YouTube is adding QR codes to ALL channels to help creators connect with new audiences and build an even more engaged audience. Once it had tested this feature with a subset of users, YouTube spread it around, giving creators a new promotional tool. Using the YouTube QR code, viewers can easily connect with Channels, making it much faster and easier to find and follow new content.
How to Find and Use Your YouTube QR Code
It is easy to access your QR code on YouTube. Open the YouTube app, find the ‘You’ tab in an app’s menu, and retrieve it. Tap the “Share Channel” on the bottom of the little window below your handle. Select “QR code” from there to see your unique code. You can curate, save, and optimize it (easily) and post it to your website, or share it in person or in several formats to increase visibility. This QR code is a great tool for creators looking to grow audiences because it will allow users to find them instantly, without searching by name or link.
YouTube QR Code: Potential for Enhanced Engagement
As Instagram also tries out similar promotional tools, like profile cards, this new feature arrives. YouTube QR codes allow creators to simply reach further than just online, ducking into the land of print media to inspire engagement from more people across more formats.
However, despite the ease and possibility of QR codes, their popularity outside situations such as retail checkouts is still somewhat niche. If YouTube QR codes are to succeed it seems to me that those who create content will need to start to use them and that the audience will also need to start using them. QR codes pop up with some regularity as a trend, but there has been no clear evidence so far that they are effective for the kind of mass marketing that most companies are interested in.
Why Use a QR Code Generator for YouTube Links?
Converting YouTube links into QR codes is a game changer for creators who want to optimize their audience journey to their content. In this case, you can put any YouTube link text into a QR code, which will then lead the viewer directly to your channel/video. That is because it gets rid of the inevitable need to type in URLs or search on YouTube, which saves users time and helps users stay engaged long enough to find your channel. One particular use involves promoting physical media like flyers, posters, and business cards.
Static vs. Dynamic QR Codes: Which Should You Use?
YouTube QR codes come in two forms: static and dynamic. There are some free generators for a static QR code that will permanently link to a specific URL and not allow changes to it. With dynamic QR codes, on the other hand, flexibility is the name of the game: the link destination can be updated on a whim whenever a creator chooses. The ability for audiences to be redirected to different videos, as well as for you to track engagements like the scan rate, devices, location, and when precisely an audience was engaged makes dynamic QR codes perfect for long-term campaigns.
Advantages of Dynamic QR Codes for YouTube Channels
On the plus side for the creators, dynamic QR codes also offer additional benefits for those who want more control over what’s being posted on their campaigns. These codes support tracking so that you can keep up with engagement metrics, change your content strategy with data, and even rebrand the code’s design down the line. Dynamic QR codes work seamlessly on multiple platforms if you are running campaigns across them; the more you integrate them with Google Tag Manager or Facebook Pixel the more effective the retargeting.
While the use of QR codes as an interesting marketing tool has resurged, we will have to see if YouTube’s new QR code feature will stick around for the long haul. Just like people will stop trying new things the moment they gain traction, creators will find new ways to connect with audiences online and offline, using QR codes to bridge the two worlds.
