QR codes are all the rage. More than 20 million mobile phone users used QR codes in the last quarter of 2011.  And mobile user searches on the internet have been growing exponentially.

QR Code is Quick Response Code – a bar code which can bring you to a designated internet location or QR Codes can be programmed to send a text message, call a phone number, send an email, or simply uncover a special text message providing coupons or sending you on a treasure hunt.

You see them popping up everywhere you go. Often times it’s used incorrectly and so people have gotten a bad taste in their mouth when they’ve taken the time to snap on it with their smart phone app which is required to read these QR codes. Often times it is simply a link to a company’s website or contact information which you could have looked up anyway or asked Siri.  This is what annoys people the most because if they’ve taken the time to read your QR code it should do more than just guide them to your website. 

Airlines have used them successfully to expedite boarding and it also eliminates paper. Hospitals are using them to help expedite patient care.  Smart companies have created contests and special offers, scavenger hunts and a host of interactive experiences for their customers.  The question is, how can lawyers take advantage of QR codes in their practice?

Here are just a few suggestions but the list is only as limited as your imagination and the Rules of Professional Conduct:

1.  Put them on the back of your business card directing them to a special page on your website offering a free consultation or a link to a special welcome video only accessible through the QR code.

2.  Put QR codes on your written and web-based marekting materials, a printable e-guide, all directing them to special page offering a free consultation or a discount on legal services or a free dowloadable e-book.

3.  Provide your contact information which a client can input right into their smartphone so if they lose your business card you’re information is not lost.

4.  Provide directions to your office and validation for parking if needed.

5. Maybe it is a link to a quick tutorial video on what to do if you’re stopped by a police officer for DUI and a quick link to your contact information but placed on bar napkins at your favorite community hangouts.

6. Maybe it is a link to what to do if someone violates a protective order and a quick link to your contact information

7. Maybe you creative an interactive book like Attorney Gerry Oginski  who wrote the book, The Secrets of Lawyer Video Marketing.  This book has numerous QR codes to scan while reading each chapter and each QR code brings the user to a video where he discusses the relevant topic in the chapter.  It’s truly an interactive book!

Here’s a quick tutorial on how to use QR codes and here is a site where you can create your own QR code for free. (There are several sites offering free QR codes.) They are so simple to create.  The hardest part is making it worthwhile for someone to scan it.   Be sure to scan our QR code in this post for a special offer.  (QR codes work beautifully on your website when you can use your smartphone to scan it on the desktop monitor or tablet.  It’s a little harder to read a QR code online from your smart phone!)

Have you started using QR codes in any of your marketing?  If so, please share how you have used it.