QR Code Metrics: How to Track and Maximize Your Campaigns

By: Ashley P.Update: December 31, 2024

QR code metrics are something that may come up when looking into QR code campaigns. Many have yet to know the advantages of these analytics—but definitely not you.

So, how can you use them to improve your strategies and place your brand at the top?

We provide the answers to these questions as we guide you through generating and using trackable QR codes in your marketing initiatives using our QR code generator.

Table of Contents

Why knowing your QR code metrics matter
Dynamic QR codes: The best code for tracking campaigns
How to track metrics for QR code?
Crucial data to track with a QR code generator with metrics
How to use the QR code Google Analytics metrics and tracking
What are the statistics of QR codes?
Track your QR code campaigns with the best QR code generator

Why knowing your QR code metrics matter

Metrics refer to a set of numbers that help people assess the progress or performance of processes or individuals. Without these analytics, can you really say that your efforts have been effective so far?

Numbers never lie, so gathering this data is important in any project. It’s a form of research that applies to your own approaches, helping you identify your strengths and weaknesses and improve your strategies.

The same principles apply when it comes to marketing through QR codes. To create successful QR code campaigns for your brand, you need to have access to scan metrics, study them, and make adjustments to your plans of action on the fly.

Analyzing the data from QR code scans can tell you more about the audience who regularly engages with the code or if anyone’s actually scanning it. This information can be helpful for your future QR code marketing initiatives as well.

It’s important to understand that you can only access QR code metrics if you use dynamic QR codes, which we’ll discuss next.

Dynamic QR codes: The best code for tracking campaigns

How do dynamic QR codes work and function?

Dynamic QR codes are an advanced type of QR code that comes with a whole host of unique features.

Aside from scan analytics on your chosen QR code platform, you can link your dynamic QR code campaigns with Google Analytics for QR code Google Analytics tracking.

Additionally, you can edit the content and design of your dynamic QR codes even after generating them. This allows you or your team to make the necessary changes to upgrade your approach.

QR codes from a dynamic QR code generator have short URLs encoded into black-and-white squares instead of the actual information. This URL directs scanners to an online server that holds the information you wish to share.

Because information is stored this way, you can change anything about it without changing the short URL, therefore avoiding the need to make a new QR code.

These features distinguish dynamic QR codes from their static QR codes, which store the information embedded permanently and do not allow you to track their scans.

How to track metrics for QR code?

To start getting insights into your QR code scans, you will need to do the following:

Generate a dynamic QR code

After learning about QR code scan tracking and analytics, you’re now one step closer to being able to track your QR codes. To get started, simply follow the steps below:

Go to QR TIGER — a dynamic QR code generator with logo integration feature. Sign up to create an account.
Select the type of QR code solution you need for your marketing campaign.
Fill in the necessary information for your chosen QR code solution.
Choose the Dynamic QR option and click Generate QR code.
Customize your QR code to make it attention-grabbing.
Test the code by performing a scan test.
Download.

Print and distribute your QR codes

After generating your QR codes, it’s time to add them to your materials and distribute them.

The beauty of QR codes is that they can be placed almost everywhere. You can print them on physical ads, posters, and product packages. In the digital space, you can distribute them through emails and social media or display them on websites.

Remember to make your QR codes scannable by anyone at any time to get good scan metrics.

Collect and analyze data

Once you’ve distributed your QR codes, you can watch the scans come in on your account’s dashboard under Stats. You can also turn on the email notification feature to receive the reports on your email. Set it to a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.

As more and more data comes in, you can monitor and analyze your QR code’s performance. Use this information to learn about your audience through your QR codes and adjust your content or services accordingly.

With these analytics, you can pinpoint your strengths and areas for improvement, which you can use to prepare for future campaigns.

Crucial data to track with a QR code generator with metrics

Now that you know what it takes to track QR code scan data, it’s time to learn what kind of insights you can gain from these reports:

Number of scans

One of the most important metrics for QR codes is the number of times they were scanned. By keeping track of this number, you can easily see how much people engage with your QR code.

There are two categories to note when it comes to the number of scans: the total scans and the unique scans.

The total number of scans refers to all the scans made on your QR code. This means that multiple scans from the same person are included.

Unique scans, on the other hand, don’t include repeated scans from the same person or device. This metric provides a clearer view of how many people your campaign is reaching.

Scans by device

As the QR code owner, you should also monitor the devices your audience uses to scan your QR codes. Fortunately, dynamic QR codes can track this.

