Marketers who have to justify a print budget
How to A/B test a printed QR campaign and measure real conversions
Print is usually the one line in the plan that arrives at the review without a number beside it. You know what it cost. You do not know what it did.
Two things fix that. A code that can send half its scans somewhere else, so you can compare. And an identifier that survives the trip from the scan to the order, so you can attribute.
- 1
Set up the split on one link
Configure an A/B rule with the two destinations and the weight between them. The split happens at redirect time, so a single printed code serves both variants — you are not printing two runs.
- 2
Print once and distribute normally
Nothing about the artwork changes. The same square goes on every unit, and the routing decision is made per scan.
- 3
Capture the click id on your landing page
Each redirect appends a first-party identifier to your destination URL as rr_cid. Store it the way you already store a gclid — a hidden form field or your own first-party cookie.
- 4
Post the conversion back when it completes
When the order goes through, send the click id and the value to the Track API from your server. We match it to the originating scan, so the revenue lands against a physical placement rather than a channel label.
- 5
Read the result per variant
Each scan records which destination it actually resolved to, so the split is measurable after the fact rather than merely executed. Compare conversion rate and value between the two.
What this will not do
- The conversion post is server to server. You need someone who can add a call to your checkout or CRM — this is not a tag you paste into a page.
- Attribution is as good as your own plumbing. If the click id is dropped between landing page and checkout, the scan cannot be credited.
- Retargeting pixels cover Meta, Google Analytics and TikTok. Other networks are not supported.
Tools used in this guide
Questions
Other guides
- How to put a QR code on a menu you can update without reprintingOne code on the table tent that opens lunch at eleven and dinner at five, without a second print run.
- How to send iPhone and Android users to different app stores from one QR codeOne square on the poster that opens the right store for whoever scanned it, decided at the moment of the scan.
- How to get packaging ready for GS1 Sunrise 2027 with a Digital Link QR codeRegister a GTIN, point it at the destinations retailers and shoppers each need, and test it before artwork goes to print.
- How to password-protect, expire, or scan-limit a QR codeFor codes on things that stop being valid: a door ticket, a limited run, a document that should not outlive its meeting.