If you’re into seafood+ dark, sexy atmosphere, and interesting local beer and wine (huge selection)- you need to check out Blackbird.

In order to match the look and feel of Blackbird’s physical space in the heart of downtown Sacramento, we went with a dark color scheme on the website.  We embedded their logo font for use in titles and headers to give the site a consistent look with their brand image.  Since their menu is based on local, hyperseasonal ingredients, we created a simple system in order to upload new menus whenever necessary.

Throughout the website building process, we were given very limited art direction or feedback, which is always a fun challenge.  When the restaurant opened, and the website was ready to go live, no one affiliated with Blackbird had even seen the site!  But- we went forward and launched the site to much acclaim from Chef/Owner Carina Lampkin.  We were invited to the friends and family opening night, and during her first dinner service, Carina came out of the kitchen to tell us, “You nailed it! I love the website.”  Happy clients like this is what keeps us going.

Thank you to Stephanie Barber, Karen + John Thacker, Carina Lampkin, Dona Bridges and Tyler Stacy for giving us the opportunity to create this website and be a part of the Blackbird Kitchen+ Bar family!

First, we took into account what role the website played in the company and based on the feedback we received, decided on a clean, structured but uncluttered layout.  We spent a total of 45 hours, including edits and changes, building the site in order to get it live ASAP for RedLegg.  Check it out http://www.redlegg.com/ .

After the initial site was live, we were rehired to build a separate “Events” sub-site at http://events.redlegg.com/ .  This site needed to tie into the main site, but be able to stand on its own as a one-stop shop for visitors looking to see past, present and future RedLegg events.

RedLegg was a great project to work on! We would like to say thank you to Laura at RedLegg for being such a great client to work with!  Also, thank you to Solstice Wealth Management and Insurance Services for the referral!

Since popularity with using QR codes in advertising has surged- we have been seeing incorrect QR usage everywhere! We thought now would be a good time to lay out a few tips on how to use QR codes- the right way and the wrong way.

The Right Way

1. Print Marketing Campaigns- If you advertise using fliers, banners, posters or magazine ads, using QR codes here is practically mandatory.  The code used here should link to a mobile-friendly webpage specifically created to match the campaign used in your print material.

2. Gifts-Badges-Incentives OH MY!- Using QR codes in your marketing campaigns as a way to engage the customer is KEY.  If you want to increase your scan count, offer incentives such as a complimentary gift, a badge (if your campaign gives users badges, think 4square), or a discount on your service (have the QR code lead to a printable coupon).

3. REALTORS- If you are not yet using QR codes, you are losing business.  Realtors can use QR codes on property listing posters they leave in public places (code will lead to a mobile friendly version of online property listing, including pictures, address and map), on their business cards (your clients will scan and your contact info will automatically be added to their phone’s address book!), on your property’s For Sale sign (the code will send a text message on the potential buyer’s phone directly to YOU, talk about instant lead generation!).  Yah, Real Estate is winning with QR codes BIG TIME.

4. Tell ‘Em What To Do!- A lot of people are still confused when they see the funny looking QR code.  For now, until QR codes are literally everywhere, you should include a small instruction (one line only please) telling the user what to do.  How about, “Scan this code on your smartphone using a Free QR Code Reader App!” ?

The Wrong Way

1. QR Codes on Websites- This is a BIG NO NO! The point of the QR Code is to get people to scan them and lead them to a special, mobile-optimized website.  What use is there for taking someone already visiting your website, to a mobile website?  This also goes for social media- There is NO use using your QR codes as default photos in your social media profiles- no one will scan (especially since social media is becoming increasingly mobile!) Know many of your potential customers walking around with 2 smart phones?

2. TMI-Too Much Information- Keep the content of your QR Code to a simple website URL, a small line of text, a small text message, or, if used as a V Card- just your name, phone and e-mail- forget the address.  The more data your QR code contains, the larger, more complex the code will be. This will in turn lead to a lower scan-rate. How many times do you expect your potential customer to attempt to scan your code? If the answer is more than 1, you’re wrong.

