Giving out business cards is an excellent way to spread the word about your company, increase brand awareness, and generate sales. However, handing out a bog-standard, basic business card to a passer-by or at a meeting is only ever going to be so effective. Think about how many business cards the average professional gets handed on a weekly or monthly basis – you’ve got to give them a way to remember you!
Fortunately, business cards don’t have to be boring. We’ve come up with 12 creative and inventive ways for you to use your business cards. Read on to discover how to give your clients, peers and customers a reason to contact you again.
1. Loyalty Cards
People love to be rewarded – especially with discounts or freebies. So why not turn your business card into a loyalty card?
As people frequent your store, café or other establishment, they will get a stamp or hole punched into their card. When they get all of the stamps that they need, they will receive a reward and a new card. For instance, if you own a salon, they can get enough points for a free haircut. At a café, they may earn a free cup of coffee.
Just turning your business card into a loyalty card could be enough to make you stand out from your competitors. Be sure that you brand it well, making your logo and contact details stand out on the front of the card along with space for stamps or holes.
2. Appointment Cards
You can also use your business cards to remind customers of their upcoming appointment. These hybrid business and appointment cards should be designed with your company’s logo, branding and contact details in pride of place. Include a space on the card where your staff or your client can fill out details of their next appointment or meeting with you.
If you’ve got the space, add space to record not just the date and time of the upcoming appointment, but also who the appointment is with (if relevant) and other important notes – such as a deadline for cancelling or rearranging it.
3. Bag Stuffers
Including an eye-catching business card with every order that you send out can be a great way to turn your one-time customers into repeat clients. These aren’t just great to stuff in the bags of guests that check out at your company, but also for swag bags that you create for charity events or conventions.
When customers notice the business card in their bag (providing they liked your products or services, of course), they will keep hold of it so that they can contact you again!
Be sure that in addition to containing your contact information, your business cards use an exciting colour scheme or a call-to-action to encourage the customer to pick it up. Why not try a magnetic business card so that your clients can easily stick it to the fridge?
4. Discounts or Coupons
As we’ve touched upon already, customers love getting freebies, and discounts on goods and services. So, why not kill two birds with one stone and create a business card that also functions as a coupon or voucher?
Include all of the standard information that your customers need on the front of the business card, such as your company’s name, address and telephone number. But somewhere on the card, you can display a coupon code, money-off voucher or exclusive discount offer . This can be great incentive for new customers to check out your business – and it also forces them to keep your card, otherwise they won’t be able to take advantage of the offer.
5. Referral Cards
Referral cards are business cards that your customers can hand out to their friends and family to raise your brand awareness to other people. This can be an especially beneficial use of business cards for retailers, accounting firms, and tax preparation businesses.
These will look like business cards, but have spaces for the referrer to put their name on there so that you can know who gets credit for the referral. Just be sure that the referral cards follow along with your other branding to stay consistent with your company image – they should contain the same logo and colour scheme, for example.
6. Swing Tags
If you sell a physical product, you can consider using your business card as the swing tags on your merchandise! One side will have your logo and your contact information (email address, phone number, etc.) while the other side has the product information on it.
Your customers will automatically interact with the swing tag as they read the details of the product, such as the price. When they get the product home they can keep the tag as a business card, and this will make them more likely to do business with you again.
7. Event Tickets
Are you hosting an event, such as a special sale, an opening party or a late-night shopping event, where current and potential customers will be in attendance? Try using your business cards as event tickets too! You can get a barcode or QR code added to a business card to turn it onto a ticket.
Your attendees will be forced to keep hold of your business card while they wait for the event – and they can save the card after the event, which will inspire them to come to your business in the future, rather than patronising a competitor.
8. Convenient Price List
If you offer products or services that you frequently get price requests for, you can save yourself some time by creating business cards with a mini price list of your most popular products and services. The front of the business card might look like an ordinary business card – your logo, address and contact details prominently displayed – while the price list can be found on the back.
Whether you’re a bakery listing the prices of your most popular pastries, or you’re a hair salon and you want to let people know how much you charge for a dry cut or foils, a price list is super helpful. It gives your potential customers not only the answer for pricing right at their fingertips, but they also get your contact information so that they can get in touch.
9. Place Settings
If you are hosting a corporate event, using a business card as a place setting can be a great idea. This will not only be something the guests can take home with them, but also something that adds more branding (and professionalism) to your event.
Whether you’re hosting a fancy dinner to welcome some international clients, or a buffet for your shop’s grand opening, business cards make the perfect place cards. You don’t even need to order a specialised card – you can simply hand-write your attendees’ names on the back of your ordinary business cards. (Use a calligraphy pen for effect!)
10. Feedback Cards
Receiving feedback is absolutely essential for the successful running of any business nowadays. While most businesses rely on online feedback – such as Facebook, Google or TripAdvisor reviews – there’s nothing better than receiving hand-written feedback straight from your customers.
So, why not turn your business cards into feedback cards? Simply add some space onto the back or bottom half of the card for your customers and clients to leave thanks and suggestions. For best results, offer some incentive for giving feedback – such as the chance for whoever leaves feedback to be entered into a prize draw.
11. Promote Social Media Campaigns
Once you launch your brand on social media, you’ll need to find new ways to promote your social media pages. If your customers don’t know that you have a Facebook page, for example, you might not get any engagement there – particularly if a large percentage of your clientele are older.
So, once you’ve opened up your social media accounts, use your business cards to advertise them to your customers. Keep your standard details on the front of the card, for example, while the back proudly displays your Facebook, Twitter and Instagram handles. Again, incentives are key – why not advertise a special offer or discount only available for customers who visit your socials?
12. Raffle Tickets
Hosting a raffle is a great way of drumming up interest in your business. Who doesn’t love winning a prize?
Whether you’re hosting a raffle for charity and selling tickets to raise funds, or giving out raffle tickets for free with every order (with the grand prize, of course, being one of your bestselling products), why not use your business card as the raffle ticket? You guessed it: your contact information is on one side, while a unique identifying number is on the other.
Are you inspired yet? Head to 123Print today to browse our extensive range of business card designs, or even create one yourself from scratch. We print business cards to the highest standards using the best quality cardstock, and aim to dispatch all orders within 48 hours. With a 100% satisfaction guarantee, what are you waiting for?