The 4 Best Digital Business Card Solutions for Small Businesses in 2023: Compare and Decide

Navigating the networking landscape can be challenging for small businesses. In addition to dealing with limited resources and a lack of means to measure networking ROI, building a solid network of clients from scratch can be daunting.

This is why many small companies today are starting to favor digital business cards (or e-business cards) over their paper-based counterparts.

Indeed, the number of small businesses switching to Beaconstac’s digital business cards alone increased by 50% in 2022 compared to 2021. Demo requests for the solution have also risen 70% in the past six months vs. the previous period.

If you are in the market for a capable digital business card solution, you will likely encounter hundreds of available options. 

To help narrow your search, we’ve tried and tested four of the best digital business card solutions for small businesses. We highlight their pros and cons and how well they meet your business needs.

Table of contents

1. The 6 factors to consider when choosing the best solution
2. The 4 best digital business card solutions for small businesses
3. Which is the best digital business card solution for you?

6 factors to consider when choosing the best digital business card solution for your small business

Your solution of choice can impact your small business’s networking efforts. So, it’s essential to understand these six key qualities of a great digital business card solution:

1. Ease of use
2. Card design capabilities
3. Ease of sharing
4. Two-way contact sharing
5. Tracking and analytics
6. Affordability

1. Ease of use

Does the solution allow you and your team to create standout digital business cards within minutes? Choose a solution that is easy to use, saving you time and effort. 

2. Card design capabilities

Ensure your chosen digital business card solution allows you to customize your card’s design per your unique branding guidelines. 

You must be able to create detailed cards with interactive elements such as social media handles, URLs, and your business location.

3. Ease of sharing

A capable digital business card solution provides many card-sharing options that maximize your client engagement. These include sharing via Apple Wallet or Google Wallet, business card QR Code, or URL.

4. Two-way contact sharing

A solution with two-way contact sharing can transform your e-business card into an effective lead generation tool. This can save your business money since you might no longer need to invest in a separate lead generation tool.

With two-way contact sharing, your card recipients can submit their contact information via a form on your digital business card. 

In addition, a capable solution will record each submitted contact detail in a digital address book. You can transfer this list of warm contacts to your organization’s CRM software.

5. Tracking and analytics  

Your team may have already shared hundreds or thousands of business cards. But can you tell if those cards are getting engagement? 

Ensure your chosen solution allows you to gauge the performance of your team’s networking initiatives with metrics such as card views, contact saves, best-performing cards, and more.

6. Affordability

The digital business card solution you choose for your small business might provide all the features you need to network efficiently. But does it fall within your budget? 

Ensure the solution balances functionality and affordability to maximize the value you get for your investment.

The 4 best digital business card solutions for small businesses

1. Beaconstac (9/10)
2. Popl (8/10)
3. Blinq (7/10)
4. Knowee (6/10)

1. Beaconstac (9/10)

Beaconstac’s digital business card solution is one of the most popular choices among small businesses. This is substantiated by an impressive G2 rating of 4.8 out of 5 (small business category). 

This solution also saw a 50% rise in new small business users in 2022 compared to 2021, further attesting to its appeal to small companies. 

So what makes Beaconstac attractive to small businesses? Let’s examine a few key points:

#1 The solution provides an easy-to-use and intuitive platform. You can create digital business cards—standalone or bulk—within minutes. Getting started with the platform also requires a zero learning curve. 

Beaconstac is rated 9.7/10 for ease of use and 9.8/10 for ease of setup on G2 due to its capacity to save you and your team valuable time and effort. 

#2 You can customize various attractive digital business card templates to match your unique branding guidelines. 

#3 You can use custom fields to input the details you wish to add to your card. These fields encompass your contact details, profile information, brand logo, Google Maps location, 20+ social media links, and more.

#4 Beaconstac offers many paperless card-sharing options to suit different networking scenarios. These include sharing your digital business card via Apple Wallet (or Google Wallet), business card QR Code, and URL.

#5 Beaconstac’s Two-Way Contact Sharing lets you collect contacts directly through your shared card. You can view and manage them on your dashboard and export them to your CRM software (Salesforce or 700+ CRMs via Zapier).

