Do you list services on business card?
You’re not making the most of your marketing efforts if you aren’t utilizing the back of your business cards. Providing contact information in your card design is only one part of creating a card that leaves a true, lasting impression.
Commonly left blank, many don’t consider adding additional information on the backs of their cards because they tend to overlook the idea that your cards are essentially a mini portfolio for your business.
A misconception about business cards is that the back of your cards are best left blank for note-taking. However, by doing this, you could be missing out on promoting your brand to the fullest.
That being said, you don’t want to overcrowd both sides with too much extra information. Taking advantage of both sides of your cards gives you the leeway to add more info without cramming too much in – making your cards breathable with content. In other words, it will allow your business to remain exclusive and professional without seeming needy.
Here is a list of helpful ideas that will assist in making your cards more than just a point of contact.
List of Services/Products
Without overdoing it, it’s always clever to include a mini list of services and/or products your business offers. The purpose of this list is to provide customers with a quick reference of the top items your company can provide for them.
The list is also a reminder of what it is that you do. Without any specifics on your card, your prospective customers are more likely to forget who you are and toss your card out.
The back of your card is the perfect space to add this shortlist without compromising white space and having to worry about clutter.
If you make your list too broad, your clients’ eyes may glaze over the content, defeating the purpose of providing a list. Therefore, it’s smart to add just your top services, best-selling products, and/or best prices.
Eye-catching Imagery
If you are a photographer, graphic designer, illustrator, artist, or anything creative, then use this space to showcase your work. A picture says a million words, so rather than leaving the back of your card blank, you should fill it with a high-quality image, a mini work of art, or a captivating logo to fill the space with something special and personal.
Make sure to avoid using any type of clip art. This type of imagery is what risks making your brand look cheesy. Cards will be kept longer if there is a beautiful image that comes from a legit source. It is worth every penny to invest in hiring a professional photographer or artist to add that extra edge to your cards.
If you’re already a photographer or an artist, then there is no reason why you shouldn’t take the opportunity to use the space given to you on the back of your card so that you may give your prospects a taste of your portfolio and quality of work.
Special Offer
It’s hard to throw out a card that includes an offer that is hard to refuse. This offer can be good for anything from discounts to free gifts/services.
Online marketing consultant Don Crowther suggests that your business cards “include a mini-resume, your [social media] handle, and some sort of special offer that entices each recipient to get in touch.”1
You can also entice people to opt in to an email list in exchange for a free gift or a discount. This is a great way to capture emails and spark that initial contact, especially if you are in a situation where you are giving out your cards in masses and don’t have the opportunity to meet with the people that are receiving them.
Whatever you decide to choose as your special offer, make sure it is relevant and hard to turn away. Your cards are more likely to be saved if you utilize the back to offer something of value.
Lead Magnet
A lead magnet is an offer that is hard to resist and redeemable in exchange for contact information, so that you may build a more loyal audience while building your business. The back of your business cards is the perfect placeholder for an offer that will capture and generate leads.
Tailoring your marketing message into your business cards is a proven way to draw in more profit. According to the marketers at You Can Market Online Now, by strategically placing your marketing message in front of your targeted niche market, you are creating at least 25% more business.2
The act of handing out a business card already implies that the recipient has shown some sort of interest in your company and services. Therefore, to include a lead magnet on the back is smart on many levels, mainly because your targets will already be interested in opting in to your offer.
Try out a few different simple but concise lead magnets and see which garners the most/best responses. Once you’ve honed in on the best strategy and messaging, you’ll be on your way to bringing in dedicated clients. From there, you’re able to recapture and retarget your leads so that you have a way to connect with them again.
Examples
- Sign up at www.websiteURL.com for your free handbook on how to lose 5lbs in 1 week!
- Email us at websiteURL@email.com and gain free access to our exclusive Photoshop tips!
- Scan this QR code to unveil a free online marketing course!
