Are Business Cards Dead or Relevant?

You must like statistics. I recently read two articles about the importance of printed business cards. One person said that the business card was dead, and another indicated that there was a lot of life left on the printed paper card. The funny thing is that each article uses the same set of statistics to prove its completely contradictory views.

Statistics and data always need context to help in your marketing decisions. These articles made me think about how old school marketing tools, such as business cards, conflict with digital marketing.

So let's cut the statistical stance from the discussion on "Print the dead" and get a real perspective on the use and purpose of business cards in the world today.

Statistics about the importance of business cards and the likelihood of death
Here are three statistics that prove you need to get rid of your business card. But don't aim at anything until you wear your own marketing glasses.

1 - Increase sales by 2.5% per 2000 failed cards

This is not a significant increase for business card holders. Not worth the effort or cost.

I think they have never heard the concept of "small hinges swinging big doors." In other words, many additional small changes can cause important results.

Alright, let's do simple math for a very small business, making $ 100,000 every year. 2.5% for 100,000 - $ 2,500. You will spend less than $ 100 on a card. You don't need to be good at math to see that it's a good return on investment! A business that receives $ 1 million in revenue is $ 25,000 in additional sales.

Of course, you have to turn in cards, but maybe you will. If you manage your business card distribution strategically (more on this below), you will easily get the distribution you need.

The result is that distribution of business cards will likely increase your income at least a little, without extra effort or expense.

By the way, I can't find statistics that say business card distribution is causing a decrease in income.

2- 88% of cards are distributed in less than a week.

Nicers exclaimed, "What good is it if I drop my card in about 9 out of 10 people?"

Old school students say, "This is 12% who hold them back. And 12% can be valuable clients or relationships."
Statistics also show that 9% of cards have been added to the recipient's digital telephone list, contact management, or both. The card itself may be lost, but it lives digitally.

Now let's compare this "problem" with a business card with a landing page conversion rate typical for a website.

The landing page is the digital equivalent of whoever receives and stores your business card, in fact it says "Yes, I want your information."

According to Wordstream, the average website conversion rate is around 2.35%. Conversion rate = Total traffic - A new contact gives you your information versus your information. If we like it, then we can say, "Almost 98% of website visitors don't save our information - what's the point of having a website?"

In other words, a business card that has a conversion rate of 12% (someone who takes your information) has more than 5 times the conversion rate for your website on average of 2.35%.

If you see this marketing perspective, why should you release your business card?

3- 39% of people will not deal with you if your card looks cheap.

I think Nizya should not be prevented from investing in professional cards. Seriously, why not try giving out cheap cards? This reflects the lack of professionalism, not logic.

Old school marketers simply refused to print cheap business cards.

Older adults remember this related statistic - 72% rank your business on your card. Your card is one element of your opportunity to make a great first impression. However, you will never get a second chance to make a first impression, especially in a sales call. Clichy, yes, but it's still relevant.

As such, even a pretty good card, usually handled, is likely to increase your sales as shown in our first statistic above.