Marketing for Builders and Remodelers: When a Code is a Good Thing

qr codes for buildersIf you’re a builder or remodeler you may get a little weary of the constant battle with local building codes. The homeowner wants something done a certain way, but the code won’t allow it. And sometimes you end up looking like the bad guy.

But there are codes out there now that can actually help you promote your business! They’re called QR Codes (Quick Response Codes) and you may have started to see them popping up on signs and posters, in magazines, and online. They’re odd-looking little things, but they can pack a powerful marketing punch.

Originally created by the Denso-Wave subsidiary of Toyota in order to track parts in vehicle manufacturing, these little squares of information do a lot more now. QR codes are two-dimensional bar codes that can be read by QR barcode readers—or by smartphones.

Why does this matter to builders and remodelers? The key to QR codes is the information they contain. Generally QR codes have a web address (a URL) embedded in them. When someone with a smartphone takes a picture of a QR code, that code automatically takes that smartphone to the website. So if you’re working on a home and have a sign out in front of the project with your QR code on it, a potential customer driving by can stop, take a picture of your sign, and then be taken directly to your website (or better yet, to a specific landing page on your website). And the really cool thing is that people don’t even have to type in the web address (which also means they won’t get it wrong!).

Or if you run an ad in a local newspaper or magazine, you can embed your QR code in the ad and (again) the reader can take a picture of it and go straight to your landing page.

Maybe you’re planning to do a radius mailing (mailing cards to the neighborhood where you’re building a home or doing a renovation). Not only can you direct customers to the project you’re working on, you can also embed the QR code in the postcard mailing and allow people to go directly to a specific landing page where you can offer them information about building or remodeling for them.

Who knew that dealing with codes could be so beneficial? Where would you put a code like this?