Business cards are a tried and true method for sharing contact details and getting people interested in your business. These days, people might find your contact details more easily online, but a business card is still a great way to make sure people remember you and your company.

Business cards can still be relevant and useful, and this article will share a few of the ways that businesses are bringing business cards into the future. In the article, we’ll look at a variety of topics, including:

  • The basics for good business cards
  • Modern design trends for good business cards
  • Modern technology for business cards
  • Moving past business cards
  • Business cards and Countingup

The basics for good business cards

While cutting-edge design and interesting technology are great, it’s a good idea to remember the basics for business cards too. 

Most business cards show all of a company’s basic contact details. Examples of the details you may want to put on your business cards include:

  • Your company’s name, as well as your own
  • Your business phone number (which might be a home number, mobile number, or both)
  • Your business email address
  • Your social media handles (this means the details of any business-related Twitter, Facebook, or Youtube channels you might have) 
  • Your company website
  • The address of your store or company headquarters

As well as these, you might want to put your store’s opening times or slogan on your business card. The important thing is not to clog the card with tons of information, as you only have a limited amount of space to work with.

If you don’t have one, look into creating a business logo to include on your business cards. A well-made business logo is a good way of communicating what your business does very quickly. Logos also help establish your company’s brand, which means they help set your company apart from other businesses and makes it easily identifiable.

Modern design trends for good business cards

Since business cards have been around for a long time, a key part of modernising business cards is bringing their design into the present. Business cards no longer need to be paper rectangles — in fact, they’ll likely be more memorable the more unusual they are. 

Materials

A common trend in recent years is to keep all the basic business card elements, such as the shape and the layout, but to change the material. Transparent or semi-transparent plastic business cards are popular among designers, and metal cards also see some use. Both of these can be expensive, though, so you may need to only order a few and then use them sparingly.

Using paper or card is still an option, but consider having the business cards made out of recycled paper instead of new materials. Being eco-friendly can benefit your business, and eco-friendly business cards are a great way to advertise how environmentally conscious you are.

Style 

As well as the material, you can easily modernise the style of a business card. Many of the more futuristic business cards out there use minimalism to great effect. Minimalism is an art style that focuses on simplicity. 

For instance, a minimalist business card might only feature the company name, website address and logo on a white background. Minimalist business cards can stand out easily, but take care to still include your essential information.

Modern technology to use in business cards

Technology helps small businesses in many ways, and it can also help them make good business cards. Although the card itself might not be a computer, there are a few different tools you can use to help your business card interact with technology.

QR codes

QR codes are one such tool. A QR code is a kind of barcode that most smartphones and tablets can scan with a basic camera. Once scanned, the code redirects the device to an app or website linked to the QR code. 

If you put one on your business card, you don’t need to include your web address, as people can go there automatically by scanning the QR code. If you have all of your contact and social media details on your website, you don’t really need to include any of that information on the card itself. This means you can create a sleek, minimalistic card with only your logo, company name, and a QR code.

NFC technology 

Much like a QR code, NFC technology allows you to quickly and easily send people to your website or app. NFC (Near Field Communication) technology involves putting microchips into devices that allow them to interact when placed in close proximity.

You may have seen this technology in your credit and debit cards: contactless payments are possible because of NFC tech. In a business card, the chip allows people to immediately access your website or download your app when they place their phone or tablet near the card.

Taking advantage of this requires you to build your own website or app first. Once that’s done, you can look into using NFC technology in your cards. This integration of computers and business cards is the main thing to remember when taking your business cards into 2022 — having a business card and a website linked in this way means you’ll have a strong online and offline presence.

Business cards and beyond

A well-made business card, especially one full of modern design and new technology, will help bring in new customers. New customers mean more money for your business, but don’t forget to keep track of where the money is coming from and where it’s going. Financial management is essential in any business, and it’s much easier to manage your finances using Countingup.

Countingup is the business current account with built-in accounting software that allows you to manage all your financial data in one place. With features like automatic expense categorisation, invoicing on the go, receipt capture tools, tax estimates, and cash flow insights, you can confidently keep on top of your business finances wherever you are. 

You can also share your bookkeeping with your accountant instantly without worrying about duplication errors, data lags or inaccuracies. Seamless, simple, and straightforward! 

Find out more here.

Countingup