QR code marketing: where codes earn their place, how to build one that scans, and how to measure it

QR code marketing works when a code removes a step for someone who is already standing in front of your material: a menu, a poster, a pack, a vehicle, a trade stand, an invoice. The code is a shortcut, not a campaign, so the whole job is to make the destination worth the scan and to track the scan properly. Use a dynamic code so the destination can change, tag the URL so the scan appears in your analytics, design to the printed specification so it reads first time, and tell the person what they will get before they lift their phone.

Static or dynamic

A static code encodes the destination URL directly in the pattern. It needs no service behind it and never expires, and it cannot be changed or counted. A dynamic code encodes a short redirect URL, so you can change the destination after printing and count scans. For anything printed in volume, dynamic is the right default, and the one question to settle with the provider is what happens to the code if you stop paying, since the redirect is the thing your print depends on.

	Static	Dynamic
Destination can change after print	No	Yes
Scan counting	Only through the landing page	Yes, at the redirect
Ongoing dependency	None	The redirect service
Best for	Permanent links, small runs, signage you control	Campaigns, packaging, anything printed at volume

Where a code earns its place

• Printed material a person holds: menus, leaflets, packaging inserts, instruction sheets, warranty cards.
• Physical places people wait: queue signage, service reception, waiting rooms, transport.
• Trade shows and events, where the code replaces a form on a clipboard.
• Packaging and products, for registration, reordering, instructions and spare parts.
• Vehicles and site hoardings, where the code must be large and the destination short.
• Invoices and delivery notes, for a review request or a reorder, which is the highest intent moment most businesses never use.

The placements to avoid are the ones where scanning is awkward or impossible: a moving vehicle, a screen a person cannot approach, a television advert, or anything a driver would have to scan. Where the reader is already on a phone, a tappable link beats a code every time.

The specification that makes codes scan first time

• Size against distance. The common field rule is that the printed code should be about one tenth of the scanning distance, so a code read from two metres wants roughly twenty centimetres. Test at the real distance with a mid range phone before the print run.
• Quiet zone. Keep a clear margin of at least four modules around the code. Crowding is the most common cause of a failed scan.
• Contrast and polarity. Dark pattern on a light background. Inverted codes and low contrast colour pairs reduce read reliability.
• Short URL. Fewer characters means a less dense pattern, which scans from further away and survives poor print.
• Error correction. The format includes error correction levels. A higher level tolerates a scuffed or partly covered code, at the cost of a denser pattern, and suits packaging and outdoor use.
• Surface and finish. Matte beats gloss under lights. On a curved surface, keep the code on the flattest panel available.
• A call to action next to it. Four words telling the person what they get. A bare code is a question mark.

The symbology itself is a published standard, ISO/IEC 18004:2015, which specifies QR Code symbol characteristics, data encoding and error correction. The specification is listed in the ISO catalogue entry for ISO/IEC 18004:2015, checked 10 October 2026.

The destination decides the result

A scan is a person with a phone in their hand and a few seconds of patience. Three rules hold. Send them to a page built for that moment, not the home page. Make the page load fast on a weak mobile connection, which means small images and no interstitial. Ask for one thing, with the fewest fields that make it work. Where the code is on packaging or an invoice, pre fill what you already know, for example the product or order reference, so the person does not type it.

Tracking that survives contact with reality

Use a dynamic code and add campaign parameters to the destination URL so each placement reports separately. One code per placement, named so you can read the report a year later: the medium, the placement and the date of the print run. Then you can answer which poster site, which pack and which invoice produced the scans. For the parameter names and a naming convention, see the campaign URL builder.

Four numbers to report: scans by placement, scan to page completion rate, the action rate on the page, and cost per completed action by placement. The second number is the diagnostic one, because a high scan count with a low completion rate means the destination, not the code, is the problem.

Privacy and good manners

Say where the code goes. A short line of text next to it, naming the destination, raises scan rates and removes the suspicion people reasonably have about unfamiliar codes. Where the destination collects personal data, the same consent and notice rules apply as on any other form, and the privacy notice should be reachable from the page the code opens. Do not place a code where the only way to use your service is to scan it; keep a non scanning route available, such as a short URL printed underneath.

This page covers QR codes as a marketing channel. For the print specification and briefing a printer, see marketing material printing. For the physical activations codes usually sit inside, see brand activation marketing. For fixing the landing page a code opens, see conversion rate optimisation.

The QR code marketing questions worth an answer

Do QR codes still work in marketing?

Yes, where the person is physically in front of printed material and the code saves them typing. Phone cameras read codes natively now, which removed the app barrier that held the format back, and the formats that benefit most are menus, packaging, events, service reception and invoices.

What size should a printed QR code be?

Work from the scanning distance and use roughly one tenth of it as the code width, then test at the real distance before printing. Keep the quiet zone clear around it, and if the code has to be small, shorten the URL so the pattern is less dense.

Can I change where a QR code points after printing?

With a dynamic code, yes, because the printed pattern encodes a redirect you control rather than the final address. That is the main reason to choose dynamic for anything printed in volume. With a static code the destination is fixed in the pattern.

Should the code be branded with a logo in the middle?

A small logo in the centre is usually fine because error correction tolerates a covered area, but it reduces the margin for print and scuff damage. Keep the logo small, raise the error correction level, and test the printed proof rather than the screen version.

How do I know a code scan led to a sale?

Tag the destination URL with campaign parameters, keep one code per placement, and pass an order or lead reference through to your analytics. Then the scan, the page completion and the sale sit on the same row in a report. For how to attribute across several touches honestly, see marketing analytics attribution.

Is there a free way to make codes?

Static codes are free to generate from many tools and from several design packages, and they are sound for permanent links you control. For dynamic codes, budget for the redirect service, and before you commit to a large print run confirm in writing what happens to the redirect if the subscription lapses.

Before the poster is scanned, the name may already be asked about

A QR code takes a person from print to a page in one step, and your measurement starts at that scan. Some people take a different step first: they photograph the poster or note the name, and ask an assistant about it.

That reply sits in front of your landing page. Read it for your campaign name and brand. AI Knows Us asks the assistants for you and shows what they say, so the printed promise and the spoken answer can be checked against each other.