For the uninitiated, QR codes allow anybody with a smartphone and a free app to scan a graphic you position on your printed materials, working in a way similar to a barcode. This QR code then automatically opens the URL you designated in the code in the scanner’s phone. This is why QR codes are becoming popular very quickly: they offer companies huge benefits in marketing efforts. In fact, QR codes currently support the following functionality:

• Go to a URL
• Display text
• Call a phone number
• Send a text message
• Go to a Google Maps location
• Send an email
• Open a YouTube video
• Android supports automatic login to WiFi
• And much more…

But even if you have finally realized it’s time to start integrating QR codes into your print advertising, you may still hesitate about placing a black and white symbol into the middle of your designs. You may also be wary of just how difficult creating QR codes may be. Fortunately, it’s possible to move past these hesitations if you follow some simple best practices.

“There’s an app for that” is Apple’s catch phrase to promote the literally thousands of applications that can be downloaded to an iPhone. Whether you want to check the weather or traffic, bide time playing a game, or study a new language, there is likely a free or paid application that you can access. While Apple may be best known for mobile apps, BlackBerry, Android and other devices also have a huge range of apps available in their stores, as well as in those operated by mobile service providers. With smartphones expected to overtake feature phones in the U.S. by 2011, the popularity of mobile apps will only grow. To get a better sense of what’s popular and what’s not now, Nielsen recently launched its ‘App Playbook,’ surveying more than 4,200 people who had downloaded an application in the past 30 days.