You’ve probably seen QR Codes everywhere (if you’re not familiar, a ‘QR Code’ means Quick Response Code, and is a square scannable barcode intended for fast data delivery on a smart phone or other mobile application). They’re used in marketing materials, in airports, restaurants, in magazines, and more! They’re neat little nuggets of information that are downloadable at literally one click of a button. QR Codes are great for marketing purposes and should be used by every industry. QR Codes however have some drawbacks along with the advantages.

This is where Microsoft Tags come in. Like a QR Code, it’s a square scannable barcode intended for quick delivery of information: automatically opening a webpage, adding a contact to your address book, displaying a message, or dialing a number – there are no long URLs to type or SMS messages to send. It was developed by Microsoft to improve the usability of the traditional QR Code (originally developed by a subsidiary of Toyota in Japan, and is widely used all over Asia). At first glance, the only difference seems to be the visual style – QR Codes look like black-and-white mazes, and Microsoft Tags look like something from The Cosby Show (see below).

Here are a couple main points that you’ll need to know…

• Most people already recognize QR Codes and already have a free QR Scanner app on their smart phone or tablet. Microsoft Tags are less recognizable for now.
• Both codes can be created by anyone for free. QR Codes are hard linked to whatever URL you want people to go to when scanning it, and unfortunately if you need to change that link you have to make a new code. Microsoft Tags are re-programmable and can be changed indefinitely.
• Microsoft Tags are more versatile in what they can do once scanned.
• You can use just about any QR Reader to scan a QR Code, whereas you need Microsoft’s Tag Reader app to scan a Microsoft Tag
• QR Codes are slowly becoming more customizable (being able to change the design), whereas Microsoft Tags are HIGHLY customizable. You can use your own logo, colors, patterns, etc – whatever you can dream up!

So which one should you use? It depends on your needs. If you need something that everybody will recognize and know what to do with, and need it to go to a website URL then a QR Code is for you. If you want the code to be more versatile and do more stuff, and/or include more branding, and to reach out to a tech-savvy audience then a Microsoft Tag is what you need. Either way, using QR Codes and Tags is a great way to amp up your Mobile Marketing and Social Media Marketing in some very creative ways.

Below is an example of the differences between QR Codes and Microsoft Tags.