Whether you’re an entrepreneur or possibly just networking for a company, business cards should be an effective marketing tool for ensuring your future contacts stay in touch. Historically business cards have been used to keep people connected and their effectiveness has not changed. Research shows up to 87% of people will buy from a business they’ve met face to face, and 94% of these people said a business card was the number one way to stay in contact with someone they have just met.

As a result of this research more and more people see the value in owning a business card and ensuring your business card stays at the front of peoples’ minds is harder than ever. Here at 123Print UK we like to think we know what makes an effective business card and in this article we share with you, our 6 favourite tips to make your business card truly effective at its job.

A picture is worth a thousand words

Regardless of whether you attend a networking conference or a simple meeting with your next business partner, every time you hand out a business card it’s almost guaranteed to go straight into a pile with 20 others. Make your business cards stand out with a picture or unique design; which will make people notice and more importantly remember it.

Treat your business card with the same rational as you would with branding a logo; you need to make sure that the certain elements stand for what you want to deliver, and moreover you also want something that stands out and catches your market’s full attention.

Taglines are remembered

Going back to the point that a picture is worth a thousand words, it’s important to remember that an effective tagline on your business card will also trigger a memory when someone needs your services. It could be your mission statement or something a little more creative but either way it’s important to get across what you do and why you do it in one simple line.

Include the right information

It’s great that you have a Twitter page, Facebook page, Linked in page and Google + page, but in terms of trying to squeeze all this information in, it will just clutter up the space available. People want your name, position, email, phone number and Twitter account. Make sure the information is current and correct; you may as well set your business card on fire if you spell your email address wrong or give an out of use phone number.

Have consistent branding

If you’ve developed a consistent branding strategy, from your products right through to your websites, it’s important not to adapt that branding when developing your business cards. You may find that a lot of the templates you can use to design your business cards are very tempting. Stick to your brand, as people don’t want to have to take a double look when they go from your business card to your website.

Utilise the reverse side

With business cards you have two sides to tell people what you do and why they should keep in contact. Only too often you can find business cards crammed full of information, branding and taglines onto one side. Use both sides, even if it’s just for your logo or tagline. It’ll come out a lot more chic and clean, whilst also giving you extra space to ensure your information is clear and eye catching.

Let the experts make them

A good quality business card generally shouldn’t break the bank, but should cost money. With a professional print you’ll get a much better quality print without the stress. A business card with smudged information and/or on poor quality, flimsy card will stand out only as a sore thumb – to reflect badly on your business and the impression you are giving out.