Referral Cards
Your cards become versatile when you use the back for something more than just your standard business card. If you use the backspace of your cards to make an offer from a referral, you could be finding yourself bringing in a sea of relevant clients because word-of-mouth has never failed to work as one of the best marketing tactics.
A business with a good reputation is often because people can’t stop raving about the company to their friends. If you add to your cards something like, “Refer a friend for $10 off your next appointment,” the number of new clients will increase.
Referral cards are simply the best way to expose your business to a greater community of potential clients. So if you are stuck on what to include on the back of your business card, don’t just leave it blank, a simple referral with an offer looks clean, professional, and will only do your business good.
Essential Life Tips or Fun Facts
People will hold onto your cards if there is information on there that is vital, useful, or helpful to their everyday lives. You can impart some of your knowledge on the back of your cards as it relates to your industry.
Examples
- If you are a traffic lawyer, you can write down a list of Rights in case a client ever gets pulled over
- CPR instructions for medical-related businesses
- Toll-free help hot-lines if you are a doctor/therapist/psychologist
- Stress relief tips
You can also add fun facts for reference to keep people engaged with your cards. Go the extra step and add a different fact to each card, luring your clients to want to collect many of your cards, and, as a result, they will have multiple cards reminding them of your contact information. Or, make your cards interactive by inserting a quiz or test that your clients can easily participate in.
Examples
- Zodiac signs if you are an astrologer
- Diet information
- Car care checklist
- A ruler or other forms of measurements
- Fortunes, if you’re a psychic
Profile Photo
Some feel that adding a photo portrait is cheesy, but at the end of the day, people will remember your face and who you are when there is an image right there to remind them. This is one of the most practical ways you can make your business card memorable.
This particularly comes in handy when you are in places like conventions or trade shows. Clients will collect multiple cards throughout their day. The cards that include a self-portrait are the ones that will jog their memory of who you are in a sea of cards that probably are of the same industry and may even have the same first name as you!
By having the extra space on the back of your card, you have the ability to strategically place a profile photo without it looking awkward or misplaced. Consider this option for those networking events where putting a face-to-the-name becomes essential.
Melissa is another GotPrint customer who takes advantage of both sides of her business cards so that she can have room to add a professional profile photo that her clients can’t forget. Follow her work on instagram at @thededicatedagent and visit her page www.thededicatedagent.comWhat’s on the Back of Your Business Card?
Your turn! Tell us what type of things you like to include on your business cards. Is there anything missing from this list? Let us know is the comments!
Once you’ve chosen your perfect layout on the front AND the back of your card, head over to GotPrint to get your order in today!
Sources:
1 – https://www.forbes.com/2010/08/17/business-card-networking-leadership-careers-employment.html
2 – http://www.youcanmarketonlinenow.com/instant-profit-boosters/how-to-transform-your-business-card-layout-into-a-high-powered-lead-magnet/
Business Cards
Updated June 19, 2020 • 7 minute read
Should you put anything on the back of a business card? Is it important to list your website url?
Just because you only have a few inches of real estate to work with doesn’t mean you still can’t get your message across and do it in a way that doesn’t require packing every possible bit of information about your business.
Your business card is often the first place prospective customers look when they’re searching for contact information for your small business. Having a professional looking business card forms a first impression that can mean the difference between them picking up the phone or throwing your business card in the trash.
Table of Contents Quick Links:
1. Logo and Tagline
If you want your business card (and your business) to really get noticed, it all starts with great design and quality printing. Your brand should be immediately recognizable. That means should always include the name of your business, logo, and tagline (if applicable) somewhere on your card. Need help creating a tagline for your business? Check out this article.
2. Job Title
One of the questions I see the most frequently from small business owners is whether to list a title on their business card and, if so, what exactly to include.
There are a lot (and I mean a lot) of opinions and discussions around the topic of what job title to use on a business card when you own a small business.
