Business Name Card: Alive or Dead

Statistics are fascinating. I recently read two articles about the value of printed business name card. One claimed that business name card are almost extinct, while the other demonstrated that printed paper name card still have a lot of life in them. The irony is that each publication used the same set of information to support their drastically opposite points of view.  

Statistics and data require context to be relevant in marketing decisions. These pieces prompted me to consider how an old-school marketing instrument, such as business name card, compares to internet marketing.  

So, let's cut through the statistical rhetoric about "printing is dead" and get some real insight into the use and purpose of business name card in today's society.  

Statistics On The Usefulness of Business name card And Their Alleged Demise  

Here are three facts that "prove" it's time to get rid of your business name card. But don't toss anything away until you've donned your marketing glasses.  

1 - Every 2000 Cards Distributed, Sales Increase By 2.5 percent.  

For the business name card skeptics, this isn't a significant enough increase. It's not worth the time or money.  

They must have never heard of the concept of "little hinges swinging big doors." In other words, a slew of little, incremental changes can add up to big outcomes.  

Let's conduct some simple math for a $100,000-a-year firm. The interest rate of 2.5 percent on $100,000 is $2500. The cards will cost you far less than $100. You don't have to be a math genius to know that's a fantastic Return on Investment! That's an extra $25,000 in sales for a company with a $1 million revenue.  

Sure, you'll have to perform the job of passing out the cards, but you'll be doing that anyway. You can easily acquire the distribution you need if you strategically manage the distribution of business name cards (more on that below).  

As a result, handing out business name card is likely to raise your sales by at least a little amount, with minimal additional effort or expenditure.  

By the way, I couldn't discover any evidence that handing out business name card reduces sales.  

2 - 88 Percent Of Business Name Card Distributed Are Discarded In Less Than A Week.  

“What's the point if nearly 9 out of 10 individuals throw my card away?” argue the skeptics.  

“That's 12 percent that keeps them,” old-schoolers say. That 12% who could become clients or valuable contacts.”  

Statistics also show that 9% of cards are added to the recipient's digital list, either through the phone, a contact management system, or both. The card itself is no longer present, yet it lives on digitally.  

Let's now compare this "issue" with business name card to the conversion rate of a standard website's landing page.  

A landing page is the digital version of someone taking and storing your business name card, effectively stating, "yes, I want your information."  

According to Wordstream, the current average website conversion rate is roughly 2.35 percent. Conversion rate = Total Traffic + New Contacts who exchange their information for yours. If we wanted to complain, we could say, "Nearly 98 percent of website visitors don't keep our information—the what's the sense of having a website?"  

In other words, a business name card with a 12 percent conversion rate (someone takes your information) has more than 5 times the conversion rate of the average website with a 2.35 percent conversion rate.  

From a marketing standpoint, why would you ever stop handing out your business name card?  

If your business name card appears unappealing, 3 to 39% of consumers will not conduct business with you.  

The skeptics, I imagine, are too lazy to invest in professional cards. Seriously, why would you bother with shabby-looking business name card? Rather than any type of rationality, it indicates a lack of professionalism.  

Old-school marketers, on the other hand, simply refuse to print low-quality business name card.  

Old-schoolers will recall this similar statistic: 72 percent of people rate your firm based on its business name card. Your business name card is one component of your opportunity to make a good first impression. After all, you never get a second chance to make a good first impression, especially when it comes to sales calls. Yes, it's a cliche, but it's still relevant.  

As a result, as shown in the first statistic above, even a reasonably nice card distributed regularly is likely to enhance your sales.