Knowing the device types used allows you to optimize the content of your campaigns for maximum compatibility. This ensures a smooth user experience for your audience whenever they engage with your QR codes and content.

Scan locations

Another important piece of information to keep track of is scan locations, which show you where your QR codes were specifically scanned.

The exact information you see includes the longitude and latitude of the location where your audience scanned the QR code.

Knowing the locations where your QR codes were scanned can help you determine the areas (city or country) where your campaigns were most and least effective.

With data like this from a QR code generator with metrics, you can improve campaigns in low-performing areas or allocate more resources to successful ones.

Also, this metric helps you detect any fraudulent scanning activity whenever it occurs in unexpected locations.

GPS map

One of the essential capabilities of QR code analytics is to provide a GPS map of scan location data.

This map chart offers a more comprehensive view of where your QR code was scanned anywhere in the world. You can also see the overall number of GPS QR code scans in specific regions of the world.

Since it’s also a heat map, it uses location markers of varying colors, ranging from red to purple, to indicate the intensity of scan engagement in those areas.

Warmer colors (orange to red) show high levels of engagement, while cooler ones (blue to purple) show low levels of engagement.

Scan over time

Lastly, the time metric shows you an overview of your total and unique scans over a period of time. The data is presented in bar graphs and can be configured to show scans over different periods, such as weeks and months.

You can also choose which timezone to view your data from.

How to use the QR code Google Analytics metrics and tracking

Google Analytics is a web analytics service that provides users with several tools that provide insights into the performance of their website and marketing campaigns. The metrics you can measure on this platform include:

number of visitors
page views
average session duration
bounce rate
conversion rates

The platform is capable of doing this thanks to UTM (Urchin Tracking Module) parameters. These tags are added at the end of URLs and are used to track specific data from the website.

What makes this platform so versatile is its ability of QR code tracking for free! To do this, you will need to perform the following steps:

Go to your Google Analytics account and click “Create Property.”
Enter the URL of your QR code campaign and get its Google Analytics tracking ID.
Log in to your QR TIGER account.
Click My Account > Settings > Plan.
Paste your campaign’s tracking ID in the Google Analytics text box and confirm.
Go back to Google Analytics and look for the property you created.
Go to Reports.
Click Acquisition > Traffic Acquisition.
Head to your QR code campaign and start monitoring.

What are the statistics of QR codes?

Tracking QR code scans can provide you with a treasure trove of information useful to your marketing campaigns.

To give you a taste of the impact this kind of data has on the world, let’s take a look at these FIVE global QR code statistics every marketer should know:

QR code scans quadrupled in 2024

According to our findings, scans of QR codes all over the world quadrupled in 2024. This means that QR code scans reached 26.95 million scans! Dynamic QR codes, in particular, gained a total of 6,825,842 scans alone.

The United States is number one when it comes to QR code scans

According to a report by Statista, around 89 million smartphone users in the US scanned a QR code in 2022. This marks a 26% increase from the numbers back in 2020.

What’s more, mobile QR code scanners are expected to have over 100 million users in the U.S. by the year 2025.

42% of US shoppers have scanned QR codes for retail purposes

According to more QR codes statistics from Statista, 42% of shoppers in the United States have scanned QR codes in retail stores.

Additionally, 54% of younger shoppers use QR codes regularly, demonstrating the technology's popularity with this generation.

Chinese users interact with QR codes 10-15 times a day

Based on data from GoClick China, it is estimated that Chinese users engage with QR codes 10 to 15 times a day.

This highlights the foothold QR code technology has in the country, especially since 113.6 million QR scans were recorded in China over ten years ago.

83% of users scan a QR code at least once

According to a poll survey done by MobileIron in 2020, 83% of people have scanned a QR code at least once. Furthermore, 72% scan a QR code once a month, while 32% do it once a week.

Track your QR code campaigns with the best QR code generator

Tracking scans and analyzing the data is a must when you incorporate QR code in marketing automation campaign. Not only do you learn more about your target audience, you can also update your marketing campaign on the fly.

Dynamic QR code software is an essential tool in your QR code campaigns. In addition to tracking scans, you can edit the content encoded within without the need to generate another QR code.

To monitor the QR code metrics of your campaign, we offer the services of our QR code platform. We provide over 17 QR code solutions and a comprehensive customization suite to make eye-catching, high-quality QR codes.