Almost that’s business- and communication-related these days is digitalized. Be it communication with clients, meetings with other team members, notices, contracts, data management – everything has turned digital.
Among all this, one thing has remained irreplaceable – the business card. No matter how many gadgets and tools exist today, a business card never goes out of style.
Using a business card today – who’s it for?
Business cards have been a popular tool for marketing for a long time. They improve thanks to technology – we see an endless choice of designs being used on business cards, as well as software solutions used to create them.
Nowadays, when you have a business or offer some kind of service, or even if you are an employee that represents a company, one of the most important things to handle is getting yourself a business card. These tiny pieces of paper show that you are a professional and allow people to contact you more easily.
Naturally, for a business card to be good for you and your brand, it has to look good and contain all the important details. A good business card will have your name, position, the name of the company, as well as any contact and website details you have for it. It should have the company’s logo and maybe even a tagline with its motto.
Benefits of having a business card for your small business
You are in the business world, which means that you need a card to promote your business. Why is this? There are many perks to having business cards, some of which you’ll find below:
1. One of the most affordable ways to promote a brand
Compared to most other marketing strategies, creating and printing business cards is one of the most affordable marketing tools.
These days, you don’t have to hire a professional and pay them a fortune to do this for you. Thanks to websites like HelloPrint, you can easily create professional, high-quality business cards for small business by customizing their great templates.
This comes at a very low cost, especially if you consider that you’ll be using those cards for a long time. Customizing your cards for different people is extremely easy thanks to such tools, and printing out many of them is not budget-threatening whatsoever.
When you are just starting and building a small business from the ground up, finances can be tricky. Marketing these days costs a lot, especially since you have to use a variety of tools and mediums to promote your brand. You need ad campaigns, TV adverts, social media content, and whatnot.
You definitely need this – customers won’t just come to you if they don’t know about your brand. This is why affordable marketing tools like business cards are perfect for you – they build brand familiarity and cost nothing compared to different tools you’ll be using.
So, don’t be afraid to print out many, many business cards for everyone in your small company. This way, you can make sure that they have a card handy when they meet the right people, can promote your brand easily, and make it appear more professional.
2. Great for networking at events, exhibitions, and meetings
Networking is one of the best ways to promote your business. This is the most cited reason for attending trade shows and similar events in the first place. According to research, 48% of people who go to trade shows have the intention of building rapport with prospects, buyers and boosting their network.
Trade shows provide small businesses with the perfect opportunity to spread their network and promote their brand. Just imagine – you’ll be at a place where you can meet new contacts, share information about your business, and potentially make some sales.
In other words, you’re going to a place where your target audience is, which means that you can drive quality targeted traffic to your site simply by handing out a piece of paper.
In addition to trade shows and similar exhibitions, business cards are amazing for other types of job-related events. When you attend a meeting, or even when you’re simply socializing, having a business card handy is always a good idea.
You might come across a potential client, someone you can cooperate with, or someone who might help you with your business.
When you meet them, you can either tell them to look up your company on their own or make this easier for them by giving them a card. This way, they’ll have the details on them so they cannot forget them, and the card will serve as a reminder to contact your business.
You never really know who you’ll meet and when, and having a few cards in your wallet makes you perfectly ready for such a situation. You’d be amazed at how many great deals have happened when people least expect it!
3. Give networking a more personal touch
Networking equals connections, but exchanging contact information often seems pushy and not at all personal. Yes, you can send the person an email with your contact details, but if you meet them in person to hand them a card instead, this gives a much better and more memorable impression.
After all, people are getting emails and digital offers for networking and connecting all the time. Those who hand them a perfectly designed business card and talk to them in person can leave a much better impression and convince them to at least give the business a close look.
4. Quick and convenient way for people to reach out
It’s very easy to forget a company name, an email address, or a phone number. Phone numbers can be misplaced, website URLs can be misspelled, and your chances of landing a client or a great business contract can be destroyed over nothing.
People are busy these days, so they won’t just remember every contact detail from every brand they meet. Since your business is still small, chances are your name is not so much out-there as you want it to be.
This is why you need a business card – to remember your contact details for you and provide them to the other person when they decide to reach out. All they need to do is get them out of their pocket or their wallet, look at them and use the information there to get in touch with you.
You can even leave these at local businesses’ counters, bulletin boards, or give them to third parties to share them with your target buyers.
5. Leave a long-lasting, professional impression
Nothing appears more professional when meeting a business person than shaking their hand and getting a business card. Cards share a lot of information that cannot just be blurted out, and they make conversations with new people much easier.
When you hand out the business card, you won’t just appear more professional, but you can use the time to chat a bit with the recipient and build a stronger relationship without throwing contact details and company data at them.
First impressions are very important these days, so making them great is vital for your small business. Whenever an opportunity arises, just hand the person your business card and, if they are interested, they’ll know where to find you.
6. Easy to carry around
Most business cards are pocket-sized, which makes it very easy to carry them around. You don’t have to think about getting a card every time you go out – you can just put a few in your wallet and restock it when you run out of cards.
The same applies to the recipients. Cards take up barely any space, so they’ll most likely put them in their pocket or their wallet instead of throwing them away because they are bulky.
7. Give your brand an identity
Cards give you a great opportunity to make your brand memorable. In such a small space, you can add your contact details, but also use your creativity to advertise your business.
If you do this right, recipients will visually commit your small brand to memory. A great logo and a business card stick around in the memory, which makes this a great window for opportunity for you.
For this to actually be a benefit for your business, you need strong and unique graphics and visuals that help you advertise your company. That being said, use a professional-looking template, give it some flair, and make sure that it sticks to memory.
Even if most of the recipients don’t reach out after getting your card, they’ll know your logo and brand message when they see it.
Don’t have business cards just yet? Get on it ASAP!
If you don’t have business cards for your business just yet, start working on this as soon as possible. This might have sounded irrelevant to you before, especially since there are so many marketing options available today.
But, after knowing these amazing benefits, can you afford not to have a business card ready when you meet potential clients?
