Digital Business Card Benefits: 9 Reasons to Use Them in Your Networking

Paper-based business cards have been around for centuries. But networking today isn’t the same as it once was. Digitalization has changed how we network, so the tools we use have to keep up. 

This is the reason why many businesses are now making the switch from paper-based cards to digital business cards, also known as e-business cards. The following data points prove this:

#1 The global market value for digital business cards is growing at a CAGR of 11.2%. This market size is forecasted to reach US$ 242.3 million by 2027. (Source)

#2 Demo inquiries and paid customers for Beaconstac’s digital business card solution saw an increase of more than 300% in the last 6 months vs. the previous period.

Keeping in mind this growing adoption and usage of digital business cards, you might be wondering, are digital business cards really worth it? Should you use them to boost your networking efforts?

This article will help you understand the top 9 benefits of digital business cards. Knowing these benefits will give you a clear idea of why people are now switching to e-business cards to network in a smart and efficient manner.

Table of contents

1. The top 9 digital business card benefits: For maximized networking ROI
2. Next step? Make an e-business card with the best digital business card solution
3. Frequently asked questions

The top 9 digital business card benefits: For maximized networking ROI

1. Share an unlimited amount of information
2. Leverage quick and contactless card-sharing
3. Significantly cut down on card printing costs
4. Avoid the tedious process of paper business card procurement
5. Use your digital business card as a two-way communication channel
6. Enable two-way contact sharing for instant lead collection
7. Track client engagement and ascertain interest
8. Update your digital business cards as and when required
9. An eco-friendly alternative to traditional business cards

1. Share an unlimited amount of information via digital business cards

Traditional business cards typically force you to work inside a 3.5” x 2” content space. This means you must carefully choose which details to include on your business card.

If you wish to share multiple phone numbers, emails, web URLs, and social handles, it is unlikely you can pack them all together on this small piece of paper. 

A digital business card helps you effectively overcome this issue.

When you use an e-business card, you can share all the information you need, including ALL your contact numbers, website links, social media handles, Google Maps location, and much more.

LEARN: What information can you include on a digital business card

2. Leverage quick and contactless card-sharing with e-business cards

When you use paper business cards, you are required to share them face-to-face, which often involves physical contact.

In contrast, you can share a digital business card through the following quick and contactless methods—helping you network in a paperless and instant manner.

1. Share your digital business card via Apple Wallet (or Google Wallet)
2. Send your e-business card to your client using Apple’s Siri
3. Directly share your digital business card on social media
4. Send your business card as a QR Code
5. Forward your card’s URL on various channels, such as email and SMS

Check out our complete guide on how to send a digital business card to maximize your networking efforts. 

3. Digital business cards help you significantly cut down on card printing costs

The average annual cost to print paper business cards can go as high as $194 per employee. The more sophisticated your card design gets, the higher the printing costs you have to incur.

However, if you opt for digital business cards, you can significantly reduce this card printing expense.

Let’s see an example:

Suppose you need to generate and print business cards for 500 employees. As per the cost estimates mentioned above, your total expense can come up to $95,000 approximately. But when you opt for Beaconstac’s digital business cards, you can generate and share 500 cards for $12,000 – $15,000 a year, depending on your chosen plan.

As a result, your organization can save as much as $83,000 or 87% on business card expenses per employee, per year.

4. Digital business cards help you avoid the tedious process of paper business card procurement

According to this study, nearly 90% of organizations are burdened with tedious and repetitive tasks that reduce productivity. The procurement of paper business cards is one such task.

This is how companies typically handle their traditional business card procurement process:

1. A new employee eligible for a business card raises a request to their team lead or HR. 
2. This request is forwarded to the company’s card procurement team—via email or an order management portal.
3. Once the request is approved, the card supplier will proceed with creating and printing the business card.
4. Once the business card is ready, the supplier delivers it to the company—the delivery time could take days or weeks, depending on various factors such as the number of cards requested, card design requirements, etc. 
5. If the business card is delivered with an error, the entire process starts all over again.

This process—from start to finish—takes an average of 30 days.

The good news is that you can cut it entirely by switching to e-business cards.  

With a digital business card generator, each team in your organization can create and distribute e-business cards to all employees within minutes. Hence, you get to cut the lengthy business card procurement process discussed above.

5. Interactivity turns your digital business card into a two-way communication channel

Physical business cards do not let your recipients conveniently respond to your shared details.

Yes, you can spur interest with an attractive card loaded with compelling profile information. But acting on that interest through a paper-based card can prove cumbersome for your audience. This is because they must manually search for shared information on their mobile devices.

With digital business cards, every piece of information becomes accessible via a single screen tap. 

For instance, if a client wants to contact you, they can instantly access your phone number in a click-to-call manner through your e-business card. Moreover, your location and social links are accessible in the same way. This turns your digital business card into an instant and two-way communication channel.

