Is the Business Card Dead in 2023?

Are business cards still relevant in 2022 and will they die come 2023?

Paper business cards, especially after covid, are becoming less of a necessity and more of a burden.

There has been a massive increase in “hygiene awareness,” and the idea of passing on a germ-infested piece of paper to someone else will send chills down the spine of a lot of people in this post-covid world we now live in.

WHY DO WE STILL NEED PAPER BUSINESS CARDS?

When we actually calculate how much paper is wasted on unused business cards, it’s quite shocking.

“12,000 TONNES OF BUSINESS CARDS

ARE THROWN AWAY EACH YEAR”

Roughly 180 business cards weigh 350 grams or 0.35kg. That means that if 7 billion business cards are printed each year, the weight of all of those business cards equates to 13,611,111kg or 13611 tonnes of paper.

An eyewatering 12,000 tonnes of business cards are thrown away each year.

Want to go deeper down the rabbit hole? From our estimates, anywhere between 10 to 20 trees make 1 ton of paper, so that’s anywhere between 120,000 and 240,000 trees hopefully getting recycled each year!

This will likely lead you to question if in today’s eco-conscious environment are business cards still needed.

ARE BUSINESS CARDS EFFICIENT ADVERTISING?

Personally, I’ve collected 1,000s of business cards throughout the years. Very rarely have I referred to them or given one to someone else.

“IF YOU CAN MAKE IT RELEVANT & INTERESTING, GO FOR IT”

It’s 2022, and everything is online. A lot of the business cards we collect are usually from colleagues. So once we put their contact info into our phone, there isn’t a need for the card anymore.

Some of us swear they only have them to throw in as freebies or pop in a bowl at conferences. I keep some in my wallet just in case I meet a potential customer or someone I want to network with when I’m out and about, but I really don’t get much use out of them.

How many times have we tortured ourselves by passing out so many cards to find out our business still hasn’t grown much?

The feedback we’ve had from our own market research suggests that if the card can make an impression, it’s a useful utility to have. A true business person doesn’t mind spending a few extra euros for a business card with a bit of a wow factor, especially if it’s outside the box and makes someone go, “Oh wow, that’s a cool business card!”

They might not remember any old business card, but they’ll remember thinking yours looked cool and sometimes that’s the difference between someone hanging onto it and contacting you and someone tossing it in the bin the second you turn your back.

This isn’t the case for most individuals as they usually find they can’t source a single job from handing out business cards. The design factor could have a lot to do with this also.

From our research, we’ve also found that people over 40 expect a card, while most under 30 just want a phone number to add you to their contacts, and the rest simply go either way.

For folks that don’t care about business cards, a coupon or discount code may help to encourage them actually to check out the company.

If you can make it relevant and innovative, go for it. It will stand out, and people are more likely to remember you.

However, in the majority of cases, it’s better to leave these things to a professional designer, just like you would get a mechanic to fix your car. Why? Knowledge and experience!

Digital business cards have seen a massive surge in the market, and although there are many options, we will be discussing next week which one is the best for your business and how you can obtain a new NFC business card for less than half the price they’re featured online.

Digital business cards and NFC business cards add a contact straight to the contact list on the other person’s phone. Either with a scan of a QR code or my favourite, tapping the card off the phone, like you do when paying wirelessly in the shops. They’ll never lose your business card unless they actively delete it in which case they never wanted to do business with you in the first place.

NFC cards provide the ability to show different content to each individual from the same card. With just one tap you can trigger any action from a smartphone such as a profile page, contact card download, lead generation form, survey, open an app, video, picture gallery etc. The possibilities are endless. Next week we will cover everything you need to know about NFC business cards and how to get your hands on one for less than half price!

Please subscribe for PART 2 on Tuesday...

ORIGINAL ARTICLE: https://apptap.ie/2022/12/20/is-the-business-card-dead-in-2023/