Welcome Guest Blogger, Ranger Elizabeth Swift
Rocks and Susquehanna State Parks.
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Get your park ahead of the curve with some free media!It feels as though everywhere you go everyone is using a Smartphone. It is not just tech-savvy people either; Smartphones are now generic and can be found in nearly anyone’s pocket. We should not be threatened by Smartphones. Rather, we should find ways to embrace them. Although technology frequently means a widening gap between people and the environment, the good news is that we CAN reach our visitors via the Smartphone. Not only that, but we can get them to learn more about our parks using technologically savvy advertising, allowing the visitors to both embrace technology and our parks.
Many of you may not know what QR coding is. However, it is quite simple and is a funny looking design that you see everywhere (barcode design). The link provided takes you to a sample image. You may have seen this on a vehicle, inside a magazine, or in stores. They can be computer generated images that are a shortcut to connect people directly with websites or online resources.
10 Reasons Why QR Codes Have Great Potential
1. It’s FREE!
2. Think about all of the stuff you are already doing online? Park newsletters, volunteer events, ranger or naturalist led programs, park alerts or updates. This is a simple way to drive visitors to one convenient access spot while decreasing the amount of paper products needed.
3. Boost traffic to your park website (or to your Facebook and Twitter pages).
4. Help register folks to your events! How many times have you seen a flyer on a bulletin board while your are out and say to yourself “Hey , this looks like fun!” and then you don’t think about it until you see pictures online. Placing QR codes on your event flyers is a great way to make sure that doesn’t happen to your customers. A QR code alone isn’t going to get people to want to register. Make sure to provide enough content about the event (text and visual) on your flyers and give people an incentive to sign up.
5. QR codes help you turn new customers into email subscribers (and help you build your list!)
6. QR codes get people to “like” and “follow” your park when you ask them to.
7. QR codes can help you generate more donations and volunteers for the causes you support.
8. QR codes allow the Park Service to embrace technology without investing more money into it.
9. Putting a QR code takes nearly no time and yet has the potential to greatly increase the traffic (both web and in person) to our parks.
10. Embracing newer technology and QR codes will allow us to reach out to the younger generation of park visitor, thus ensuring increased visitation throughout the future.
John Somers from Janes Island shared this video - thought I would add it to the blog!
Below is a sample flyer showing how QR codes can easily be placed within your flyer. You can download a QR code scanner on your phone easily be searching for “QR code scanner” in your App Store (most are free). Once downloaded, you use the camera phone to get a “scan” of the code and you are instantly taken to the website the QR code is linked to. No more continually typing in long web page names until you get the right one. Get taken to the right web page every time!
Visit http://www.i-nigma.com/CreateBarcodes.htmlto get started creating your own QR codes! Simply follow the directions on the screen and you’ll instantly have a new, free form of technological advertising. Another code generator site - http://qrcode.kaywa.com/
Feel free to contact me at,
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(sorry, you’ll have to download the scanner to get my contact information and to see how easy it is) with any questions you may have, and good luck with your new way of advertising!
Awesome! Thanks Liz :). I've been wondering what those little boxes meant.
ReplyDeleteWe use QR codes here at Janes Island - in a limited capacity. Ranger John Somers created a flyer that we have posted on our Nature Center and Camp Store doors that includes codes for our website, weather, tide tables, fishing guide and volunteer information. He did that after reading about a walking self-guided tour through Central Park (I think). It's been a good resource for our customers. Thanks, Liz, for putting this post together.
ReplyDeleteJohn Somers from Janes Island shared a link to the You Tube Video on how they used QR Codes in New York's Central Park - thought you might enjoy, so I have added it to the blog!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this information Liz! QR codes are surely a fun and easy way to interpret information too. If anyone needs assistance with creating QR codes, don't hesitate to contact me. Happy to help out with technology driven initiatives!
ReplyDeleteFabulous guest blog! I enjoyed this immensely and find it incredibly helpful, Liz.
ReplyDeleteWow! I didn't realize how easy these were! Thanks Liz!
ReplyDeleteWe started using QR codes this spring on Posters and flyers . There is too much information to post . People want " Just the facts" and are not interested in reading a entire paragraph. They like bullet points. We write somethng and then say " for more informatation scan here" Unfortunately , I am the only one at he Fort who has a "SMART" phone who can read them . We are slowly movin out of the 18th century . :)
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