3. Going Home-Your QR Code should NOT take people to the home page of your website. Why?  Marketing is about targeted, specific campaigns. A good QR code is custom designed to match whatever it is being printed on, and leads to a mobile friendly page with specific information.  If you print a QR code on a flyer for a house you are selling, the scanned QR code should lead to the listing of that property, not your home page.  Common Sense!

4. Size Matters-To ensure your code scans effortlessly, it needs to be minimum 1″x1″ with a 1cm white-space border around it.  Why? The marketing guru consensus says so.  Also, your code can’t be too big- If you are using a QR code on a large size banner that will be placed near people, size it accordingly- it needs to easily fit in the frame of your potential customer’s mobile phone cameras. If the banner is going to be hung far away from people, adjust the size so that it is large enough to appear clear, but small enough to fit within the camera’s frame.

5. Overstay Your Welcome- If using a QR Code on a television commercial, run the QR code in a corner of the screen for the entire length of the ad. If you briefly show your code at the end of the commercial, you lose.  No one is going to care enough to “pause” the commercial (assuming your potential customer uses a DVR).  Avoid a waste of your investment, run the QR code as long as possible on a TV commercial.

If you liked this article, please sign up for weekly e-mail updates to hear more!

As you know, Gregorakis Interactive works with a major player in the Sacramento Realtor scene, Fusion Real Estate Network, so we are always trying to keep up to date with what is happening in their industry.

The video below is from the Sacramento Association of Realtors.  It highlights some general info about QR codes, and how they can be used for real estate agents. Watch it:

Some of what QR codes in Real Estate Marketing can be used for:

1. A QR code on specific listing marketing flyers to take a potential buyer directly to the online listing.
2. A QR code on your Business Cards that instantly download your name, numbers and e-mail into a potential buyer’s mobile phone.
3. A QR code inside an open house that links the potential buyer directly to you or a specific piece of sales information.

[contact-form]

14 million people per month are scanning QR Codes. To launch our latest service, we will be giving away 1 custom designed QR code to 5 different companies.  If you own a business and you want to participate in our new product launch, please fill out the form at the bottom of this page.

Though we are offering free service, each company involved in this launch will be treated like an appreciated, paying client.

5 companies will work 1on1 with us to offer feedback on their custom QR codes.  We are aiming for customer satisfaction, we want our prospective clients to be able to use their Custom QR code risk free, to see how effective they can be in marketing efforts.

A QR code can point a user to a website (preferably a landing page made just for the QR code), an e-mail address, a phone number, custom text, a youtube video, a V-Card and even a text message!

Want a free code?

[contact-form]

Custom QR Code Examples

Click to Enlarge

This month we are offering all new website design and redesign customers a chance to save 25% as a way to promote our services. Whether you already have a website or are considering having one designed for the first time, let us show you how a Gregorakis Interactive website can be custom tailored to resolve whatever issues your business is currently struggling with.  Please fill out the following form for a free, no-obligation quote!

We took the Torch Club from a basic HTML encoded website and gave them a rich, dark, and bluesy feeling site that perfectly matched their physical space.  We utilized new media (CSS3 and HTML5) along with social media injections to bring them into the current paradigm of our virtual world.  New visitors are now excited about visiting the club after visiting the website, and the owners can now directly interact with their customers online.  We tied the website into their Facebook account, utilizing integrated cross promotional techniques so that they could build their social media fan base.  The website is now a place people visit to see what events are coming up, view pictures of themselves at previous events, and read the cleverly written daily updates (which act as event promotions) on the home page.

Before we redesigned the site, the owners of the club were stuck with a website that they no longer had access to updating.  Dynamic content on a business website is a very important factor in customer confidence.  Yes, the website is for a club, and you may argue that it probably doesn’t matter, that people just want to see what time they open- but with the new site in place, the raw, feel good energy and buzz surrounding the Torch Club has been restored!  This is a perfect example of what Gregorakis Interactive believes in: supporting local business, win-wins, and seeing through our client’s marketing efforts.  For the Torch Club, Gregorakis Interactive put the funk back in functional.

So, what is your business struggling with?  We would love to hear! Contact us by clicking here.