Short Codes, Tags, & QR Codes

If you are new to the mobile marketing and advertising space you will quickly learn that a SmartPhones are making a run at standard industry processes.  The intelligence and compute power of these small devices is increasing exponentially. As such, we are seeing the ability to use them in ways never before seen.  For example, they can act as a bar code scanner and provide product and price information.  So what is a Shortcode or a QR Code? A Shortcode is nothing more than a phone number; it just doesn't have 10 digits like other numbers hence it's called short. Shortcodes are used for specific purposes, mainly to move Text Messages back and forth. A QR code is small digital image than when scanned (similar to a bar code) it activates a process, whether it be dialing a phone number, launch a web page, etc.  Short and QR Codes working together can provide a pretty robust marketing platform to enable retailers or anyone marketing a retail product to provide other means to see, view, learn, buy, etc. that product. TAG's are the same as QR Codes, but Microsoft proprietary or their version of the same thing with a little different look and some color added to make it look nice.  Bottom line, if you own a SmartPhone you might want to download a free QR Code and/or TAG scanner to begin scanning these codes wherever you go.  You might even be asked to Text a Keyword to a Shortcode and join an exclusive club of members that are interested in certain products for services.  Here's a simple QR Code as an Example.