QR Codes

I bet as a marketer you've either had a little play with QR codes, or you've been tempted to. Here's a practical guide. Written by me (not AI), on how to use QR codes to bridge the physical and digital worlds. With no rookie mistakes.

1. Don't go crazy and create loads of these codes without a plan. They will be out in the wild. For some time.

2. Because they are usually printed on physical things, which turn up in odd places in the future - pick a URL you control. You really don't want your QR code directing to a 404 because the page no longer exists.

3. The way I do this is is simple. Have a single catch-all for your main QR code - eg www.yourdomain.com/live THEN redirect that page to your content.

4. Only then can you think about designing your QR Code. And yes you should 100% incorporate your logo - easy to do. It looks Gucci.

5. For the landing page it must be Mobile first. Obvious of course, but who designs the first draft on their phone - no one. Just test it on your phone. Always.

6. Gated or Ungated content? The choice is yours. Just reduce friction as much as possible, no-one likes arduous forms. Is your objective maximum audience reach, or lead capture? For lead capture you need to offer something of value, otherwise forget it. No-one will fill in a form to look at a brochure.

7. Think about where you can use the QR code - stickers, event stands, merch, t-shirts, coasters, tattoos, pretty endless list.

8. Never stick a QR code on your competitor's booth.... until they've left the show.

So this brings us back to points 1 & 2. Have a plan and own the URL. Because once you let them loose in the wild, and you need to own that URL and the brand experience.

Overall, QR codes are a bit of fun, and should be a part of your multi-channel approach, rather than thinking of the as a lead magnet.

Fad or fun? Love them? hate them? What do you reckon? Either way they are here to stay and part of the mix for any modern digital marketer...

Cheers and all the best

LinkedIn Post

Only Apple can make ugly a feature.

Only Apple would make a feature of the fact that the camera lens has got massive and sticks way out of the phone. My Samsung is nice and compact and not some massive chunky lens.

Things I've always observed about Apple.

• Their products are always technically inferior to others
• They sometimes promote inferior qualities as features or benefits.

All these posters were seen at King's Cross underground station.

Such rubbish marketing. Nut it works. People will lap up the iPhone 15.

Time of day

It's really whenever my mood feels right or the location presents itself. I love golden hour of course, but also bold light for strong shadows for street. Equally overcast is quite nice for BW. Good question!

— Mark (@mark_uk_photos) January 26, 2022

Cugic

I've re-energised myself with photography on twitter

 

Energy is the source of life and grasp it with all you can.

So I've started to really enjoy twitter as a platform to publish my prolific amount of content. I have several blogs now all with slightly different themes. I'm liking the fact that I'm just using twitter almost anonymously. I have a "work" profile, but I don't really want work folks to see my content creation. I'm not sure why that is. It's mainly because I don't watch TV that I get to create a load more stuff. I think they would judge me. 

So this is where it all begins:

I started taking this account seriously in Jan 2022. It was an account I did nothing with. Let's see how I get on growing it over time. Sure the numbers are big now. 

Here's some more of my thoughts on what I'm up to with twitter and why I love it.

A few morning thoughts. Really digging twitter as a creative platform right now. It has a great balance of interactivity and the journal aspect that feels more authentic than Instagram. #vlog #tuesdaymotivations pic.twitter.com/PCFSQORxdz

— Mark  January 25, 2022

The truth is all social media is kind of a vanity project. However, what I'm also looking to achieve is to document my thoughts and dreams and the journey I'm taking.  Mainly because I don't want to forget the old times. The pandemic has certainly taught me that time endlessly marches forwards and there is nothing any of us can do to turn back the clock. 

Be relentless...

It's good to be relentless right?

Relentless - continuing in a determined way without any interruption

Here's the thing. How many interruptions do we get during the day?  A phone constantly buzzing with whatsapps, emails flying in, various other self-made distractions. To be relentless is pretty challenging.

It's a bit like being prolific. Since it take 10,000 hours to mast anything in life, or so they say, being prolific is just as important. That's where I'm going with my numerous blogs and twitter account. I just love being a net creator, rather than just dumbly consuming content. I make my own entertainment through the content I create.

New photo workflow

I have a new photo workflow. I'm pretty pleased with it as it now means I can keep all of my workflow on the tablet or phone. Here's the thing I've realised that my main love of photography is not for creating incredible images. Sure some of my work is better than others, but I'm more about documenting the moment. This is why I have soooo many photos 20k and counting. I also have really taken to blogging. I just want to leave a mark on the planet with words, images and video. When I'm dead and burried that is all that will be left.

I've discovered a pretty cool tool for batch editing snapshots. Perfectly clear. It's exactly what I've been looking for. Here's the workflow.

1. Shoot photos
2. Delete the naff ones
3. Run through perfectly clear
4. Tweak any proper lush ones
5. Rename files
6. Upload to Flickr, Google Photos, FTP
7. Publish to blog if I feel like it

A pretty simple and slick process all in all. Frankly stuff that comes straight out of the camera these days is so good, that post-processing is a bit of a waste of time. Worth a go though.

Test

The infamous HELCH making the news

Spotted this news article this morning from the Guardian - Who is HELCH? How one graffiti artist made a lot of enemies 

A funny little article, but makes you wonder who this guy is. Most significantly he destroyed the well known work on the M25 - "GIVE PEAS A CHANCE"

I shot this pic in august 2015 (from the passenger seat). I must admit I would aways look for this and chuckle on the rare occasions I drove past. (It's not often I use that stretch of road).



I think it's pretty funny that people are getting up in arms about graffiti replacing graffiti and it's interesting how older familiar stuff can become iconic for some people

I'll be keeping an eye out for some of HELCH's stuff on my travels. I shoot a lot of graffiti and street art as I go about my life, so I'll see one of his (or her) work soon enough.

One thing that did make me giggle, was that some people don't want to remove the HELCH work because they think it might be Banksys, so would look to cash in if that ever was the case.