There is no denying that touch is a powerful sense but at the moment people are hesitant to touch anything. From both a hygiene perspective and also from a waste-reducing initiative, contactless everything is the way of (the current) future.

The simple act of picking up a business card or a brochure is met with second thoughts if they are going to be put down again. Digital modes of marketing have gained traction around the uncertainty of how many people have touched an item before you. Social media marketing is becoming one of the top marketing methods in this no-contact age but it’s not the only way.

The tactile nature of being able to touch things is a useful mode to utilise in marketing. Marketing collateral is a popular way to share and connect with a business with a touch perspective. Things like business cards, brochures or booklets can educate and immerse your potential client in your brand experience without you being present. How can you emulate the same experience of connection if you can’t touch something?

How to create a connection without touch?

Incorporate the idea of zero-contact solutions into your marketing and collateral graphic design. Traditional marketing mediums such as business cards can still be utilised by incorporating new tech such as QR codes into the design.

Scanning QR codes are becoming common practice here in NZ so they are becoming a more understood means of sharing information. QR codes can be put on almost anything but work best on flat surfaces. Business cards both rectangular or square suit QR codes. QR codes are also no longer a weird grid of squares. QR code squares can be swapped for circles and diamonds and can incorporate your logo into the design without affecting the website URL being embedded.

Uses for QR codes:

Increase accessibility for vision-impaired people

If you wear reading glasses, what do you do when you can't read what you want to read? How many times have you been to a restaurant and go to read the menu and caught out without them?

There is no zoom on a piece of paper.

If you design your own marketing collateral, what font size do you use? Are you using a clear, easy-to-read font? or are you trying to cram in as much text as possible?

Not everything is about making the sale. Without sales, there is no business but without people to buy from you, there are no sales. Vision-impaired people may not be the target market for your business but they are still people. Vision impairment whether through ageing or disability is not a choice and people living with that every day appreciate businesses that make products and services accessible to them too.

Not everyone has access to a smartphone but if you do, it allows you to access text-to-speech or enlarged text services to make reading webpages easier.

Sign up for your mailing list

Send your visitor to sign up to your email list in exchange for free training, guide, ebook or discount coupon. Embed the QR code URL to your newsletter list sign-up page and tag those subscribers. Tagging subscribers means you can email them later about things that will interest in because of what they opted into.

VIP Invitations

Send your VIP customers a voucher or postcard with a QR code on it. The QR code could go to a hidden landing page on your website with an offer to upsell them on something they would likely purchase or a bundle of products. A hidden page means that your normal website visitors can’t see the offer so it's exclusive to those with the link. Treating your best customers makes them feel special and makes it a no-brainer for them to keep partnering with you.

Referral discounts

Encourage repeat customers with referrals. Embedding a referral discount code into the QR code URL can deduct the saving directly at checkout. Referrals are a great incentive to get people to tell others about your business.

Store-front notices

Want to talk to your potential customers when you are not there? Put your QR code on your shop window or door to encourage interaction even if you are closed. You could send them to a secret landing page on your website. The landing page could have an embedded video of you speaking about a promotion or how you got into the business.

Reduce your environmental footprint.

Being in business doesn’t mean you have to get business cards, brochures or booklets of any kind printed. You don’t have to. QR codes or websites are an effective way of actionable marketing. Choosing to not use business cards reduces your environmental footprint as it reduces the paper waste that goes with creating them. Not all business cards are equal and can be made from recycled materials like t-shirts or paper stock from sustainably-sourced forests.

Interested in incorporating tech into your branding or getting custom innovative marketing strategies for your business? Get in touch!