Business cards are crucial for start-ups or even well-established businesses. They are a representation of your company, and no matter what type of card you choose to create, it will ultimately help you build your brand. Most businesses have converted their paper business cards into digital ones because of efficiency and because it is modern and trendy.
What are these cards in the first place?
A business card is a small introductory token that represents your business and the business owner as well. When you initially introduce yourself to someone, you would mention your name, occupation, and contact information or social platforms (which makes more sense) if you want to stay in touch. So it’s exactly the same here, except a tad bit more sophisticated and professional!
Business cards are known for their representation of you and your business. It is the simplest way for your clients or recipients to stay connected with you and to have your basic business information at hand. They help spread word of mouth about your business and create a great impact on your business.
Business cards are a huge milestone for any business as they give an official feel. However, in our ever-advancing world, with digital technology and the rising fame of scanning QR codes to save time, energy, and space… let us look into which type of business card is best for you and what you should consider before finalizing your choice.
The Traditional Paper Business Cards
They say old is gold for a reason, and paper business cards date way back before people became too tech-savvy. More effort, time, and dedication were to be included for creating business cards in those days, and it would be fancy for an individual to whip out their paper business card to their clients in order to “further contact” them. A paper business card would hold your contact information, email address, company website and address, and social media handles.
The Business Card Full Of Pixels
It’s a slightly exaggerated title. But it’s true if you think about it! Digital business cards are an efficient and easy way to promote your business on various platforms.
In today’s era, everything is online, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. Online services and scanning became mandatory even though things have settled down as compared to the rising peak time. Online services, websites, and social media basically the entire digital era transformed to an entirely new level.
You can now find everything online. In fact, you don’t even have to go to get a business card. They would just send you a PDF file or a QR code that can be scanned from a device easily at your fingertips.
The unique thing about Digital business cards is that you can add animation flips to them, meaning that if the recipient or client were to see the back of the card, they would flip it the other way, but since this is digital, you can use animated flips to make it more creative and fun! However, this is one of the many factors which makes a digital business card attractive.
Let Us Compare the Two Opponents
The Paper Business Cards:
Paper business cards have been renowned for centuries as a physical token for any business. They are rectangular, small-shaped cards that can easily fit into one’s wallet or card holder. They have precise and direct information about the business and the company owner while it also mentions other social media platforms they are on. Paper business cards have been easy to handle and are more accessible to people.
Paper business cards give a personal feel towards the company since some business cards can feel fancier than others. You can also level up your paper business cards with the variety of card textures out there, from matte, shiny, or slightly textured. Your paper business card defines the status of your business by just the look of the card.
Small details on the paper business card create a huge impact on its overall look, whether you want it to look fun and groovy or minimalist and sophisticated.
The Digital Business Cards:
Digital business cards have a higher tendency to increase your exposure to other media platforms and for your business to spread or experience more interaction with potential customers and clients.
Digital business cards are usually shared through PDFs, Word Documents, JPEGs, or QR codes. These business cards would have the same information but with a creative and fun layout that is more interactive.
Another personal point that can be added is that with digital business cards, you would never have to worry about losing the card elsewhere, well, unless you mistakenly lose your phone or factory reset it. That is another story! In conclusion, you could potentially lose either cards, digital or paper.
That’s one factor that can be the same for both!
Pros and Cons of Paper Business Cards
Pros for paper business cards:
- They are easy to give out and are accessible within an instant. For example, you seem interested in joining a particular business, and you attend a short interview, so once you or they (the business) seem interested, they would hand out a card directly for further contact.
- You have a physical token for promoting and defining your business into a small card.
- You feel a personal connection towards keeping a paper business card as a small trophy for your business, and they are fun to create.
- They are easy to handle and can be stored in your wallet without any fuss.
- Creates a genuine connection with your clients once they receive your paper business card
Cons for paper business cards:
- They can take an expensive turn; in today’s day and age, with the ever-rising inflation, small paper business cards may seem less expensive. However, once you purchase a batch of basic paper business cards that may not be worth too much, constantly upgrading your business cards, increasing the batches, or getting a faulty batch are some of the major consequences of choosing paper business cards.
- In favor of the first point from the cons in making paper business cards, not only will you invest in making and remaking paper business cards, but also hire a professional to create the cards for every detail or some changes to the card is also a point for the affordability part.
- Then the shipping costs as well!
- Paper business cards are not environmentally friendly, and considering that in today’s age, we really should put in effort towards changing old habits, making more paper business cards while throwing out the old ones does more harm to the environment than good.
- Paper business cards can only hold so much information. You can’t express any more than what is limited to just the basic information on a standard card
Pros and Cons of Digital Business Cards
Pros for Digital Business Cards:
- Easily customizable and can be redesigned whenever you need to update your cards.
- Can be shared and spread around through different platforms, making it easily accessible to a huge crowd of people online
- You can attach media links to your digital business card for further information about your business or what services you provide
- They are eco-friendly and not harmful to the environment in any way. For instance, if you no longer need the digital card, you wouldn’t throw it in your house trash now, would you? Simply delete it if it is no longer needed.
- Digital business cards are cost-effective. For example, even if you were to get your digital business card made professionally, you would need to make just one link or code for it, and then it can be shared as many times as needed without you running out of cards!
Cons for Digital Business Cards:
- Of course, depending on every individual, some people may have a hard time accessing PDFs, Code Scanners, or so. Not everyone is tech-savvy, and some people choose physical cards or documents as compared to digital ones. To each their own.
- Since the digital business card is online and may have a certain app that directs with it, you need to be sure of hackers or scam cards that may be sicky to scan through. These are some technical difficulties this era has to face
- Some images may not show up because of bad internet services or connections, leading to your digital business card being disrupted for the viewer.
- If the digital business card does not show up in proper format, this could cause a bad impression on your recipients or clients
- Some people may not have the patience to wait for the file to download or to access permission for the digital business card
What Should You Consider Before You Decide
Before you finalize your decision on what type of business card to make, here are a few points you should consider:
- Affordability: This should be the first factor because you would want good outcomes at affordable rates where it doesn’t affect your budget in any way.
- Impression: Your business card is the layout of your business. Whatever it indicates, it should be true to your business, help define it, and create a great first impression, basically being the wow factor. Your card should be up to date and in trend with other business cards as you want to reach up to your competitors.
- Handling: Your business card should be easy to understand and handle without being too complicated or too technical but simple, precise, and in trend.
- Eco-Friendly: Since many other businesses are directing towards an environmentally friendly approach, your card should possess these as well.
Conclusion:
Both paper and digital business cards have an impact in their own way. However, considering our ever-growing digital era, people are shifting their interests towards digital options or services that they can acquire at home. However, both paper and business cards have paved their way into the business world and have created a deep impact. So, no matter whether you are looking for a graphic designer to design your paper card or digital card, LogoVent is the way to go. We have seasoned designers on board to deliver exceptional results, so why let second thoughts hold you back?
