360DigitalInfluence

This week, sightings of mysterious links for users to View QR Barcode or Generate Status QR Code popped-up everywhere but no one knew what was up. Today Tech Crunch got more information: Facebook is rolling out location-based check-in for late April’s f8 conference that will allow users and Pages to have these codes. Imagine you can snap a photo of the QR code with your iPhone and it will post your status update as well as link to a map of which Starbucks you’re at. Having taken this long to get into the location-based world, I expect Facebook’s offering to be thoughtful and uncomplicated- hopefully I’m right.

Are you totally lost? Have no idea what QR codes are? They are like bar codes you scan with your camera phone that then interact with your phone in some way (drive to webpage, check you in, etc.). They are huge in Asia, not so in the US. The problem is that so far they’ve been positioned as an alternative to a URL like at SXSW 2010. But since no one is saying, “wow, I sure wish there was a quicker way to get to Facebook.com/username” it doesn’t have the impact. Still, the ability of the technology to connect something physical offline to the online social network is unique.

Here are just a few reasons it’s going to be awesome for your Facebook Page:

• It’s like Foursquare only more awesome and probably free. Foursquare continues to gain ground but it has a few obvious flaws and it’s also a significant cost to get a brand presence. Since Facebook has always allowed Pages to promote themselves for free by offering ways for fans to join up via SMS or putting Fan Boxes on their website it’s likely these codes will eventually be free to all.
• Scavenger hunts! Maybe you’ve noticed an increase in innovative offline scavenger hunts powered by social media, QR Codes will only make scavenger hunts move inventive and easier to track digitally.
• Facebook application ideas are endless. You can track how often fans visit your store and give them coupons, downloads, or contest entries based on how many QR codes they capture on their smart phones.
• QR codes beyond Facebook… If QR codes go over on Facebook, your fans will be more comfortable with them for other mobile applications. You may see in the future mobile applications for fans to look up or contribute restaurant reviews from a window sticker (e.g. Yelp, Google Reviews), make purchases from their phone, and get super-targeted information about their immediate physical surroundings.

We’ve been waiting for more Facebook location-based capabilities for awhile now and I can’t wait until this is real. TGI-QRC!

Thanks to Sam Ilic (flickr: Stage 88) for the awesome photo- I think it embodies the TGIF dream.