Microsoft Tag is a kind of bar code that connects almost anything in the real world to information, entertainment, and interactive experiences on your mobile phone. Tags are free to create and use.
When you scan a Tag using the free Tag Reader application on your mobile phone, it will automatically open a webpage, add a contact to your address book, display a message, or dial a number – there are no long URLs to type or SMS messages to send.
Microsoft Tag has something you may or may not know about. Have you heard of heat maps?
A heat map shows a Microsoft Tag creator where their Microsoft Tag has been scanned in the world. Integrated with Bing maps, users are able to scroll over the world and dive deeper in to an appropriate location. This gives users more specific information about their Microsoft Tag scans.
With the following screenshot you can see an example of just how close in a specific area you can see the scan.
Using heat maps, Microsoft Tag makes your offline media more effective, and more measurable. The geo-analytics can help your marketing strategies, and help you make effective and efficient decisions about your marketing strategy.
To create a Heat Map report:
- Sign in to the Microsoft Tag Manager Web site by using your Windows Live ID.
- Click on the Reports tab.
- Click Heat Map. The Heat Map for all your Tags in all your categories will be displayed.
- To select a specific Tag or category data to display on a Heat Map:
- From the Category list, select the category data that you want to see on your Heat Map. To select all categories, select Select All.
- From the Tag list, select the Tag data that you want to see on your Heat Map. To select all Tags, select Select All.
- Click Go. The Heat Map will update to show the specific Tag or category you selected.

- Tags: Tag