#6 You can track and analyze digital business card metrics such as total card views, contact saves, unique viewers, best-performing cards, etc. With real-time data, you can stay on top of your team’s card performance. 

#7 The Team Plan (recommended for small businesses) starts at $5/month per user. Access all the basics plus extensive tracking and analytics, advanced integrations, enterprise-grade security, and more.

Here is what small businesses say on G2 about Beaconstac’s digital business cards:

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Beaconstac’s digital business card solution at a glance:

2. Popl (8/10)

Popl is another digital business card solution small businesses can use to create and manage their team members’ e-business cards. Here are the key points we gathered while testing the platform:

#1 Popl provides an intuitive dashboard that allows you to quickly create digital business cards upon signing up. 

#2 Regarding card design capabilities, the solution provides only specific visual customizations, such as choosing a different background color and adding a logo. 

Access to different card layouts and branding customizations is limited to its highest-tiered plan. 

#3 Popl offers multiple card-sharing options, including Apple Wallet and QR Code. However, before sharing your card in person, you must first download Popl’s mobile app. It also does not support Google Wallet sharing.

#4 Popl’s e-business cards are capable of two-way contact sharing, allowing recipients to submit their contact details via your card. 

However, you cannot customize your card’s contact form and specify which fields you want to display on entry-level plans. 

#5 The solution provides decent analytics. You can track essential metrics such as card views, contact downloads, link taps, etc. 

However, lifetime analytics—which aggregates all your organization’s past insights—are only available on premium plans.

#6 Popl’s Pro+ plan (suitable for small businesses) costs $11.99/month, which can be expensive compared to other solutions. 

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Popl’s digital business card solution at a glance:

3. Blinq (7/10)

Next on our list is Blinq. Testing the platform helped us identify the following key takeaways:

#1 Blinq offers a user-friendly interface and an extensive selection of data fields (e.g., phone numbers, URLs, social icons, etc.). You can create detailed e-business cards with ease.

#2 While it offers a wealth of input fields, you are confined to a single card template, which you can color-adjust. Full branding customizations and custom card templates require a Premium plan.

#3 This solution offers limited sharing options. You can share your digital business card via QR Code only after downloading. You cannot share via Apple Wallet or Google Wallet.

#4 Recipients can save your contact details with one click and submit their own contact information through your card.

#5 The platform provides limited tracking and analytics with its Business plan (recommended for small businesses).

#6 Blinq’s Business plan comes at $4.99/month per card. In addition to basic functionalities, it also includes a few direct integrations with popular CRM software.

Blinq’s digital business card solution at a glance:

4. Knowee (6/10)

The last digital business card solution on our list is Knowee. Here are the key highlights we observed testing this platform:

#1 Similar to the other solutions on this list, Knowee lets you create e-business cards quickly and easily upon signing up. You can create e-business cards within minutes.

#2 You get access to a rich selection of card design templates and fields where you can input the details you need to share with clients. 

However, Knowee’s Team Pack plan (suitable for small businesses) limits card customizations to template color. The top-tier Business Pro plan unlocks full branding customizations.

#3 You can share your digital business cards via QR Code and email signature. But one downside is that it lacks Apple Wallet or Google Wallet pass-sharing. 

Its e-business cards also do not offer two-way contact sharing. Recipients cannot share their contact details directly via your card.

#4 The solution’s analytics is limited to a single metric: How many times someone viewed your e-business card. It does not provide any other card statistics.

#5 Knowee ranks among the priciest options for small businesses. The Team Pack (recommended for small businesses) can go as high as $50 – $52/month per user.

Knowee’s digital business card solution at a glance:

Final verdict: Which is the best digital business card solution for small businesses?

Here is a table showing how the four digital business card solutions compare regarding features that hold value for small businesses. 

We evaluated each solution based on its most suitable pricing plan for small companies.

Our top recommendations are Beaconstac (rated 9/10) and Popl (rated 8/10). These two solutions offer the most comprehensive set of features that align with small business needs. 

For a broader solution comparison, we recommend checking out our guide on the 6 best digital business card solutions available today.

• 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]