As our regular readers are undoubtedly aware, business cards are a fantastic way to present your company discreetly and professionally and to make useful contacts within the business world. According to the corporate advice website Chron, business cards can even be used to “represent [the] trustworthiness, honesty, and reliability” of your business. What you may not realise is that business cards, these simple, convenient cards can help you gain a much-needed edge over your competitors. In fact, they can do this in a number of different ways.

Advertising

1. Encouraging instantaneous networking and advertising
All businesses spend a lot of time and money on advertising. However, there’s one form of advertising that your rivals may overlook: one-on-one direct marketing. Business card printing allow you to distribute information about your business on a personal, one-to-one level. Business cards can be used as a miniature form of advertising. All you have to do is hand them out at networking events and exhibitions. Prospective customers and business partners may not always be susceptible to conventional marketing methods, but personally offering them a business card may help to sway them. They should represent the business in both words and design. A well crafted and designed card is is one that the recipient wants to hang onto and needs to be creative so that it stands out in the crowd. In other words, printing business cards allows you to access a pool of customers and partners your competitors simply can’t tap into because you’re the one adding that personal touch and handing them your contact details.

Effectiveness

2. Facilitating compact information delivery
Business cards are one of the most cost-effective ways to distribute large quantities of information. Obviously, you can’t fit a lot of information on each card. However, you can include a web address or QR code that recipients can follow to learn more about your business. Think creatively and you can have your products or services on the reverse or have service/industry specific business cards which highlights your particular expertise, knowledge and insight of that industry. Printed business cards are far cheaper than channelling prospective customers to your website through conventional marketing and PPC (Pay per click) methods. So you can reach more customers more quickly and at a lower cost than your competitors couple that with a higher customer conversion rates and you’re onto a winner.

Credibility

3. Engendering trust in your consumer base
As we’ve already discussed, business cards are associated with trustworthiness, professionalism, honesty and reliability. The moment you hand someone a printed business card, you improve their perception of your business tremendously. Not only is a company’s credibility at stake if no business cards are used, but the company may be forgotten about when a prospective customer departs from the networking event/meeting.

This means that instead of simply recruiting one-off customers, you can cultivate business/client relationships that will stand the test of time. If your competitor’s marketing methods don’t focus on building these relationships, you will gain a significant competitive advantage over them in the long term.
Still not convinced? Have a look at one of our previous blog articles: Why Business Cards Still Matter In The Digital Age
Also for a bit more info checkout this great article from Careerealism: 3 Benefits Of Having A Business Card
When they are deployed as part of an effective cohesive marketing campaign, business cards can really help you pull ahead of other businesses in your market sector. If you could benefit from high quality business card printing, you should check out our range at PrintUK.com – you won’t be disappointed.