Today, sustainability is becoming increasingly important for companies and consumers across all industries.
The use of trees in the production of finished paper products such as books, writing paper, newsprint, business cards among other commodities has been a widely debated topic over the years. Companies and consumers are becoming more open to paper alternatives for books, newspapers, and business cards.
“A business card legitimizes who you are, conveys the services you offer, and provides a means for customers to remember you after a first meeting while providing contact information.”
We live in a digital age where we engage with prospects and clients online. Our social media accounts reflect our brand or beliefs. We use social media to keep in touch, share content, and network. Networking on social media has become very common over the past decade. LinkedIn is one of the world’s most famous social networks for companies and professionals. YouTube is widely used to drive web traffic, promote products, and generate leads through video. Instagram allows users to immerse themselves in the lives of others through photos. Facebook is great for increasing brand awareness and showcasing your brand’s personality. When asking the question if we need paper business cards to network, the answer is no. However, they are still valuable networking tools.
A business card legitimizes who you are, conveys the services you offer, and provides a means for customers to remember you after a first meeting while providing contact information. Great first impressions increase your chances of future conversations and help build strong relationships.
Let’s look at the advantages and disadvantages of paper and digital business cards.
Digital business card
Advantages
- Easy to share. You can use almost any app to share virtual business cards with your recipients via text (SMS), email, WhatsApp, Signal, social media, and more.
- CARTLY digital business cards can be easily viewed and shared from any device. No download is necessary.
- Allows to publish key links and boost their traffic (website, social media, corporate video, registration forms, portfolio, products, services, etc.)
- Stores all your contact information, URLs, and social media links in one place.
- Your digital business card details can be updated in seconds.
- Become your lead generator, giving you constant feedback on its performance and allowing you to receive contact information via the contact exchange feature.
- CARTLY digital business cards can be used in a hybrid manner by integrating the QR code of your digital business card into your physical paper card.
- Ecological alternative to paper business cards.
Inconveniences
- Not all people and cultures are used to receiving a digital business card.
- Sharing a digital business card is less personal than exchanging a paper business card.
- Depending on the application, the learning curve to properly navigate the system, understand the features, and create a digital business card can be high or unfriendly.
Paper business card
Advantages
- Great way to get someone’s attention, expose your brand, and make a great first impression.
- Easy to share when networking with people face to face.
- It’s a great way to make a personal connection – to build strong, meaningful relationships.
- People are generally used to receiving and exchanging business cards when they make contact.
- They are relatively inexpensive to print.
Inconveniences.
- To get a well-designed business card, you may need to hire the services of a professional graphic designer. High costs are incurred.
- If you change your phone number, email address, web address, or other contact information, you must reprint a new set of cards.
- Paper business cards accumulate relatively quickly, take up space and can become overwhelming.
- Unable to receive contact information via a paper business card.
- 80% will be thrown away within a week.
- Paper business cards are not environmentally friendly.
The verdict
When it comes to networking, making an excellent first impression, and exposing your brand, both paper business cards and digital business cards are great options, with their own pros and cons. Ultimately, it’s about what you are most comfortable using when networking. In some cases, a paper business card is ideal, while a digital business card is more appropriate in others. Technology’s impact has revolutionized how we interact and engage with people, whether online or in person.
Learn more about our digital business card solution here.