Although professionals are increasingly using smartphones to stay in contact with one another, the traditional business card still holds a lot of value as a way of sharing contact details and boosting your brand.
Indeed, the act of giving cards requires that you interact directly with people, so presents a great chance for you to explain exactly how and why your organisation can help them. In some ways, it’s similar to giving someone a gift. It is extremely hard to refuse a present, so being persistent – yet polite – when distributing cards at events should give people little choice but to interact with your company. Relying on social networking sites, on the other hand, to establish contacts can be a little impersonal.
Of course, cards can be easily carried around in a jacket pocket and produced whenever a potential business opportunity arises. These can occur in the most unexpected places, so having a supply of business cards to hand will ensure you are always in a position to establish commercial relationships.
It’s also worth pointing out how your cards need to put your company in the best possible light and be an accurate reflection of your business. If you’re a solicitor or an accountant, for example, your cards ought to convey a serious and professional tone. However, if you work in the art or music industry, I think you should have cards that feature a colourful, eye-catching logo. With the right design, the business cards you distribute can convey the essence of your brand quickly to a target audience and give people the incentive to interact with your company. Given its importance, it does make sense to consider using Brightside graphic design services or the expertise of a freelancer to make the card exactly as you want it.
When reaching out to any professional or firm, make sure that you have your specific needs in mind and are relaying them well. Only when the professionals are informed about your needs, they will be able to produce a design that reflects your brand’s value. Once you have the desired prototype, you can make use of digital print finishing machines to print those business cards in bulk or can also leave the task to the same firm who is designing it for you.
While choosing to do it on your own, however, make sure that all the details you print are correct before you produce a large batch of them. It should be fairly obvious that giving out an incorrect phone number or website address is not going to do your business any favours, and it could even give people the impression your business is unprofessional. A better approach to this could be by selecting a printing service that specializes in printing cards for a particular type of business. If you own handyman business, for example, you can contact a printing company that prints handyman business cards frequently. It might be easier to avoid printing mistakes if you go this route, as the vendor will likely have experience printing such cards.
While business cards are a great tool to use to raise awareness of a brand and ensure your target audience knows how to get in touch with your company, it is possible to misplace them if you’re not careful.
I find it particularly frustrating when I want to call someone or visit their website but am unable to do so because I forgot where I put their card. Not being able to find a business card can, of course, mean potential customers give up attempting to contact a company.
And this is why you should consider providing your prospective customers with business card holders. Choose a range that feature colourful designs and they will not only make for fun promotional gifts but they’ll be incredibly useful for recipients to store the business cards they receive. Handheld business card holders are particularly effective to give out at events like sales conferences and exhibitions where attendees may receive dozens of cards over the course of a day.
Alternatively, you might want to use desktop business card holders as part of your next marketing campaign. A desktop option should hold more cards and, most importantly, will ensure your brand remains in people’s line of sight as they work.
Of course, you should ensure that a few copies of your own business card are enclosed with your promotional gifts to give recipients a gentle reminder of how they can get in contact. That way, they will have little excuse to lose your card, and should always be able to get in touch with you should they wish to place an order or have some other query.
How do you use business cards? Leave your comments below and let us know.
