QR Code in Real Estate Marketing

A QR, or Quick Response, code is a bar code that you may scan with a smart phone, which will take you to a web page on the internet where you can find out more information about the piece of real estate that you are looking at. The page may have additional photos, number and sizes of rooms, property taxes, and whatever other information that the listing realtor feels is important for you to know at first glance.

To access QR codes, the consumer needs a cell phone with internet capabilities. Cell phone carriers are making upgrades to these types of phones easy and convenient with internet access minutes selling for less as the market grows. Once equipped with one of these smart phones, the individual uses the phone like a portable handheld scanner and scans the QR bar code, giving him or her instant access to a web page dedicated to the piece of real estate in question.

Realtors are using these QR codes on for sale signs that they put in the yard of the property, flyers, business cards, print ads, and wherever else they can imagine. When a customer sees a property that may be of interest, he or she simply scans the QR code and saves the information on the cell phone for later viewing.

The realtor can track how many times individual customers scan each listed property. The realtor can also learn specific demographics related to the individuals scanning each property. Every individual who scans a property is sending information back to the realtor's site information such as name, address, and phone number. Utilizing information available at various sites, the realtor can then run a background check, including credit, and get somewhat of an idea of the individual's annual income. The realtor uses this data so that he or she can market each individual based upon what he or she can afford. This is also a great way for a realtor to screen people so that he or she does not waste time marketing someone who would probably not qualify for a home loan.

Realtors are marketing real estate in ways never possible before by displaying posters with photos of different homes along with their own QR code. The perceptive realtor can rent a relatively inexpensive small booth at a trade show, display a poster or several posters, and enjoy instant traffic to their web site by potential customers.

Another benefit for realtors using a QR code system is that they can track the effectiveness of each particular campaign. The realtor will know how many times different customers scan at each source of advertising. Advertising is one of the realtor's biggest costs associated with marketing a piece of real estate, so this is a way for the realtor to gauge the response from each source so that he or she can decide if a particular advertisement is cost effective.
Combining the information of who is scanning and where they are scanning from, the realtor can also determine patterns concerning each individual scanning. The realtor can analyze the frequency of scans by a potential customer as well as a price range the individual is considering for purchase. Realtors utilize all this information so that they can better meet the needs of each consumer they serve.