QR codes and the Real Estate Industry - A good mix?

IT ALL DEPENDS ON HOW YOU LOOK AT THEM

Recently, I was asked "why QR codes in the Real Estate Industry have not taken off?" There are a few reasons which vary from agent to agent and from consumer to consumer. On one side you have the agent's desired consumer response and on the other you have the home buyer's technical expectations - respectively.

DESIRED RESPONSES

When it comes to how Real Estate agents prefer to sell homes, most fall into one of two categories. Some think it is better to make as much information available to the home buyer up front, so they can better target truly interested consumers who are less likely to waste their time and resources. From these agents you'll see everything from 360 degree videos, online image galleries, even virtual walk-throughs. In this scenario, agents use Tech to distance themselves from the perspective home buyer in order to help qualify them first.
On the flip side, other agents wish to use a more personal approach from the start. These agents prefer to meet all potential home buyers in person, so they can demonstrate their industry knowledge and personal knowledge of the actual home, in order to help build a personal relationship.
Neither of these approaches is right or wrong - it comes down to what each agent is more comfortable with. Additionally, home buyers think the same way - some appreciate a personal touch, while others like a more "hands off" approach.

TECHNICAL EXPECTATIONS

On the Tech side, it comes down to execution and delivery. In my experience, most Real Estate agents use QR Codes wrong - generating codes which point to non-mobile experiences and tracking the code to determine the effectiveness of their strategy by measuring the scan rate instead of the actual user experience. Using this scenario, an agent will see that 100 people scanned their code the day before and wonder why nobody called. In short, they provide poor mobile engagement and focus on the wrong data. This is nothing new and as result, QR Codes on Real Estate signs and newspaper ads have become, in many ways, a parody of themselves.

GETTING IT RIGHT

There is light at the end of the tunnel. Agents whom I have worked with through my agency PRINT2D™ use QR Codes in the way they were intended (to serve as a convenient on-ramp to mobile content and nothing more). They use them consistently and have seen an improvement in home sales by ~15% to 20% over the course of a year. The advice I give them is to always pair QR Codes with a clear call-to-action, always consider connectivity issues and, above all, always direct mobile consumers to mobile content.

Original blog post found online at http://www.print2d.com/dt/about_blog8.shtml