Since opening our doors in 1997, through all the changes in digital communications, business cards have remained one of the most stable and consistent means of marketing. Business cards remain an essential marketing tool and top print marketing tool for new business and veteran organizations alike. Cutting through all marketing channels, professional business card printing remains one of the most relevant sources for generating leads and sales.
Why Business Cards?
If you read my previous article Why Print?, you may recall my discussion of neuromarketing studies demonstrating the superiority of print over screen media for capturing attention, garnering retention, and eliciting action. The science demonstrates the special relevance of print within the spectrum of available marketing media.
I think business cards can excel in all those features which make print marketing material special, but only if you don’t treat them as cheap throw-aways.
Business Cards Capture Attention
One of the reasons neuromarketing scientists think print captures more attention is that it is a multi-sensory experience involving touch. As I will show below, there is no print product more tactually diverse than business cards.
According to Adobe, sales increase an average of 2.5% for every 2000 business cards handed out, even though 88% of business cards are thrown away.
Business Cards Garner Retention
Print garners more retention of important information because people spend longer looking at them. Because there is so much one can do with the business card design, printing, and finishing, in addition to the wide range of media used, a business card is the ideal print marketing candidate for garnering extra attention, and therefore extra retention. When we see particularly interesting or different business cards, we tend to inspect them more carefully to see if we can figure out what makes it so interesting. That helps people remember the information on them in a way that a simple mobile exchange of company contact information doesn’t.
Try a test to see what percentage company names of business cards you have retained that you remember versus company contacts on your mobile phone.
Business Cards Elicit Action
fMRI scans showed that interactions with print media trigger activity in the brain associated with emotion, desire, and valuation. Experiments confirmed that those exposed just to print media were more likely to want to purchase the advertised product than those exposed just to screen display media. Those with experience in the print marketing industry noticed this phenomenon, often explaining it as an association of print with quality and trustworthiness.
In this respect, an expensive high quality annual report provided to a company’s investors or a non-profit organization’s donors should (and does) elicit higher response rates than cheap throw-away business cards. But those aren’t even playing fields for comparison. You’d have to compare the same cost, care, and attention to detail in both cases. That would end up being one of the cheapest looking annual reports compared to one of the most expensive looking business cards. In that case, I’d bet the business card would win again, eliciting a higher response rate than the annual report.
The Black Astrum Signature Card, coming in at $1,500, is the world’s most expensive business card. Studded in 30 carats worth of diamonds and made of Swiss metal, the cards are sold in packages of 25. The $1,500 cost is per card.
Business Card Marketing Take-Away
So while it’s tempting to go for the cheapest business card meeting your quality standards, thinking they are just thrown away, perhaps getting a more expensive unique card won’t get thrown away as easily and get better results for your company.
Examples of Some of Our Favourite Business Cards
We do short run low cost high quality business cards with a quick turn-around. Those are often used to get people by when they find out they have a trade show or meeting but have run out.
It’s also quite understandable if you are a really large company with many employees and you need to cut costs with large high quality business card printing runs on shells, then quick imprints on them later.
But even in these cases, there are some more unique options available. Here are some of our favourite unique business cards. Hopefully the give you some ideas about what you can do with business cards.
Pearl Cards
Pearl stock adds a shimmering look and super smooth touch to your business cards. It’s a heavy 14pt thickness woven with actual pearl fibres. This stock is perfect for retail business cards like jewelry stores or spas, or professional businesses like dentists where a shine or glow expresses your brand. The stock can be used for more than just business cards for consistency across your print marketing. Using pearl stock for postcards, greeting cards or announcement cards is sure to get immediate attention, then keep it with the silky feel.
Painted Edge Cards
Painted Edge Cards are printed on an incredibly heavy triple layered 32pt stock. Edge options include blue, green, gold, metallic and white. If your business is manufacturing or selling anything durable and heavy duty, this stock will demonstrate your brand better than many others. The extra weight adds durability to the business card, while its construction begs for a second look. They feel heavy for a business card as well, providing that extra sensation for brand retention.
Plastic Cards
Plastic Cards take durability to the extreme. They provide thousands of promotional and practical applications, from gift cards to membership cards, or where ever being waterproof is essential or expresses your brand. The 20pt plastic card is printed on opaque white, frosted clear, or glossy clear stock. It’s the only business card stock which can be used add a clear see-through effect with the design.
Kraft Paper
If, instead, you are going for a more environmental conscious choice or vintage look, Kraft card stock might give your brand that rustic background and texture you’re looking for. This paper offers an organic look and feel, featuring natural fibers and flecks within a thick, light brown stock. It’s the perfect business card stock to accentuate company or event branding, and is guaranteed to get noticed at any occasion. You can even enhance your artwork using White Ink. In addition to its dramatic thickness, Brown Kraft paper consists of 30% recycled materials, making it a truly unique and earthy tactile experience
Suede Cards
For a brand wanting to express elegance, modern or vintage, suede business card stock might express that to your leads and clients. With either a felty or leathery feel, these cards look very high end while creating a unique tactile experience for business cards. Suede Cards can be printed with raised print or foil, providing a shiny smooth visual contrast and feel to non-reflective and the velvety suede business card stock.
Raised Print
Moving away from stocks, we really like the effects given by raised print. Even though raised print has been around for quite awhile, with its continued improvement in technology, we find that raised print still gets good attention. You might even say it stands out! The preference for raised print is something like the difference between oil paintings and watercolour in art. Both are nice, but if your brand really wants to express depth, raised print will do it through your business cards. We find it’s often the choice of organizations ranging from software companies to manufacturers or retailers of traditional products.
Raised Foil
Raised Foil adds a flash of brilliance to business cards that you can see and feel. The metallic embossment effects can enhance amazing detail in your logos with the same sort of depth as raised print. Popular foil colours include gold, silver and holographic. The combination of raised foil contrasted with a velvety smooth suede foundation creates a truly unique tactile experience.
Akufoil
Akuafoil gives you a wide range of CMYK colors with a sparkling foil finish and an ideal reflection that is priced to give you a true competitive advantage. State-of-the-art features allow us to produce large solid areas as well as reversed out areas of foil. We can produce foiled half tones, gradients and have multiple colors in foil on the same design. The business cards design possibilities are unlimited, giving your brand an exquisite edge.
Get Consultation from the Business Card Experts at Allegra
With over 20 years professional experience printing every kind of business card possible, the friendly team at Allegra can help you find a perfect unique combination for your business brand. We know what’s possible and what works to get attention. Our production team can handle nearly any design you might have. Our graphic designers can help make your brand pop. Visit us in South Surrey to see and feel samples, brainstorm business card ideas with us, and create that stunning business card to capture attention, garner retention, and elicit response!
Call us at 604-590-4405 or Send a Message to book your free business card consultation!
We’d love to be your local business card printing company!
ReOrder Online with AllegraExpress!
We’ve built a fantastic online ordering system which makes it simple to view and reorder most of your regular print material, including business cards. Our business card manager is unique because it saves your business card information for easy editing and reordering. It’s so sophisticated that it handles multiple purchasers and locations. It’s so robust it easily and quickly manages hundreds of records at the same time. AllegraExpress has been proven and revised since 2001 to save you time while ensuring accurate and consistent orders, especially if you have a large company or franchise managing many business cards regularly. AllegraExpress is just one more way that we make professional business card printing easier!
Call us at 604-590-4405 or Send a Message to learn how AllegraExpress can help professionally manage your local business card printing!
