This is a blog post I meant to write 10 months ago. But I got too busy. Isn’t everyone always too busy? Anyway, imagine me one morning in August, frantically getting ready for work. Except first, I have to drive the kid to school. But first, I have to do his homework (don’t ask). But before I can do that, I have to take out the garbage. Argh! While I’m dragging out the garbage cans, there’s the morning paper lying on my driveway. Do I have time to stop and read it? NO. Do I have time to stop and use my smartphone to subscribe to their email newsletter? Heeeeellll no.

Well, maybe I do:

Hey. That’s a nice idea. Scan the QR code to open a signup form. At the very least, I can scan it and just leave it open in my phone’s browser for later. Every MailChimp list comes with its own QR code, so you can do this sorta thing too. Post the code at your store, at events, or on the front page of your newspaper (above the fold, of course). Anywhere you have crazy-busy customers who appreciate little time-saving gestures like this.

Since typing in a long API key code can be cumbersome– especially on mobile devices– Stephen Cerutti suggested we might add the ability to grab your key from a QR code. We thought it was such a great suggestion we went ahead and launched the feature in yesterday’s application update.

QR codes are neat because they store information, like a website address or string of characters, that you can then retrieve with your smart phone’s camera and an app that’s able to read them.

There isn’t yet an option in any of our mobile apps requiring an API key to use your QR code instead, but our Mobile Labs team is working on the next piece of the puzzle as I type this. The idea is that initially you can use your favorite app to scan the code, then copy/paste your API key into the application.

Two things we noticed all over this year’s SXSW were: 1) Unicorns, and 2) QR codes.

For those of you who don’t know, QR codes are like UPC codes, but on steroids (learn more). 

Google has been experimenting with QR codes by linking them to Google Maps listings, and you’ll notice people posting their QR codes on their Yelp listings lately too. Supposedly, Facebook is even tinkering with giving people QR codes for their profiles.

Reading this TC article about Google’s QR codes got us thinking about how a store owner could use them to get mobile-savvy customers (pretty much everyone now?) to subscribe to their email marketing lists.

Here’s one way you could use them, but I’m sure you can think of more…

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