Five Good Reasons Why You Still Need Business Cards

The business card market is believed to be worth more than £14bn in the UK alone and is one of the only print products that are expanding in both value and volume.

Digital technology may be reducing order quantities of letterheads, compliment slips, brochures and leaflets – but the business card market continues to evolve and grow.  

Why?

Well, the main reason is the importance small businesses and individuals place upon networking in this digital world.  

There has been a growth in many national business clubs, breakfast clubs like BNI and B.O.B which has been a productive source of business for tradesmen and small businesses.

By meeting new people and speaking to them you get the chance to promote yourself and your business.  And the business card is that marketing tool that acts as a creative reminder of that discussion sometime after the event.

This may all seem a little old-fashioned, especially when there’s the potential to connect quickly with a few hundred million others on LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter.

But actually, as we move further into the digital world of communication, the business card has gained increasing importance for at least five good reasons:

1. Through great design you can make your card stand out from the others by using different senses – colour, touch and feel – a difficult thing to do with digital communications.  So we could print for an artist on linen-textured card to make the design look like an oil painting or we cut die-cut the card into the shape of a truck for a truck rental company.  With so many forms of embossing, spot UV varnishing and thermography you can even make simple text-only cards stand out.
2.   It can link easily with the digital world – simply printing a QR Code on the business card gives a link to a website, email contact form or any other digital communication.  Although QR codes have not taken off as much as many expected – they are still a great bridge between the two technologies of print and digital communications. In the future business cards could be embedded with tiny micro-chips to make the link to a web page or a portfolio even easier.  
3. They are great value.  The cost of printing very high quality cards continues to fall in real terms.  So much so, that most tradesmen now only need one order from their print run to have more than paid for the whole lot.  According to a recent survey, nearly half of the small businesses surveyed put a value of more than £5000 on the distribution of each 100 business cards.  
4. They are retained by your contacts for far longer than any email – I have selections that are over 30 years old in my top drawer at work!  I always remember a retired businessman who had kept a personal card from an American couple he met on a cruise ship some twenty years earlier from which he made contact and arranged a visit.  
5. They can embody your product or service.  They can be produced on so many materials, die cut, folded, round cornered and given a wide range of special finishes.  For example, we have produced magnetic business cards for a washing machine repair engineer that can be left on the magnetic surface of the washing machine.  So when the water starts flooding out – the important contact information is to hand within seconds!  

There are merits for printing on both sides – although certain people like to leave the back blank so they can write their own notes.  In this case, it would be wise to choose just single-sided lamination options to make the writing by pen easier.

Prices are available for many different combinations online and we can supply a free template to help with your design layouts.  If you want any assistance with artwork give us a call FREE on 0800 0346 007.  

There are usually some special offers for artwork and design for any company wishing to use our online services.  For example, free access to library photos for images to add to the design.

In our next blog we will give some advice on layout and design essentials that we recommend to make your business cards a really effective marketing tool.

As an investment in your business the simple business card is perhaps the most important you will ever make.

Online Print Options from Direct2Print

Our standard digital business cards are printed on a 350gsm card – either printed on a slight gloss finish, a silk finish or a smooth ivory board.  We offer a choice of either matt or gloss lamination to one or both sides and can produce within 48 hours with free delivery to any UK location.