QR Codes for Chinese New Year: A Marketer’s Guide to Seasonal Marketing

Using QR codes for Chinese New Year campaigns will undoubtedly convert leads and generate high revenue for your business.

You can add them to any advertising materials to reach more audiences, and once you do, your QR codes will lead them to a digitized campaign in just a phone scan.

With this, your seasonal marketing campaigns will get better traction and engagement.

According to Business Insider, QR code users from the US will increase from 83.4 million in 2022 to 99.5 million in 2025.

To launch a marketing strategy that will stand out this coming Chinese New Year, you must partner up with a reliable QR code generator.

Step up your seasonal marketing campaigns with a QR code in this ultimate guide.

The Chinese or Lunar New Year marketing trend

Before going in-depth on how to use QR codes in marketing for the holidays, here is everything you need to know about the Chinese New Year market:

Approximately 25% of the global population celebrates the Chinese New Year (CNY).

Families travel back to their hometowns, food is shared, gifts are wrapped and given, and Chinese-run businesses close for a week or two.

For this reason, Chinese suppliers and investors might be hard to reach, causing delays in product and supply shipment, decreased production of goods, and low productivity rate.

However, marketers and other stores saw this holiday as an opportunity to grow their business.

Marketers launch early large-scale campaigns targeting the Chinese community about 2-3 weeks before the Lunar New Year date.

In fact, the retail industry in China alone totaled over 821 billion yuan in the 2021 CNY week-long celebration.

Internationally recognized companies such as Nike, Apple, and Starbucks also leverage the Chinese New Year’s gift-giving tradition.

In January 2018, Nike released CNY-themed shoes branded as the Kyrie 4, which gathered enough attention from the market.

During the 2021 CNY, Starbucks revealed its ox-themed kitchenware and personal items, such as drawstring pouches, teaspoons, bottles, mugs, tumblers, and more.

Considering these previously released CNY campaigns, it’s important to note how brands stick to the CNY theme and target a niche market for a successful campaign.

How do QR codes for marketing work

QR codes serve as the digital portal of your offline marketing strategies, leading the target audience to your eCommerce site, social media profiles, custom promotional pages, video ads, and more.

They also help attract, convert, and retain customers, as these codes can engage users to interact with your campaigns.

Additionally, creating customized QR codes aligned with your brand helps your customers and clients recognize your campaigns from your competitors’ deployed ads.

And the best part is that a QR code is so convenient to use.

Your customers can quickly access your QR code campaigns because they can scan them using their smartphones only.

Smart QR code campaign ideas for Chinese New Year

Here are clever ideas on how you can use QR codes for Chinese New Year marketing campaigns this year:

Discount QR code for marketing

Coupon marketing strategies help you attract customers and build relationships with them.

Distributing these marketing materials to your customers encourages them to purchase in your physical store.

They also help you create a good impression on your target market.

But if you also want to boost your online store’s sales, you can include a digital voucher or coupon QR code in your ads or marketing materials online and offline.

Once scanned, your customers will land on your website or online shop, where they can browse and shop for your products.

URL QR code for increased site visits

The URL QR code solution is designed to lead scanners to an online page.

Integrating this digital tool into any marketing campaign increases website traffic and engagement.

And as far as website marketing is concerned, this is important to note.

Statista (as cited by HubSpot) states that 3.9% of every eCommerce site visit via desktop converts into purchases, proving that promoting your websites or online stores helps boost revenue and brand awareness.

You can encrypt your website URL into a QR code, display it on your marketing materials, and let your target audience interact with it using their phones.

This is the most convenient way to achieve your target conversion rate.

Social media QR codes to improve interaction

Social media marketing is one of the best marketing tactics to employ on holiday campaigns.

According to Search Logistics, 74%  of consumers rely on user-generated content (UGC) in social media when making purchasing decisions online.

This shows that your target market can readily buy your products if they have interacted with a post on various social media channels.

And to ensure that your target audience can view and engage on your social sites, you can create a social media QR code solution from a professional QR code generator.

