Announcing the engagement of Print and Web
Written by Claire Scaramanga
Up till now, the only option there really has been to get people from printed communication onto your website has been by printing a web address and hoping they can be bothered to get to a computer or go onto their mobile web browser.
But Scaramanga is delighted to announce that print and web are officially hooked up!
However, now you can digitally link offline and online communications by using a new service from Microsoft Tag. The service comprises a colour barcode which is scanned by a Smart Phone (most operating systems are covered, including iPhone, Android, Windows Mobile and BlackBerry) and then the tag links to wherever you set it up to.
One application is a business card – add all your contact details to a tag, print on your business card (or anything else appropriate, for example an estimate or folder) and then when your customer scans it, all your contact details are added to their phone. No need for them to retype it.
Or your tag could be a phone number, so that the phone calls the number once the tag is scanned. You could add this to any outdoor advertising, for example For Sale boards, posters, a fleet of vans. You could also add it to your website, so someone can scan it and phone you straight away.
Finally, and probably the most versatile application is a web link. This could be to your website, or a special marketing campaign site. An estate agent’s window could have a tag for each property so that someone walking past could scan and see all the particulars, floor plans, pictures and even arrange a viewing online.
A cinema could have a tag on film posters so you can watch previews, read reviews and book tickets online. A restaurant could have menus and a link to booking. An IT servicing company can have tags to show engineers which assets are registered for maintenance. The applications are endless!
You can even customise the tag with your own logo or imagery in PowerPoint, without the need for specialist software.
