How does your business recruit consumers? If you're savvy, you utilize a number of on and offline methods. Like an eager "techie," your business may place great value on the "newest" ways to gain attention for services and products. There's no doubt about it, social platforms such as Twitter and Facebook, open doors of commerce, but does that mean other methods of "connecting" should suffer obsolescence? Marketing gurus don't think so. There's still high regard and reason for business cards.
You Have Friends! Great! Now What?
As mentioned, Facebook, Twitter, and the like can attract attention for businesses, yet attracting "followers" and "friends" is only part of the process. If you're not regularly leveraging the platforms and engaging potential customers, you're wasting time; your business is equal to the guy who's "friends" with all the cute girls in school but doesn't have the courage to ask any of them for a date. Would you seek business card printing services and leave the sought products unopened on your desk? Many businesses establish accounts yet don't utilize the platforms.
Social Platforms Don't Necessarily Work for All Industries
As referenced in the introduction, businesses latched onto social platforms with lockjaw from the beginning like a tech-crazed IT person to the newest Apple product. Exploring new avenues of marketing is great but do they all relate well to your business? People go on social platforms to be social; some products and services are not completely social in nature. For instance, your company may sell plastic tubing. It may be a highly-profitable and needed service, yet how socially engaging is "tweeting" and posting remarks about plastic tubing?
Business Cards are Like Finely-Tailored Suits
Some things are timeless. Fashions come and go, yet finely-tailored suits remain a respected staple in the business world and so do business cards. Like a firm handshake and a confident look into the recipient's eyes, business cards are well accepted and expected. Alternatively, social platforms are too young to ultimately prove their worth and tenacity. Business card printing has existed for some time. Does Facebook have the legs to enter the marathon or is it sprinting toward the way of fleeting fads?
To conclude, engagement of social platforms to promote business, services, and products is encouraged but it's not a replacement for proven marketing methods such as the dispersal of business cards. Despite the popularity of an "online" reality, a lot of business people still enjoy the business experiences taking place in the real world. Armed with business cards, business people appreciate the sensation of meeting potential partners and vendors in a three-dimensional setting. Before you logon to your social sites, ensure your business befriends business card printing vendors too!