6. Digital business cards enable two-way contact sharing for instant lead collection

Digital business cards allow you to take advantage of two-way contact sharing. This helps you capture your client’s contact information directly from your digital business card. 

Let us look at a common networking scenario to understand the value of this capability. 

Suppose a field sales agent manages to pique a prospect’s interest in their product. At this point, the prospect turns warm, and the agent uses the opportunity to ask the prospect for their contact details.

With two-way contact-sharing, the prospect only needs to fill out and submit a contact form via the agent’s digital business card. Upon submission, the prospect’s details will be recorded in the agent’s digital address book as a new lead entry. 

From this address book, the agent can view and manage all the warm leads collected from their digital business card. They may also choose to export this list of leads to their organization’s CRM.

7. Track engagement and ascertain interest through e-business cards

One of the biggest downsides of traditional business cards is their inability to offer performance metrics based on card-scan tracking. Once distributed, you won’t be able to track and analyze the engagement your cards get from your audience.

Digital business cards, in contrast, are completely trackable. They let you obtain the following meaningful metrics: 

1. The total number of card scans received.
2. The number of times your contact details were saved
3. The number of total and unique clients reached via your cards.
4. The best- and worst-performing digital business cards—based on the total number of scans each card gets.
5. The card engagement by location, time of day, and device—you can monitor when and where your team members engage with clients.

We recommend choosing a capable digital business card solution that can help you monitor the above metrics in real-time. This way, you can easily determine card engagement metrics and optimize your networking efforts.

8. Update your digital business cards as and when required

It is no secret that even the slightest information update can make your existing paper business card outdated. If you want to update the details on your card, you’ll have to reprint the card, resulting in additional costs and extended card procurement turnaround time.

This is one of the reasons why the switch to e-business cards is more efficient.

Digital business cards let you update your contact information instantly, and whenever required. You can change any piece of information—be it a contact number, web link, or Google Maps location. You can even change your business card’s design elements. 

The best part? These updates can be made at the backend—on your digital business card provider’s dashboard. As a result, your clients can view your updated e-business card in real-time—without you having to share the card again.

9. Digital business cards are an eco-friendly alternative to traditional business cards

As we learned above, paper business cards incur high annual printing costs. But printing costs might not be the only reason to switch to digital business cards.

Over 7 million trees are cut down each year to accommodate the demands for paper-based business cards. So it might be no surprise that 82% of consumers prefer companies that put people and the planet first before their bottom line.

If your audience is inclined to prefer companies that adopt sustainable solutions, switching to e-business cards can do wonders for your brand. Not only do you get to save significant amounts of paper, but also massive printing costs—simply by going digital with your business cards.

Check out our guide on why digital business cards are also known as eco-friendly business cards to learn more.

Next step? Make an e-business card with the best digital business card solution

There you have it, the 9 top benefits of digital business cards that make your networking more effective and eco-friendly.

Now, if you truly wish to capitalize on these benefits, it’s essential to choose the best digital business card solution. This way, you will be able to create a digital business card that best represents your value and services.

In addition to offering the above-mentioned benefits, Beaconstac’s digital business card solution boosts your networking endeavors through enterprise-grade security standards—without the need to download any app.

Related: 5 Features that make Beaconstac the best digital business card solution

Frequently asked questions

Physical vs. digital business cards: What’s the difference?

Physical and digital business cards aim to achieve the same purpose—to convey contact information about a professional or a business. But, to understand the differences, we must look at the factors influencing networking success through business cards.

These factors are shareability, interactivity, information sharing, and printing costs.

1. Shareability – The only way to share paper business cards is in person. Meanwhile, you can share e-business cards through various digital means such as Apple or Google Wallet, QR Code, etc.
2. Interactivity – Physical cards require your recipients to search for shared details manually. Whereas e-business cards provide instant information access with a single screen tap.
3. Information sharing – Physical cards bind you to a limited content space. With digital business cards, you can include as much information as you want.
4. Printing costs – The average cost of physical business cards for a single employee is $194 a year. Alternatively, you can create a customizable and trackable e-business card at a 98% lesser cost.

Are digital business cards worth it for your networking?

Yes, digital business cards are absolutely worth it. These virtual networking tools can help you maximize your networking efforts in a contactless, cost-effective, and eco-friendly manner.

How much does it cost to create a digital business card?

With Beaconstac, you can create a digital business card for as low as $6 a month. As you scale to higher-tiered plans, the more cost-savings you get per card.

Check out Beaconstac’s digital business card pricing.

• Author Details

Author Details

Reuben Isidoro

Reuben is a Content Marketer who helps businesses drive audience engagement and conversions through compelling content narratives. Currently, he explores the profound impact of simple yet innovative business tools, such as digital business cards, on organizational ROI.

https://blog.beaconstac.com/

[email protected]