want!

Using QR Codes to Benefit to Your Business…
Imagine a potential customer walking past your window and noticing the black and white image that resembles something out of the magic eye book.

They take a picture of it with their cell phone and are instantly connected to your website, or they can find your contact information automatically stored in their phone.

QR codes are simple to generate and can be imprinted on countless objects and marketing materials such as T-shirts, business cards, flyers, postcards, signs banners, and much much more.

ALERT, INNOVATIVE IDEA!!
If your office puts flyers in a store front window, make sure your flyers have a QR Code for that listing which will of course lead the potential buyer to the listing on your website!

They may not want to go in to the office and chat, but you don’t want them to anyway… you want them to visit the website for more information and call YOU!

It maybe too soon to tell how mainstream these QR Codes will become, but they are so simple to use why not stay ahead of the curve!

Ask a Design Consultant on some uses for QR-Codes. Free set of business cards when we design them.

Google Bets (Again) on QR Codes

December 5th, 2010 | Posted in Blog, QR Code | No Comments
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Google Places QR Code Google is making some big moves in local advertising lately.

A couple weeks back the search giant added a mobile couponing option to its Google Local Business Center listing. This means that when a mobile web search lands you on a business’s “Place Page,” you can get a coupon that is redeemable straight from your phone (no need for printing).

Now, Google has launched a new effort to send window decals to over 100,000 local businesses in the U.S. that have been the most sought out and researched on Google.com and Google Maps.

They’re calling these businesses the “Favorite Places on Google” and you’ll now start to find them in over 9,000 towns and cities, in all 50 states. You can also explore a sample of the Favorite Places in 20 of the largest U.S. cities at google.com/favoriteplaces.

Each window decal has a unique bar code, known as a QR code that you can scan with any of hundreds of mobile devices — including iPhone, Android-powered phones, BlackBerry and more — to take you directly to that business’s Place Page on your mobile phone. With your mobile phone and these new decals, you can go up to a storefront and immediately find reviews, get a coupon if the business is offering one or star a business as a place you want to remember for the future. Soon, you’ll be able to leave a review on the mobile page as well, just like on your desktop.

Related Story:

Google Goes After Social-Network Search With Facebook, MySpace
Latest Moves Focus on Real-Time Web, Mobile and Local

So just as businesses display a Zagat or Michelin sticker as a badge of honor, the Google sticker could come to be a more organic quality indicator as well as a link to a lot more information about a place. Creating links to Google in the real world is something they’ve also attempted with their Google Maps markers. The stickers seems a lot less obtrusive.

Citysearch pilot-tested a similar program in San Francisco back in March of 2008. In that trial, 500 businesses reviewed by Citysearch placed printed Scanbuy’s brand of bar codes in their windows. Scanning the photo with Scanbuy’s software would send you to the business’ corresponding Citysearch page where you can read reviews and other information.

Around the same time, QVC and Case Western University did some trials in which students could scan QR codes on outdoor print signage. These codes let users get campus bus arrival times, order magazines, enter sweepstakes and get text alerts from USA Today, among other applications.

As Ad Age reported, Google also dabbled with QR codes in newspapers last year: “Google has already seen results from a recent test campaign conducted in three markets with jewelry retailer Blue Nile. Each ad contained a QR code and a response tag, and was tested against the same ads without the tags. The code-enhanced ads ended up driving 6.5 times more revenue than the ads without.”

Despite these tests, QR codes have decidedly not caught on so far in the U.S. While a more concerted effort by Google could change this, they need to try harder than they did with newspapers. One good thing is you can use any QR reader to decipher their codes.

They are also giving away 40,000 Quickmark QR Code Reader apps for the iPhone, which normally cost $1.99 apiece, to promote it.

John Hanke, VP of Google Earth, Maps, and Local, told Techcrunch that Google Maps on mobile phones will also start including businesses as points of interest. (You may have started to see this already and wondered why certain business were featured.) Google calls these “smart maps,” and they are based on a business’s PlaceRank, which tries to figure out how prominent a place is based on factors such as references on the web, reviews, photos, how many people know about it, how long its been around.

Google has nothing to lose by trying this, and they know that both local and mobile are their future. Typing into a little search box is annoying on a mobile phone, and new “mobile paths” like shortcodes, QR codes and image recognition may soon replace text-entry search altogether. By helping businesses add these new calls-to-action that lead to Google’s Place Pages — as well as beef up their mobile presences with mobile coupons — they are attempting to own this emerging space.

Overall, this is good news for the mobile industry — Google can help push adoption of these technologies — but there is still the barrier of cost. QR decoding requires data, which requires money. Will people be willing to pay money (albeit tiny amounts) to read what is ostensibly an ad? Or will Place Pages provide enough value (through information, maps, reviews and now coupons) that people won’t even think twice about it?

Using QR codes in mobile advertising a good idea?

December 5th, 2010 | Posted in Blog, QR Code | No Comments
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One of the stories that I read recently in a website caught my attention. It’s about using QR codes (Quick Response codes) in mobile advertising. Even I’ve been thinking about it for quite some time and the person who wrote that story almost stole the words from my mouth.

For those of you who don’t know – unlike other ordinary codes, the contents of a QR code can be scanned and decoded at a very high speed.

QR codes are very popular in countries like Japan and Korea but not so in the U.S. or even in Europe for that matter. In Japan and Korea, these QR codes in advertisements can be scanned and decoded by mobile phones. So, when you see an ad, you can simply scan the code with your mobile phone and it will take you to a hyperlink or WAP sites where you can get a wealth of information about the product/service mentioned in the ad.

More than 40% of mobile users in Japan use their mobile phones to scan QR codes in adverts regularly. In fact, a lot of mobile phones in Japan come preloaded with the application required to scan such codes. If not, the app can be downloaded from the internet without much trouble.

This has helped mobile advertisers a lot in Japan and Korea. Mobile users find it easier to scan codes to get information rather than having to send a text message or make a call. So, this minimizes effort on mobile users’ part and makes the job of the mobile advertiser easier than ever.

It would be great if U.S. and Europe can catch up with this technology, as it can be a tremendous opportunity for advertisers to reach out to end users without much trouble. I think this idea will get a great response from mobile users as well, as all they need to do is, take a snap of the ad with their mobile phone and get all the information they want. What do you think?

QR Codes are a important advertising piece. They should be on all marketing materials! Creative Caldron will create your QR Code for free when we design for!

Tags: advertisements, Europe, hyperlink, Japan, Korea, Mobile advertisers, mobile advertising, mobile phones, mobile users, QR codes, Quick Response codes, text message, U.S., WAP

Technorati Tags: advertisements, Europe, hyperlink, Japan, Korea, Mobile advertisers, mobile advertising, mobile phones, mobile users, QR codes, Quick Response codes, text message, U.S., WAP

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