Digital Business Cards Case Study
30th Nov 2022
Could digital business cards be the best Eco alternative to traditional business cards?
If you’re like me you’ll have piles of business cards in a jar, draw or business card holder that seldom see the light of day. In most cases I never bother to search through them and imagine many have out of date information by now, does any of this sound familiar to you?
This inefficient wasteful way of dealing with card information not to mention the paper waste generated amounting to billions of paper business cards thrown away each year including harmful chemicals contained in the ink and solvents have a significant environmental impact. Now add on the carbon footprint for the energy consumed in the manufacturing process and it all amounts to an environmental recipie for disaster.
So what are the alternatives?
Move away from traditional business cards and use a 21st Century alternative. Currently two types of digital business cards exist, the virtual card, and the physical card.
Virtual business cards are usually apps in which you send or tap phones but in my experience these often have issues with software compatibility and don’t make the sort of impact in the exchange process and do nothing for the referral process.
However, digital business cards are physical cards which most people order between 20 to 50 cards printed with your company details in the same way traditional cards are. The good ones use recycled plastic and use NFC technology.
Why use digital printed cards? Are we missing the point? No, in some cases I have wanted to give my digital business card to my client as they will have my card to refer to others in a quick easy one tap way not possible using virtual cards. In three years I have only ordered 40 digital business cards myself and of today 2022 I have 24 cards remaining.
Some of my clients are not that tech savey but referring my business to others is easy for them they just touch my card on another’s phone and that’s it, job done. This also means they can continue to refer my business for as long as they keep the card, and they do. In my experience the novelty factor also plays an important part as people like using the card and are often asked how they can get them.
For my business in promotional product marketing I find digital business cards are perfect. I only carry about three cards with me so my wallet is not bulging but still has a card or two for hand-outs to potential referrers or high profile clients.
For me these cards have been most useful at trade shows and exhibitions where I can hand-out my details to a limitless amount of people without having to carry 200 cards around with me or worry about running out. So what details do clients receive when you tap the card.
Company Details
Once a client receives your detail’s they have a plethora of information available which is completely determined by you. For my business I’ll show my web details, PDF catalogues and all my social media links in one place. You could also have cards printed for a new product launch showing products, prices, videos and promo codes to name a few ideas.
Security
The best digital business cards use the latest NFC technology. Near-field communication (NFC) business cards enable you to share your contact information with a single tap. NFC business cards have two components: a digital business card and an NFC tag In simple terms the touch card works just like touch payment debit and credit cards that securely sends your information only to a client’s phone.
I hope this information helps and persuades you to switch over to digital cards which I feel is the best long term Eco solution to paper and chemical waste.
We’re always happy to help with any questions you may have and take you through the whole switch-over process.