Ever attended a networking event and collected tons of paper business cards? In a week’s time, you realize you’ve forgotten half of those people you met or you’ve lost the cards. It is difficult to remember names or recall details of people when you meet them in a large networking event. The cost of getting cards printed, the effort of making the cards, all count too. More often than not, details of the business may change as well. How can one counter these elements and work with a business card, that would help people to remember you? The answer is, digital business cards!
What Are Digital Business Cards?
Digital contact cards are a new age concept where you can create your contact cards and portfolios online or an app. A variety of website and apps have cropped up that you can use to create a contact card that you can share with your colleagues. Newer versions have come up with greater options like location services, portfolio displays, and more. Unlike a traditional business card, digital cards can be flexible, so you can modify or change them whenever needed. Newer team members can be added, older ones can be phased out. If you have been considering rebranding, you can always modify your digital card easily without having to incur additional costs.
Why Would You Need Digital Business Cards?
Of course, traditional contact cards have a whole tradition behind them. In Japan, cards are normally presented with two hands. The tradition dictates that the chain of command is followed in both giving and receiving them. But, in our world, business card traditions are being rewritten every day.
If you thought, but I have always given out traditional business cards, why the sudden need for digital cards, then hear this out.
Digital cards help you cut costs, reduce the time to get them designed, and you can carry them around on your phone! No more forgetting to pick up your cards from the printer!
You may be questioning this debate, wondering how much you love your printed business cards. Then this is for all those people sitting on the fence in this debate!
Traditional business cards occupy space. The card is most likely to be thrown out if the recipient doesn’t need your service at the time. In that case, with a digital card, your contact details can be saved in the recipient’s phone. When you call or email them, they will recall who you are! That can be a major plus in the service industry.
Entering details from a traditional business card into a CRM can be painfully time-consuming. To counter that, digital cards can sync in quite easily.
Now, does that help win the argument for digital business cards?
How To Create and Distribute Your Digital Business Cards?
Digital business cards are easy to create and distribute. They can also be quite fun to create. For the millennials, students, and young entrepreneurs, they are a great option to use without having to spend time and cost in making physical cards.
For creatives and creative agencies, digital cards can be paired with social media presence and portfolios to give a great boost to business as well.
There are a few great options on how to use the digital world and distribute your digital cards:
- Use QR Codes: For those of you, who are still on the fence about moving to the darker side of digital business cards, you can use a QR Code on your card. A QR Code will save any data that you want it to capture, such as your website, your portfolio page, or your contact number and name.
- Use a Digital Card Creation App: There are tons of apps available that can be used to create a digital business card. For example, some popular options include Haystack, Inigo, SnapDat, CamCard, and eVaunt. They all have various options like integration with SalesForce CRM, Google Map Integration and Mobile Apps for iPhone and Android. You can choose the one that best fits your need.
Things You Can Do With Digital Cards
While traditional cards usually contain limited information, digital cards have a great many options for content that can be added. More than that, digital cards can give you a lot of features that you will not have with traditional cards.
- Add location details and integrate with Google Maps. Your contact card can go directly to Google Maps to show your card recipients, your address location
- Integrate with your social media presence. Your audience can directly move to your social media pages from your business card
- Link with your CRM. You can link the digital cards you receive, and the ones you create, directly to your CRM. That can reduce the amount of rework it would take to manually enter all your digital cards
- Measure performance metrics. Your digital card can be a goldmine of information. With a traditional business card, you won’t know where it goes, and how many people contact you through your card. With your digital card, monitor the social media and website hits, to see what contact points are working for you best
What works for you best, a traditional business card or a digital business card? Do share with us your comments and views.
