When social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc. arrived on the scene many were quick to brush them off as fads and were unwilling to invest time or money into social media marketing. I think it is safe to say now that these sites have proved they are not just fads and are here to stay. Not only that, but I think social media has proven to be a very powerful marketing tool. Now Quick Response codes have come on to the scene and I am sure many are wondering if they will just be a fad. Right now they are the new trendy technology but how about their staying power – will they last? Will QR codes follow the same path as social media and prove naysayers wrong? I think so.

The only thing working against this phenomenon right now is the fact that not everyone has a smartphone which is needed to scan the code and be linked to the website associated with it. But it will only be a matter of time until everyone and their brother has smartphones. Non-smartphones will most likely suffer the same fate as VHS players that stopped being manufactured once DVD players hit the market. Now that smartphones are here, they are here to stay and will dominate until all other phones are eventually phased out. This growing market for smartphones means QR codes will become more and more relevant in consumers’ daily lives.

Just as we’ve (well most of us) have accepted social media as a permanent presence in our lives, professionally and personally, we will all most likely embrace QR codes as a common practice too. There is no going backwards in technology. I am sure more and more uses are going to become available for QR codes and they will become harder and harder to resist in marketing as was the case with social media.

Click here to see an example of a QR code in the Iron Man 2 movie poster.