Typically, job titles fall into 3 categories--no title, organizational role (ex. CEO or President), or function (ex, Director of Sales and Marketing).
Here's my take...
- For small businesses with only 1 or 2 employees, referring to yourself as President seems a bit blowhardy.
- If you want people to have a clearer understanding of your day-to-day responsibilities, then something more functionally specific makes more sense (ex. Business Development Manager).
- If you're trying to establish credibility with prospective contacts who prefer to deal directly with the owner, then go that route
3. Contact Information
Back in the day, businesses had one (or at most two) telephone numbers. Now you’ll often see business cards that include an 800 number, a direct line, a cellphone, and possibly even a home number. Totally ridiculous! Your customers shouldn’t have to play a game of telephone tag.
Why not keep it simple? Include the one or two numbers where your customers will be able to reach you. That’s all, that’s it!
Along with your phone number, always be sure to include your email address. Notice I said “your” email address and not some generic “info@yourcompany.com.” Nothing says “Please don’t contact me—I really don’t care about you” more than pointing people to an anonymous inbox.
Do you need to include a physical address?
That depends on your business. If you have an ecommerce store with no brick and mortar storefront, operate out of your home, or there's no reason customers would need to visit you, leave it off. Otherwise, it's entirely up to you. However, I have spoken with a number of folks over the years who feel a physical address helps validate the legitimacy of a business.
On the front you'll typically want to include 1) a contact name 2) email 3) phone number 4) address and 5) website--all the information prospective customers will need if they want to get in touch.
Of course I can’t talk about business card content without mentioning the fax. Of all the superfluous information you could possibly include, this has to be at the top of the heap. With the ability to scan and email documents, listing a fax number generally isn’t necessary (unless you know your customers are going to use it).
4. QR Codes (Never!)
Let's just nip this one in the bud right now. Including a QR code on your business card isn't going to make you look hip or cool.
The fact of the matter is most people aren’t actually going to “do” anything with your business card until they get in front of a computer or tablet. At that point, it’s going to take just as much time for them to pull out their phone, waste time scanning a QR code, connect to the web, and check it out as it would for them to just type in your url.
5. Links to Social Media Profiles
If your small business is on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Google+, it doesn’t take long before you wind up with a proliferation of social media profiles on your business card. Instead of giving people different ways to connect, you end up overwhelming them with a sea of social media icons and links.
Focus on the 1-2 primary social media channels your customers actually use and leave all of the other links for your website.
6. Services (Sparingly)
If you have the room including a short list of services can definitely help reinforce your offerings with current and prospective customers.
Notice I said short. Trying to list everything under the sun will only junk things up. I know when I get business cards that have a massive laundry list of services my eyes usually just glaze over.
7. Multiple Websites (Never!)
If you have a business website, an ecommerce site, a blog, and three social media profiles—you’re much better off pointing prospective customers to one url where they can then access all of your other information. In other words, don’t junk it up.
Business Card Best Practices
Don’t be afraid to use both sides of your business card. Doing so gives you more space so you allow your content to breath and also make it easier to digest for current and prospective customers. For starters, add your small business logo and tagline to the back side of your card. Then use the front side for your name and title, physical address (if you have a brick-and-mortar storefront), your phone number (one is almost always enough), and your email address and website.
Two popular options for ordering custom business cards online are MOO.com and Vistaprint. Vistaprint is definitely cheaper running promotions for 500 business cards for $9.99, but speaking from personal experience the print quality of MOO business cards can't be beat.
Designing Your Business Cards
MOO.com and Vistaprint both make ordering business cards online super easy. You can browse their business card design templates or upload your own design/logo.
Have additional questions about what to include on a business card for your small business? Leave a comment below or send them to me directly.
As a disclaimer, I use affiliate links for some of the products listed. They are all products I absolutely love and trust and would recommend regardless of whether they have an affiliate program.
You Might Also Like
Why Business Cards Are Still Important In The Digital Age
How To Design A Business Card