Most people understand that having business cards to hand out to potential clients is a worthy exercise, but it surprises me how ineffective some business cards can be. It seems that for some people going through the motions of producing their design, they lose sight of the purpose of having them in the first place. Today I will go over some of the reasons why your cards are not being responded to and ways that you can get a better response rate from your next set of business cards.
Remember What Your Business Card is For
When looking over a business card, ask yourself the following question: "How quickly do I realise and understand what kind of business this person is in?" If it takes more than 1 or 2 seconds then the design has failed in its purpose. If you think they simply exists to carry your logo and contact details, you are probably wasting money on them.
The purpose of you business cards is to make the business you represent meaningful to its recipient and generate a future response. When I say "the business you represent", I mean that your position in the business is not unimportant to the purpose of the card, but that is secondary. So make it obvious in your design what business you are in. This can be achieved by using a descriptive slogan, bullet-pointing your products or services or including appropriate images to illustrate what you offer.
Make Your Business Card Memorable
This might sound too obvious to write down, but you'd be surprised how lacklustre a lot of designs are. How you make it memorable depends on the business you are in and what is appropriate to your prospective customers. First of all, make sure you use your logo and place it appropriately on your card design. One way to make your business card memorable is to put a special offer on the back that the card can be redeemed for. Cafe's like to double their business cards as loyalty cards, but this tactic could also be used across many other business types and keeps you in the customer's mind. The back of your business card gives you the opportunity to be innovative and provide useful information for the recipient to encourage them to retain it.
Use Contact Details That People Will Use (and Can Reach You On!)
There are so many innovative methods of communication in this digital age and only so much space on your typical business card. When listing your contact details, be sure to include the point of contact that your customers are likely to use the most. In most cases, this would be a phone number or email address, but if your company does a lot of social media online (particularly LinkedIn), you should include those details as well. If you have a website, definitely include your web address.
Use A Quality Printing Service
A lot of start-up businesses and self-employed people want to keep their over-heads down by making and printing their own. Ironically, printing your own cards in any reasonable volume will most likely not only cost you more in printer consumables, but the end result usually turns out to be inferior to outsourcing the job to a commercial printing company. A commercial printer is better positioned with resources to do the job efficiently on quality card that is appropriate for business cards. It is vitally important that you check the card stock to make sure it is of decent quality and thickness. For best results, it is recommended that your card stock is at least 350gsm. A professional printer can also do larger volumes for you with far better consistency.
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