This omnichannel marketing tool allows you to encrypt your social media profile links, business website, email, and more.

It brings your scanners to a custom landing page containing all your links.

Yep, multiple business links in one QR code.

This tool can increase your social media engagements and following, website traffic, business network, and conversion rates.

Use video QR codes for Chinese New Year campaigns

Marketers widely practice video marketing during the holidays, like the Chinese New Year.

Apple, for instance, releases a short film that revolves around the CNY theme every year to promote its latest products.

Last CNY 2022, the tech company launched their film entitled “The Comeback,” a story about dreams and family. Apple recorded this film solely using the new iPhone 13 Pro’s camera.

Aside from introducing CNY to mainstream audiences, the film also effectively promoted the latest Apple product and its top-notch cinematic camera features. 

If you also want to use video content marketing this Chinese New Year, use a video QR code to boost your video views, likes, and channel subscribers.

You can assist your target audience so they can quickly view your video campaigns on their phones.

They no longer need to search for your channels online manually.

Revamp offline ads by going digital 

QR codes and your display ads are a great pair.

Your physical display ads grab your target audience’s attention, and QR codes lead them to a website where conversion happens.

You can add your customized QR code campaigns on marketing media like billboards, digital displays, banners, TVs, and online channels.

Appeal to a global audience with language QR code 

Today, one of the most advanced QR code solutions is the multi URL QR code for language.

As the name implies, this tool allows you to embed multiple links in a single QR code.

But there’s more: it can take users to different websites/landing pages depending on the language synced in their phone for scanning.

So, if the phone you used to scan a multi URL QR code is set in Chinese, you are automatically redirected to a landing page translated into Chinese.

This digital tool facilitates international companies to cater and reach out to multinational customers smoothly.

You can use the multi URL QR code to redirect audiences to your blog, online store, feedback or review page, and other promotional sites.

Highlight loyalty programs with a QR code

You can add a QR code to your store’s loyalty cards so customers can readily view their current loyalty points, redeemable rewards, and other services to access your loyalty programs.

This techy convenience helps retain your customers since they can easily claim freebies with just one smartphone scan.

With a customer-centric loyalty program, you can promote your business through word of mouth, achieve customer retention, increase sales, and boost brand awareness.

Lead to QR code charity donation campaigns

A survey from across the UK revealed that 82% of consumers’ decision to purchase is affected by a company’s affiliation with charities. 

You can use QR codes for Chinese New Year to make your product packaging more interactive or make it a portal for donation pages or charitable initiatives. This tool makes the process easy, hassle-free, and fast.

You can use a URL QR code to send users to a global community of donors to help them start the year right.

Create a Chinese New Year QR code using a QR code generator

You can easily create your CNY QR code campaigns using QR TIGER’s all-in-one QR code platform.

To generate a QR code, here’s what you should do:

1. Launch the QR TIGER software online and log in or sign up for an account
2. Select a QR code solution that best suits your campaign
3. Input the required information
4. Switch to Dynamic QR code and click the Generate QR code button
5. Customize the QR code campaign according to your preference and branding
6. Run a test scan to check for errors before downloading and saving the QR code campaign.

You can now deploy your QR code into various advertising displays where the public can easily spot them.

Your branded QR codes will help customers distinguish your campaign, allowing them to scan, view, and interact with it.

And like any other online software service, users can maximize QR TIGER’s features after creating or signing up for an account. 

It’s a centralized software where you can generate and monitor your Chinese QR code campaigns for seamless CNY marketing management.

With an active account, you can also use QR TIGER’s dynamic QR code solutions, various brand integrations, real-time campaign tracker, advanced security features, and other digital solutions for digital marketing campaigns.

Pro tips in creating customized QR codes for Chinese New Year marketing campaigns

Here are a few crucial details to consider when planning on integrating QR codes into your CNY marketing campaigns:

Choose dynamic QR codes

Due to their advanced features, dynamic QR codes can facilitate smooth-sailing digital marketing campaigns.

