‘Tis the time for new year resolutions. And if I spot the trend correctly, snap tag campaigns are on most marketers’ lists for the next year. We talked about the the QR code and it’s challenges in the last post. Now, snap tags seem to have captured the imagination of the social media savvy marketers after QR code. It’d be presumptuous to say that snap tags will take over or challenge the budding QR code industry but it is an interesting alternative. Before I go on and extol virtues of the new sexy QR code called snap tags, let me mention that my very first attempt at engaging with a brand via a snap tag failed. I snapped a picture and texted it to the number mentioned and waited…and waited to see what I get back. And it was a good thing I didn’t hold my breath because nothing showed up! Again, for the exact same reasons that the QR code seems to be not catching up, I am predicting that execution is the key and if a campaign isn’t executed right, the snap tag may go the same way as the QR code.
Snap tags 101
I like to call snap tag a QR code that has graduated. If you’ve seen a logo with a circle around it, you’ve seen a snap tag. All you do, is take a photo of it with a mobile phone. Send the photo. Get back cool stuff. A lot of blue chip companies seem to have adopted the snap tags already. The cover of Glamour magazine recently sported a snap tag that will then take you to its Facebook page. A snap tag is more customizable, better looking and richer in information than a QR code. For the QR code, you need to have a scanner on your smartphone but with a snap tag just having a smartphone- with a camera, of course, will do the trick. All you do, is snap a picture of the tag and it’ll unlock or activate either a youtube video, a micro website or some exclusive web content.
Again, this will be just another way companies will try to engage with their smartphone weilding consumers. Right now, I see only the big companies doing the snap tag campaigns. wWhether it spreads to small businesses and its customers, remains to be seen.
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