We're beginning to see QR codes almost everywhere – on numerous products, in shops and malls and online.

More recently, they have begun to crop up in hotels, restaurants and pubs on menus, brochures, QR Codes on wine bottles and drinks lists – but how can QR codes be utilised effectively in these settings?

QR Codes for Hotels

In hotels, Codes can be used in numerous different locations – they can be placed on room welcome packs, on room keys, at the check-in desk and on message boards in the lobby and hallways where they can then direct users through to the hotel's blog to give them more information about events, special offers, customer feedback, upgrades and more.

These codes could also direct users to help and information about local restaurants, attractions and activities in the area.

You could even create a call to action whereby scanning the QR code gives guests money off their dinner or a free drink in the bar – what a simple way to kick start happy hour!

QR Codes for Restaurants

Restaurants can also easily utilise QR codes to give their customers more information about the food and drink being served that wouldn't otherwise fit on the menu.

Scanning QR codes on the menu could give users calorie and recipe information, but you could also use the technology to direct customers to preparation videos to show them exactly what goes into your food and why your food is better than the competition's.

Think about what's in it for the consumer to scan your QR Code?

Again, you could create a call to action on advertising boards outside the restaurant whereby scanning the QR code gives customers discounts on the food or a free glass of wine with their meal – you could also reveal a secret menu or dish available only to customers who've scanned the QR code. Everyone loves to be exclusive.

QR Codes for Pubs and Bars

Micro-brewery WJ King have recently become the first brewery in the world to put their head brewer into every pub – and to make the most of new marketing technology, they've starting putting QR codes onto each and every bottle of beer and onto all pump clips.

WJ King's customers generally want to know how their food and drink is made and prepared and to exploit this, WJ King are using QR codes to direct customers to information about the brewing process as well as the flavour profile and style of each beer so that customers can make informed choices about which of their beers to try.

Coming up with useful and creative content to direct your customers to is probably the most important thing to keep in mind when developing a new QR code campaign.

But you should also take a leaf out of WJ King's book and know your target market inside out – that way, your QR code campaign has a much higher chance of succeeding.

Johannes Ahrenfelt is the co-founder of 99SQUARED Ltd. Their first product SQUARE:CODE offers a unique management system for QR Codes, giving businesses complete and flexible control of how they communicate with consumers.

Rather than linking to a single, fixed URL from the QR Code, the SQUARE:CODE Exchange lets businesses manage their code – so that it could point to a website about a sale one day, and an event on their business' Facebook page the next.

Leading QR Code software. SQUARE:CODE offers a unique management system for QR Codes, giving you complete and flexible control of how you communicate with customers.

www.squarecode.biz