Even today, business cards remain one of the most effective ways of easily sharing your contact information with someone.
However, times are changing, and so are the trends. In the modern business world, you no longer have to limit yourself to paper cards – printed with the bare minimum information, boring enough to be forgotten!
88% of paper business cards get thrown away or misplaced within the first 7 days of receiving them. On the other hand, 63% throw away paper cards because they don’t want the product or service.
So, when you share your paper business card with someone, you can only hope they don’t lose, damage, or throw away your business card once you hand it to them.
On the other hand, getting a digital business card is much more beneficial. It saves you from carrying a bulky bunch of papers. You can avoid multiple drawbacks of the old trends by choosing new and advanced technology gifts.
To know why you must switch, dive into this article!
1. You can share contact information quickly and easily
Having a business card is to share your contact information with others. Even until recently, this was done by printing out paper business cards.
You were then supposed to carry them in your pocket or cardholder and share them with prospective contacts.
Yes, you pass the card to them, but you never know whether they note it on their phone. There’s always a risk that they will lose, damage, or even misplace it.
So, a paper business card won’t help unless the other person is vigilant and interested enough to copy your contact. On the flip side, you also lose out on the production cost of the card.
That’s why you need to step up to a digital one. You can share them however you like; via SMS, email, social media DMs, etc.
Some digital cards also provide a feature where if you share your card with someone’s smartphone, your information will be directly added to their address book.
This will ensure that people always have your information with them rather than collecting dust in their drawers.
2. It is more cost-effective
Unlike printed cards, digital business cards do not require you to spend much money on designing and printing. You can do a simple search and find a free digital business card at no expense. The cost of production for paper business cards can be quite high, especially for small businesses and personal use.
If you opt for a digital business card, you will considerably reduce your costs since there’s no printing and perhaps a small charge only for designing.
Every time you hand out a paper card, you’re spending the amount you spent for its production. That is not the case with digital cards.
It gets even worse if you want to make changes to the information on the card. Let’s say you have changed your number or your address. All your cards will go to waste, and you will have to spend money again to update new information.
3. You can customize it however you like
The space available to get creative on a printed card is very limited. You must accommodate all you want to share within the limited space of 3.5 x 2”. Even if you use both sides, it is still 14 square inches to fit your information.
You also have to keep in mind that you can’t cram up the space too much, or else it’ll be difficult to understand.
In the case of digital cards, you can edit and change your card however you like, whenever you like. However, you must print out a whole new stack of cards for a printed card if you wish to change or update something.
With a digital card, the sky’s the limit! There are no space limitations as you can use the zoom feature on your devices to add and read minute writings and details.
You can use high-resolution digital cards to display basic information when zooming out. Still, one can access your portfolio or any other media you wish to share upon zooming in.
4. It is a better choice for a greener tomorrow
By switching to a digital business card, you will save money and take a step towards contributing to a greener tomorrow.
You will contribute to saving trees that would have otherwise been cut down to provide paper for the printed cards. Some cards are also printed on plastic-based materials. A digital card that updates information online will reduce plastic waste.
Almost every individual who uses printed business cards has one stack of unused cards (minimum) collecting dust somewhere at their office or home.
You can only imagine how many trees must have been cut down to use for producing business cards that are no longer of any use.
You will take a conscious step to stop such wastage of resources by going digital.
5. You can have all your details in one place
Digital business cards have a much wider purpose than just helping you connect and expanding your network. You can go above and beyond just using the social media links on your card.
Since the possibilities are endless, you can have any link on your card, directing people to any platform you like.
For example, if you have a clothing store: you can add the Google map link of your store on the card. That way, anytime someone with your details wants to go to a clothing store – they can simply access the map link from your card on their phones!
You can drop legit cues to encourage prospective people to check out aspects of your business, like your store, restaurant, or office.
You can also have a detailed portfolio of your work on your digital card. This will clarify who you share your card with about your services or products.
This will increase your visibility and keep people intrigued to seek you out. You can put anything on the card, from addresses to links to numbers, until the end of time.
6. You can instantly update your information
This, by far, is probably one of the best advantages of switching to a digital business card. You wouldn’t have to worry about people having outdated information or you having to get a new set of cards every time you have to change something.
Most digital cards have a supporting app, you can change any information at any time on your phone (to simplify things even further), and it will immediately get updated on everyone’s devices with a copy of their cards. You won’t even have to reach out to the card creator in person to get it done.
For instance, if you change your number, you would not want people to face problems contacting you. This can result in you missing out on a lot of important things.
Or maybe, you’re shifting your office location. It will be unfortunate if prospective individuals return without meeting you. Going digital means, you will not have to worry about anything like this.
7. You can effectively expand your connections
You can only have basic information if you have a paper business card. Let’s say your name, address, contact number, email, and social media links.
Very few individuals will try to check your usernames and seek you out on different social media platforms.
You will also have to worry about not cluttering up the space too much by adding a lot of information.
You can easily avoid this by opting for a digital card. Instead of individually listing all the links, you can add one link or QR code to your bio page with all your relevant links.
Since your contacts can simply click on the links to be directed to your profiles, this is more effective for expanding your connections.
8. Stand out from the crowd
77% of individuals and 63% of small business owners have not yet opted for digital business cards. Thus, as great as it is, the idea still has some way to go before a majority starts using it.
You can use this to your benefit and stand out from the crowd by going digital. Not only will this impress your prospective clients, but it will also intrigue them enough to look you up.
Digital business cards will give you full control over their appearance and what you can have on them. This will also add to your benefit of attracting attention and keeping them hooked on your business!
Let’s Wrap It Up!
With so many advantages and opportunities to get people to truly take an interest in your business, it is about time that you should go digital. Use technology to your benefit to bring out the essence of your company and yourself.
A digital business card is a great and effective way to share information and build connections!