7 QR Code Uses for Direct Mail (+ How They Boost Response Rates)

Direct mail might feel old-school, but there’s a reason many marketers are increasing their direct mail spend in 2024. Think about it this way: Your audience only sees TV and social media ads for a few seconds, but direct mail campaigns have the potential to leave a lasting, tangible imprint.

However, you don’t want prospects and customers to flick through your brochure or catalog and then toss it aside. You want to compel them to take action. That’s where Quick Response Codes become invaluable.

Here’s a closer look at how brands can use QR Codes for direct mail marketing campaigns to create next-level campaigns that drive engagement and sales. 

1. Track your marketing efforts and measure ROI

Bitly’s QR Code Trends report found that the use of QR Codes among businesses increased by 140% in 2023—and it’s easy to see why. 

When it comes to direct mail campaigns, QR Codes can do wonders for understanding and measuring return on investment, which has always been one of the major pitfalls of this marketing avenue. 

If you’ve ever run a direct mail campaign, you’ll be familiar with the uncertainty about whether your audience has received and engaged with your materials. You’ll also be familiar with the frustration of being unable to prove whether an increase in website clicks and conversion rates has anything to do with your assets. 

Thankfully, adding QR Codes remedies this issue completely. With these dynamic codes emblazoned on your direct mail pieces, you’ll be able to track several crucial data points that help you demonstrate value, including: 

• Total scans: The total number of times your QR Code has been scanned

• Unique scans: The number of individuals who have scanned your QR Code once

• Scans over time: The number of scans by month, day, and so forth

• OS used: The operating system used to scan your QR Code

• Location: Where users are geographically when they scan the QR Code 

These data points completely transform the process of measuring direct mail campaign success, enabling you to hone in on crucial engagement metrics by tracking QR Code scans in real time.

Better still, with Dynamic URL QR Codes, you can change the online destination of your QR Code after launch. 

For example, say you wanted to launch a time-sensitive discount in your direct mail campaign. Once the time period is over, you can head to your QR Code generator and change the URL in just a few seconds, meaning your direct mail campaign can continue to create value even weeks or months later. 

2. Create more visually appealing mailers and boost engagement

Keeping direct mailers concise can be a challenge: you want to show off your products, demonstrate your brand values, and win over your customers. 

But too many words, images, colors, and pages can be off-putting to consumers, preventing them from engaging with your hard work. 

One of the benefits of using QR Codes is they allow you to minimize the amount of information included in your direct mail while grabbing attention. Plus, you can even customize your QR Code with your brand colors and logos for extra finesse. 

Whether you link your QR Code directly to your website or use a PDF QR Code to share a more in-depth digital brochure, QR Codes are the perfect way to create clean, chic assets that intrigue readers. 

By placing a QR Code on your asset, you’ll encourage readers to find out more about your brand. 

3. Streamline communication with your target audience

Another fantastic way to use QR Codes is as a vehicle to help recipients contact your business easily and swiftly. 

See, QR Codes aren’t just for websites. You can also use Email QR Codes or SMS QR Codes, which are invaluable if you want to give your target audience a quick and easy way to get in touch with your customer service team or reach out about a product. 

This kind of functionality is also particularly useful for service-based businesses like dentists, gyms, and restaurants that want to entice people to book their services. 

4. Promote events and encourage attendance

Event planners, take note. When you combine QR Codes with a direct mail campaign, you can create an effective event marketing strategy. 

For example, say you’ve got a restaurant anniversary coming up, and you want to get as many people as possible there to celebrate. Adding an eye-catching event QR Code to your promotional mailers is a great way to tell lots of people about your event and, better still, track RSVPs so you can prepare accordingly. 

With QR Code Generator PRO’s Event QR Code, your audience can even save event details directly to their mobile or laptop calendar so they’ll get a reminder when the event draws nearer.  

5. Showcase new products and special offers

If your objective is to boost sales, QR Codes are a powerful way to do it. By embellishing your direct mail assets with Business QR Codes, you make it easy and quick for recipients to scan through to your e-commerce website, where they can purchase your products instantly. 

If you’re looking to attract first-time customers, in particular, Coupon QR Codes are an ingenious way to entice prospects to purchase from your brand. 

By including a compelling call to action (CTA) like “Get 15% Off” or “Buy 1, Get One Free,” you’ll capture readers’ attention and heighten the likelihood of conversions. 

6. Crowdsource feedback from the local community

QR Codes aren’t just for generating sales or promoting events. They’re also fantastic mechanisms for gathering user feedback, making it easy and intuitive for users to follow a CTA and share their thoughts with you. 

Whether you’re a city planner looking for feedback on proposed plans or you’re a service-based business trying to expand into a new area, gathering qualitative and quantitative insights through Feedback QR Codes can help you build a data-driven action plan.

For example, let’s say you’re a restaurant looking to shake up your menu. You could embed a feedback QR Code onto brand new taster menu, with a CTA encouraging customers to click through to a page where they can rate each dish.

Bonus tip: To sweeten the deal for people you’d like to obtain feedback from, why not offer the chance to win an exclusive prize? 

7. Help your customers find you

If you don’t have an e-commerce store, QR Codes are still relevant to you. For brick-and-mortar businesses, adding a QR Code to direct marketing enables you to equip your customers with your location, along with useful information like parking, amenities, and so forth. For example, let’s say you’ve just opened a hairdresser in your local area. Sending a direct mail campaign with a Dynamic QR Code to your location on Google Maps will help your audience visualize where you are, making them more likely to pay a visit.

Enhance your direct mail campaigns with QR Code Generator PRO

QR Codes are an invaluable tool for enhancing the success of your direct mail campaigns. However, to truly captivate your audience and convey the right message at the right time, you need a QR Code generator that’s dynamic, flexible, and easy to use. 

Enter QR Code Generator PRO, a game-changing solution with a user-friendly interface and an expansive list of QR Code types. Our solutions are designed to help businesses make great first impressions with a top-notch user experience and build customer relationships that last.

Get started with QR Code Generator PRO today and see how simple it is to create beautiful, attention-grabbing QR Codes for any direct mail campaign!