When was the last time you attended a business event and returned empty-handed? It's hard to remember, right?
Business networking is one of the most powerful ways to meet with potential clients and build meaningful connections, which directly contributes to growth and development.
Both physical and virtual networking are effective, but in-person networking clearly puts you at an advantage. In fact, the closing rate for in-person meetings is 40%, indicating the effectiveness of in-person business networking.
You compete at these events with hundreds of other professionals trying to build the same connections. You need to be a step ahead of them, and this is where digital business cards serve you. They make sharing contact information fast and easy.
This guide walks you through the benefits of digital business cards in networking and how you can select the right digital business card platform.
You can think of a digital business card as a virtual version of a physical business card. It contains the same information as a physical card, such as your name, contact details, office address, and other work-related details. Digital business cards also have fields for social media links, multimedia, and location URLs.
Your digital business card has its own URL that you can share directly or through QR codes and near-field communication (NFC) tags.
Think of all the challenges you've ever faced with physical business cards. Difficulty in saving contact details, possibility of entering incorrect information, limited space, high costs of printing, and the list goes on!
Digital business cards solve these problems and offer additional advantages to improve your networking experience.
We’ve pulled together some benefits of digital business cards in professional networking.
Instant contact-sharing is the biggest advantage of digital business cards.
When you give someone your physical card, they need to manually type in the contact details on their phone, which takes time and feels awkward. And there's always a possibility that they may mistype the phone number or name.
Digital business card pages contain an "Add Contact" button that allows you to save contact details without manually entering the information. After clicking the card, the phonebook application opens up with the information added for the new contact. You just need to confirm the details and save them.
You’ve probably had to reprint your physical business cards because your address or phone number changed, right? Maybe a few times?
The average 3.5” x 2” business card costs $0.06 to $0.24, and we haven't even factored in the design costs, which can be hundreds of dollars!
On the other hand, digital business cards support real-time editing. You can change any information on your digital business card without changing the page URL.
Tip: You can create a QR code for your digital business card page and print it on a physical business card. Since the page URL remains the same after editing, the QR code stays the same, and you can continue using the same physical card.
You attended a networking event, and it was a huge success. At least that's what you thought. You distributed 500 business cards, and you're now anticipating 500 callbacks or leads in your system. At least 400.
Days, weeks, and months go by, but all you hear is silence.
What went wrong? Did people forget about your business card? Or did they just throw it away?
There's a high chance it ended up in the recycling one way or another. That’s what happens with 88% of all business cards.
Thankfully, digital business cards give you a foolproof way to measure your networking efforts. Digital business cards are webpages and, as such, are trackable. You can see the total visits on your digital business card page, along with the location, device, and browser information of the visitors.
You need these insights to accurately measure the success of your digital business cards and make informed decisions.
You can include a wide range of information on your digital business cards. Whereas physical cards can only display text, digital business cards support text, images, videos, PDFs, and clickable links.
Suppose someone visits your digital business card and views your profile image, videos explaining your services, and social media handles. That's a solid first impression. Moreover, people get to know you better, encouraging them to connect with you.
Many digital business card platforms support retargeting through Google Analytics ID and Facebook Pixel.
If you're not familiar with retargeting, it's a form of online, targeted advertising wherein you show ads to visitors who have previously been to your website or application.
You can add the Google Analytics ID or Facebook Pixel code to the HTML of your digital business card page. If people visit your digital business card and exit without taking action, you can show them retargeting ads.
Creating a digital business card can be easy or hard, depending on the digital business card platform you use. Several digital business card solutions exist out there, and all of them offer pretty much the same capabilities, but there are nuanced differences that you need to look out for.
For instance, all digital business card platforms support customization. But some offer 20 or more customizable templates, and others offer just five.
Let's get into the nitty-gritty of the features and capabilities you might want in your digital business card platform.
This survey revealed that "more design and customization options" is the most sought-after feature in digital business cards, and rightly so.
Think of two digital business cards. One has a basic black-and-white design with no visuals, whereas the other has vibrant colors and relevant graphics.
Which is more appealing? The second one, right?
Therefore, prioritize customization options when looking for a digital business card tool. The platform you choose should offer various templates to help you showcase your brand and personality.
You should also be able to add a profile picture, change the page's color palette, and choose a font style. These customization features help you design your digital business card profile exactly the way you want.
Digital business cards, just like regular business cards, are a powerful branding tool, and you can use it to showcase your brand's logo and messaging. Find a digital business card platform that lets you add your brand's logo and other branding elements.
White labeling is another crucial feature for your digital business card solution. This feature lets you use a custom domain URL instead of the default URL provided by the vendor.
Typically, the digital business card page uses the provider's domain name. Here's what the URL structure looks like: provider.com/yourcompany
With white labeling, you replace the provider's URL with your company's. The URL structure becomes: yourcompany.com/name
White labeling gives you brand consistency and higher user engagement.
Digital business cards can be an integral part of your marketing efforts. Like any strategy, you need to measure the effectiveness of your digital business cards.
Look for a platform with in-depth tracking and analytics options.
Even better if the platform supports real-time alerts so that you get notified every time someone visits your digital business card!
With in-depth analytics, you can identify the areas with the most engagement and scale your networking efforts there.
Select a digital business card platform with a variety of information fields. Here are some that your digital business card should definitely have:
Apart from information fields, ensure that your digital business card platform allows you to add call-to-action buttons to encourage visitors to take the next steps.
