Embracing QR Codes & Data Standards for Better CX & Measurement (Learning From Coinbase’s Super Bowl Ad)
For many years, QR codes have been waiting to take off (or not) as a viable cross-channel marketing toolkit. On Sunday, the Coinbase Super Bowl Ad finally triggered liftoff.
The Coinbase Super Bowl commercial crested the wave of QR codes initiated by COVID-era no-contact innovations in customer experience — scanning for restaurant menus, testing instructions, hotel check-in, and the like. Meanwhile, smartphones finally caught up with seamlessly integrated QR readers in their cameras, without needing to open a separate app.
QR codes are a visual way to not only help consumers engage with your brand, but escort them to the right location and measure the impact on their experience along the way. There can be a deep link behind every QR code, which not only carries the user to an experience, but passes on information to each landing page, mobile app, and potentially the app store, if the user needs to download the app. All this data can then pass through to martech and beyond.
Yet the Coinbase QR code actually did not have a deep link behind it. And that resulted in several inefficiencies that are undoubtedly sparking more than a few head-scratchers on their marketing, analytics, data science, content, and ad ops teams.
Branch, a leader in deep linking and attribution solutions, offers an in-depth explainer on how Coinbase made their ad experience happen. They point out how a deep link into their app and app stores could have driven a better, more efficient experience than pointing to a landing page first.
“QR codes are everywhere now, and this isn’t even the first one we’ve seen being used as part of an app download campaign on TV,” adds Alex Bauer, Head of Product Marketing, Branch.
“Consumers are more and more familiar with QR codes,
so they can be a great engagement tool, but
for marketers it’s important to remember that
not every QR code is created equal.”
Data Standards and Deep Links for QR Codes
For our customers, Claravine provides a way to ensure your data standards are followed by the teams generating QR codes, without having to worry about the technical complexities of deep link and experience configuration.
If you want to launch a campaign with a QR code, we provide a direct integration with QR Code Monkey, which can be configured for any team in a template. Another option is to leverage your mobile deep linking platform, such as Branch, Bitly, or AppsFlyer. All of this, with Claravine and the data standards you’ve already established.
Any combination of these integrations, link generators, and connected workflows can be arranged in Claravine. And crucially, Claravine also connects every bit of customer experience data (from QR codes and elsewhere) to your measurement teams and platforms to analyze effectiveness.
Without these kinds of data and campaign alignments, the amount of prep and cleanup an organization would need to plan, execute, and measure a multi-touch, multi-channel Super Bowl ad like Coinbase’s would be near impossible to achieve. But with a proactive approach incorporating data standards and deep linking, cross-channel experiences and measurements become table stakes.
Especially when an ad’s audience is as large as the Super Bowl’s, you don’t get a second chance to perfect the customer experience (nor to measure it with a satisfying level of confidence). You have to be prepared from the beginning, with data standards permeating and connecting every tool, team, and touchpoint.
Here are some links on how Claravine can help integrate your data standards so your teams can quickly create, launch, and measure any customer experience with a QR code.
And for more on unifying customer experience data across your organization as measurement changes, check out our related posts below.
If you’re ready to start building your own shared data language for QR codes, deep links, and the rest of your martech stack, get in touch with Claravine’s data integrity experts.