The short answer to this is NO. But the long answer is that it WAS difficult to find online.
Here’s a story about my journey to avoid cooking this Thanksgiving and to patronize a local business to enjoy a beautiful Thanksgiving meal. And it’s a cautionary tale for small businesses this holiday season on sales funnels.
Here’s How It Went:
- I see a post for a Thanksgiving brunch on an Instagram channel I follow. It’s a place I’ve been to before and their food is really good. The post includes a QR code to see the menu and make reservations. Great!
- BUT you cannot shoot a QR code FROM your phone. You have to shoot it WITH your phone.
- I’m sure they will link it in Stories, or use a Link In bio. NO?
- Let’s check their Facebook page. Facebook is better with links. NO?
- Okay how about I just go to their website? No sign of Thanksgiving ANYWHERE.
See where I’m going so far? I’ve now taken 4-5 steps because I AM READY TO BUY! TAKE MY CREDIT CARD…..not yet.
6. I have already DMed the account but it is the weekend, so I do not expect a reply.
7. I grab the link from the post and open it on my DESKTOP, so I can shoot the QR code WITH my phone.
8. It takes you to the reservation page —okay we’re getting there. BUT WHAT’S ON THE MENU?
9. Two more clicks and the menu is embedded in the THIRD PARTY reservation page and it’s beautifully layered with fancy scripts, fall colors and graphics and is completely unreadable on the phone. Squeeze it open with a finger pinch.
10. Ahh, but the menu looks WONDERFUL. So I book a time slot for Thursday, November 28 and HOORAY! I don’t have to cook.
There are three things every social media manager should take from this story.
- Make your sales content easy to find by testing it on multiple channels and platforms.
2. Never make your customers take more than two steps to make a purchase.
3. Review, preview and TEST all the elements of the user functionality to make sure they work, they are readable and understandable.
If I hadn’t already had an experience with this location and known the quality of their events, I would have gone elsewhere because they made it TOO HARD.
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Happy Thanksgiving!
Fix your QR codes please.