QR Codes 3-3-9 (3 Do's, 3 Don'ts and 9 Suggestions)

This week, I'm pleased to present this piece by guest blogger Ken Kelsey, MAS from Kelsey Promo. Ken is a good friend and fellow inductee into the MiPPA Hall of Fame. He is a former member of the PPAI Board of Directors and former chairman of the association's Technology Committee. He also happens to be, in my opinion, one of the most knowledgeable QR Code users around. - Paul

QR CODES 3-3-9
(3 DO's, 3 DON'Ts & 9 SUGGESTIONS)
By Ken Kelsey, MAS

Three DO's
1. DO | create a Call to Action... give them a reason to scan your code, tell them what they'll get; view this video on YouTube (create a video about your product)... join our mailing list... find our nearest location... download this info article about... enter our drawing... like us on Facebook... follow us on Twitter.
2. DO | always Test, Test, Test... before publishing, test your code on all smartphones (Android, Blackberry, iPhone, Win7) with different readers. There are many popular code readers available. I personally use i-Nigma on my Android (go to www.i-nigma.mobi on your phone to download it free). I've heard that Qrafter for iPhone and iPad is good (iTunes store). When printing on a promo item, have the factory test the code after printing a few or get a pre-production sample to test the code yourself, this could save some problems later.
3. DO | use a URL Shortener... this helps to increase the number of scans. Use a service like bit.ly or their alternative j.mp (one character shorter). Another is goo.gl. Both offer tracking with their use. Or use your own URL shortener like I do, KPQR.US. I then customize for each customer such as KPQR.US/att, KPQR.US/teen.

Three DON'Ts
1. DON'T | send them to your normal website... create a mobile-enabled version of the page you want them to see. 90-plus percent of scans come from a smartphone, make sure they can read your message.
2. DON'T | make the code too small... the smaller the code the fewer phones that can scan it... phones without auto focus will have a problem, try to keep the code size to a minimum of 3/4" square. The amount of data in the code affects scanability: the more data, the larger the code should be.
3. DON'T | reverse colors to a white code on black or other darker color, reversing colors will work with some smartphones but many code readers will not be able to render it. If you have to print a code on a dark color shirt, put down a white background square and print the black code on it.