This is a guest post from Damian Langan, Damian is a freelance graphic designer based in Ipswich. You can see more of Damian’s work on his website The Creative Guy
I got way too excited about my new business cards that arrived recently – given the pandemic, it’s been a while seen I needed these!
I’m sure you will ask, aren’t they a thing of the past?
In today’s fast-moving commercial environments, digital communication, messaging apps and video calls appear to have taken over from the printed page. So it’s understandable some people might question the use of a business card in the modern business world.
Recently, I attended my first in-person meeting since the pandemic hit. After a positive meeting, I left feeling confident about the future. On the way back to my studio, it dawned on me – I didn’t leave anything behind. Having gotten so used to zoom meetings for a little over 2 years, it had become the norm that our meetings would end, and the attendees would carry on with their day.
Now that we have returned to near normality, business cards can often be the first point of in-person contact with a prospective client; they are also the item they take away from having met you. So a business card remains a great, inexpensive way to leave a physical reminder of who you are and what you have discussed. It acts as an important prompt for making contact again. Without such a reminder, you are making it much harder for others to remember you or your business, potentially losing valuable commercial opportunities. In terms of convenience, business cards are portable and light, making them easy to carry and use in any given situation.
These days, business cards can take many forms, and they don’t have to be limited to a physical form. There are many digital business card apps out there now and the great thing is that you can link your physical business card to your digital one – making it all the more easier for potential customers to add your details to their smart phone or computer.
So with my new business cards I did just that. With a simple QR code added to my physical business card any one can scan it and be taken to my digital business card. This digital business card seeks to enhance the experience for any potential client by adding richer detail about me and my services and more importantly includes images. As a graphic designer having this digital tool to compliment my physical business cards is a great way to boost connections. It is great for things like networking events where associates might end up leaving with a hand full of cards, that might get lost in a car, the bottom of a bag or in a drawer. Now, anyone can just scan the QR code on the business card and BOOM, in a second all your details are there on their device.
The value in enabling a potential contact to add your details to their smart device in an instant is not to be underestimated. Anything that saves time helps to ensure that your new contact is more likely to save your details if they don’t have to type it out.
However, alone such a digital business card has to the potential to ensure you are quickly forgotten once the act of adding your details to a smart device is done. Your details potentially lost amongst many others in a digital phonebook. This is where the traditional business card comes into it’s own with it’s tangible, tactile nature. A well designed business card, with the simple addition of a QR code linking to your virtual business card, printed on a high quality card, using the latest print technologies available, enhances the whole experience and ensures you are far more likely to be remembered.
If you would like help creating a next generation business card, drop Damian a message on LinkedIn or email him at hello@thecreativeguy.co.uk
