The Great Enabler: How Serialization Activates Consumer Engagement

Everyone wants to know how to reach their target audience for the least amount of money. Between ad placements, email marketing campaigns, and visual advertisements, a marketer’s time is split between multiple channels. Then there’s the big question of how to split investment between acquiring new customers and reaching existing customers. “According to a study operated by Signal Mind, a potential customer has only between 5 to 20% chance of buying a product while this number rises to 60 or 70% for existing customers”. Targeting existing customers allows you to reach people who have already bought into your brand, so it makes sense they’re more likely to buy. Leveraging tactics such as this, that are proven to convert at higher rates and lower costs, will save you money and time in the coming year. Another one of those tactics is serialization.

Serializing your products not only gives you unprecedented insight into your supply chain, but also allows you to reach individual customers with personalized marketing and messaging. Implementing scannable unique identifiers, such as QR codes, onto individual units allows you to hit customers who have already overcome the initial barrier of purchasing a product. With the COVID-19 pandemic, QR usage has skyrocketed. “More than half (54%) of consumers 18-29 have clicked on a marketing-related QR code.” The graph below shows not only the growth of QR reach and usage but also how many people are repeatedly scanning products. This means more opportunities for marketers without any increased cost or labor. 

Source: Blue Bite

The Rule of Seven, or the statistic that a consumer has to see something about seven times before they’ll purchase, is a marketing mainstay. Connecting with your customers directly, via a product they’ve already purchased, gives you a chance to cross-promote another, targeted product and start that count to seven. Aside from cross-promoting to another product page directly, there are other, more subtle ways to pique interest across your product catalogue. Some ideas include:

  • Direct them to social media so they can explore other product photos, reviews, and read customer comments.
  • Provide product authentication details and share usage information about the product. This will build brand trust and ensure they get the best use out of their new purchase!
  • Share a promo code to incentivize follow-on purchases and continued QR scans. 

QR Code usage isn’t slowing down anytime soon. In fact, “75% of US respondents say they plan on using QR codes moving forward.” It’s also one of the most accessible ways to reach consumers. “81% of U.S. adults have smartphones. And nearly all of them read QR with no third party app required.” Smart marketing means looking at the data. With the majority of the US using QR codes in their daily life, incorporating them into your supply chain means a new mode of connection that’s showing increasing levels of engagement and follow-through. Not to mention, serialization comes with a whole slew of other perks. (More on that last note here.) 

From full supply chain visibility to brand protection and authentication—something as seemingly simple as a QR code can be the answer to your most pressing business problems. And our team of advisors wants to help you tailor your approach to tackling them. Interested? Connect with us today.