The Paper Business Card is Dead; Long Live the Smart Business Card!

Business Card Ideas for Today’s Sales & Marketing Professionals

Business cards were once seen as essential elements in building relationships with prospective clients, particularly for the purpose of sales, business development and networking in general. 

What’s the status of business card use today? Not great – but it’s getting better.

The State of Business Cards Today

While difficult to gauge, business card usage appears to be on a long, slow decline. Even though sales volume increases by 2.5% for every 2000 business cards that get passed out, 88% still get thrown away in less than a week (with 63% indicating the reason is because they don’t need the service). 

Fortunately, you can use this information to your advantage. 

Five Ways to Make Your Business Card Stand Out

Business cards can still present a powerful opportunity to convey your credibility, but you’ll need to leverage your creativity – and some high-tech innovation – in order to stand out. 

The trick is to elevate each business card design beyond the normal expectations. The goal should be for prospects to be so impressed with the professionalism and utility of business card that they simply can’t throw it away. Ultimately, even if they don’t need the product service at that given moment in time, the design and function should be enough to convince them to stick around. In the past, the way to accomplish this was to simply make your business card more “impressive” by:

+ using a heavier weight card stock,
+ embossing/debossing (creased raised or recessed relief images on the paper),
+ using special die-cut designs, and
+ using layered elements or colored accents.

Products like CustomUSB’s Wallet Cards, however, are turning around the slow decline of the business card for good reason – they are evolving and changing with the times.

Instead of a boring flat card with just your name and email, marketing and sales professionals can capitalize on the traditional benefits while coupling it with far more utility. The Wallet Card, which happens to come in both metal and plastic, can be preloaded with content. For a sales person, that might mean including a video that provides testimonials from existing clients on the advantages of the product or service, a formal sales presentation, or an interactive catalog of products.

Business cards will likely always play a role in the business world. That does not mean that you have to use the same approach as everyone else. Get creative with your business card and start providing your prospective clients and partners a reason to do business with you. CustomUSB’s Wallet Cards provide that opportunity. 

Learn more and start customizing your own Metal or Plastic Wallet Cards now!