Unlike static ones, dynamic QRs give you access to various functionalities such as:

• QR code analytics to assess your campaigns’ performance
• Editable campaigns to help you realign and update campaigns anytime
• Brand and software integrations for better omnichannel marketing
• Retargeting tool to retarget previous QR code scanners
• Enable GPS QR code for an accurate scan location tracking
• Generate UTM codes for dynamic URL QR code
• Change your QR code design even after generation
• Clone your existing QR code
• Activate QR code expiry for time-sensitive campaigns
• Email notification feature to alert you for every QR code scan

These QR TIGER dynamic QR features allow you to achieve your marketing goal this coming Chinese New Year.

Stick to the Chinese New Year theme

While it’s true that you need to stand out from your competitors’ campaigns, it’s also essential to do it the right way.

Stick to the theme, use the appropriate color combo, and deploy the correct symbols—these are just a few things to consider when creating QR code-based campaigns for the Chinese New Year.

You can create a red QR code with yellow or gold highlights, add your company’s logo, or upload this year’s CNY animal, the Rabbit.

Your branded QR codes will attract more customers, thus more chances of generating leads and increasing sales.

Promote limited-time offers

Time-limited offers are the perfect holiday campaign, as these help you achieve your target revenue.

It creates a sense of urgency that compels customers to purchase upsold items that are perceived to be available only for the holidays.

Ensure your QR code is visible and has a catchy and compelling call to action.

Highlighting a generous discount is also vital to make this strategy successful.

Focus on cultural cultivation

Make sure to include pieces of information that center on cultural insights in your marketing campaigns.

This can relate to Chinese traditions like the annual lantern festival. 

Use QR codes to invite customers to educational webinars, live events, or recorded videos that add value to this famous holiday.

Real-life use cases of Chinese New Year QR codes

Singapore DBS’ QR code red packets

DBS bank in Singapore veered away from traditional red envelopes and introduced the QR code-adorned red packets to PayLah! users.

The DBS PayLah! Users who are 13 years old and above can load up to $999 into their QR code red packets, which they can send and gift to their families and friends.

Recipients can scan the QR code using the PayLah! in-app QR code scanner and quickly redeem the cash.

Yuan Xiao Festival QR codes in China

Yuan Xiao, also known as the Lantern Festival, marks the first full moon and the end of the Chinese New Year celebration.

During this vibrant celebration, people light lanterns with riddles written on them and display them in their houses and the neighborhood.

Anyone who answers correctly gets to receive a small gift.

However, in February 2019, Hebei Province in China upscaled their Yuan Xiao Festival with QR-coded lanterns.

Everyone can answer the riddles written on the lanterns and earn prizes by scanning the QR codes with their smartphones.

Thailand welcomes Chinese travelers with audio QR code guides

Thailand’s tourism sector is gearing up for the expected surge of Chinese travelers visiting the country this Chinese New Year.

One of their most visited sites had Chinese signs and QR codes for assisted audio guides.

Tourists can scan the QR codes using their phones and immediately access audio introductions and descriptions about a particular area.

Use the best QR code generator for a thriving Chinese New Year campaign

Holidays are the peak season for any business, so it’s important to amp up your marketing and always be ahead of your competitors.

Prep and launch your campaigns weeks before the CNY to ensure that your target market will see your ads. This also allows your potential customers ample time to shop in your stores before the date arrives.

And to make your campaigns even more effective and convenient, incorporate compelling QR codes for Chinese New Year holiday.

This is the key to establishing a marketing campaign that truly converts.

To experience how QR codes can boost your business this CNY, check out the professional QR code generator online and create your QR code-based campaign today.

Frequently asked questions

Why is QR code so popular in China?

The quick answer is convenience. Most Chinese people use QR code scanning as their payment method. 

It is also widely used as a means to login to online accounts, grab product or object information, verify identity, and pay for public transportation like bus fares and metro services. 

Should I use barcode or QR code?

Barcodes can only store a small amount of data. That’s why it’s more ideal to use QR codes.

This powerful technology is best for businesses, allowing them to execute interactive marketing campaigns easily.