Why everyone needs a business card
As businesses increasingly communicate digitally, some would argue that the humble business card – for decades the staple marketing item – has become obsolete. In fact, business cards remain one of the most cost-effective and indispensable marketing tools for generating new custom and expanding the network of your company. Despite the surge in digital communication, the business card is far from dead.
Happy relationships begin with… business cards!
All happy marriages begin with face-to-face contact – a fleeting glimpse across a bar or a friendly introduction through an associate – and the same can be said for your long-term client relationships. Handing your client a business card cements the relationship with a customer, embedding your brand in their imagination and providing an essential means of communication in future. It’s far more professional, too, than scrabbling in your pocket for a crumpled piece of paper upon which to untidily scrawl your contact details. A high quality business card is a statement of intent that sets out your commitment to work productively with your clients in future.
A personal touch
While email may be sounding the death knell for letters between businesses and their customers, it is an ineffective way to introduce yourself to new clients. Inundated with reams of spam email, few customers will take the time to sift through it carefully and the chances of your email being lost are high. Also, a printed business card offers a familiarity that emails cannot and this is bound to be appreciated by your customers. Of course, business cards are most often handed out in person; your face, handshake and warm words are likely to be remembered, whereas an email, even if it addresses you by name, is not.
Business card simplicity
Business cards remain highly cost-effective but can be personalised to reflect your company’s image and philosophy easily. Due to their size, they can be stored in your client’s wallet or pinned to a noticeboard for future reference. It is their simplicity that makes them effective, as they don’t require any special technology such as an app (which your customers may not use). You can target individual clients with ease, unlike a random tweet which, in effect, is a mass mailing, seen by many but remembered by few.
All businesses should be investing in developing high quality business cards that will help to increase their presence in their community, as well as expanding their network of customers and embedding their brand in the mindset of their clients in the long-term.