Creating a digital business card takes only a few minutes – pretty quick.
But what if you need to create hundreds or thousands of digital business cards? If you manually create each card, it'll take you hours!
You’re going to need bulk creation. With this feature, you can put the data for all digital business cards in a spreadsheet and put it into the bulk upload module. Then, the creation process begins.
The batch generation process occurs in the background, and your digital business card batch will be ready in a few minutes. You can then download the batch as a ZIP file and extract the cards.
If you have a lot of digital business cards, organizing and managing them can get out of hand. Folders make your life easier by helping you control your digital business cards more efficiently.
Let's say you're making digital business cards for all employees in your organization. You can create folders for each department and organize the digital business cards for all employees according to their team.
If you ever need to access or edit an employee's digital business card, you simply search for the department folder and find the card.
Access controls are helpful for managing digital business cards, especially if you have multiple team members working on them.
The subaccounts feature allows you to add users and oversee their access and permissions. It's similar to adding seats or users in a SaaS product.
As discussed, retargeting can bring back visitors who visit your digital business card but exit without taking action.
Pick a digital business card platform that lets you set up retargeting with both Google Analytics and Facebook Pixel. However, implementing retargeting can be challenging, especially if you don't have HTML knowledge.
That’s why you need a platform with excellent customer support.
Created an amazing digital business card? Great! You’ve still got work to do, though.
A digital business card is only as good as the people it reaches. QR codes and NFC tags are the two primary methods of sharing digital business cards, so look for a platform that comes with both.
Who wants to spend hours figuring out how to create and share a digital business card?
The process of creating a digital business card should be simple, and the same goes for sharing it. Make sure to select a digital business card solution that's effortless to use.
It's important to find a digital business card solution with all the security features you need.
When you use a digital business card platform, you trust the provider with confidential information about your business, employees, and clients.
Therefore, it's vital to go for a platform that deploys all essential security measures and complies with security standards like Service Organization Control Type 2 (SOC-2) and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Lastly, consider the pricing of your digital business cards. Find a tool that offers reasonable fees to generate a positive return on investment.
A digital business card can fall between 15¢ to $7, and expensive isn't necessarily better. Explore various digital business card platforms and find the one that best suits your needs.
We've covered the benefits of digital business cards and how to select the right digital business card platform. Now let's look at some of the best practices you should take into account for using your digital business cards.
First and foremost, selecting the right digital business card platform is key. Research and opt for a platform that aligns with your preferences.
Make sure the platform is user-friendly, feature-rich, and secure so that you can seamlessly create digital business cards.
Design plays a crucial role in making your digital business card attractive. An enticing card is more likely to leave a positive impression on your prospects.
That said, it's vital to avoid over-designing. Don't use decorative fonts or flashy colors, and stick to simple, professional elements.
Include all relevant information on your digital business card.
The biggest benefit of digital business cards is in-depth information sharing, so be sure to use them to the fullest.
Include your full name, job title, company name, phone number, email address, and links to your professional social media profiles. If applicable, consider adding a brief tagline or summary that highlights your expertise and sets you apart from your competitors.
And don't forget to add multimedia. Photos and videos of you and your business offerings take your networking efforts to the next level.
It’s also important to keep your information current to maintain accuracy and professionalism. Changes in job titles, contact details, or other relevant information should be promptly reflected on your digital card. This guarantees that your contacts have access to the most salient information about you.
Sharing outdated information with your connections has two major drawbacks:
Both of these lead to poor networking outcomes and ROI.
Integrate branding elements into your digital business card. This reinforces brand recognition and contributes to a cohesive and professional visual identity.
Consistency across your digital and offline marketing materials enhances your image and leads to higher engagement and conversions.
Once your networking efforts run at full throttle, study the analytics to see how they perform. Check which locations bring in the most visits and which areas have a higher conversion rate than others.
Based on these insights, you can narrow your networking efforts to high-performance areas to convert more often and achieve a higher ROI.
Creating a digital business card is only half the job done. Share your digital business card effectively to build more connections – QR codes and NFC tags are the most dynamic ways to spread your digital business cards around.
Tip: Use an NFC business card and print the QR code on it to get the best of both worlds.
The networking landscape is shifting rapidly from physical and in-person to digital and social. People use social media and virtual events to meet and connect with businesses and individuals every moment.
Digital business cards make sure you ace both virtual and in-person networking. Not only do they overcome the limitations of physical cards, but they also offer added advantages for branding, marketing, and customer engagement.
However, the success of your card depends largely on the digital business card platform you use. Next step? Explore various digital business card tools in the market and choose the one that helps you make contact the most.
Learn how to create business relationships that last with this guide on event networking.
Edited by Aisha West
Naturally, there is a lot that goes into making a success out of a given business. You need to decide what niche you want to fill, as far as your industry goes, and determine what needs you can strive meet as far as your potential customers. Then, of course, there are the practicalities of turning your products, services, and ideas into a booming business model with a healthy bottom line. However, there are other details that can factor into your potential success as well – details that are all too often overlooked altogether, like your choice in business cards.
A fantastic business card that makes the recipient sit up and take notice won’t guarantee that you’ll be successful in all that you do. However, it can definitely help you make the impression you really want to on those with whom you’re looking to create a relationship. Here we’ll explore the importance of having the right business card, discuss the benefits of choosing a more creative option, and take a closer look at some of the most interesting ways people are taking the art of the business card to the next level and beyond.
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