What Information to Include on Business Cards

You want people to know your name, right? Don’t include nicknames or any names that detract from your professional identity. You should only have your legal first and last name.

You don’t need to include your middle name either since it’s quite unlikely that there will be 2 Bob Smith’s that both work at the same company and have the same job title.

Seeing as some people organize their business cards by job title, it’s important to give an accurate description of your position so people understand what exactly you do.

One of my pet hates is seeing vague job positions such as “Engineer” on business cards. If someone is looking at your business card, you want them to know exactly what it is that you do.

For example, using “Civil Engineer – High Load Bridge Design” is much more descriptive and allows people to categorize your line of work much easier – and this wins you business.

When it comes to thinking about what information to include on business cards, your phone numbers are generally near the top of that list. Make sure to include your office and mobile/cell phone numbers that are large enough to be easily readable. If you’re ancient and still use fax machines, include that number too.

If you have multiple phone numbers such as a customer support or a sales phone number, think about which number you want to include on your business cards. Alternatively, you could print 2 sets of cards with different phone numbers on them. That way, you can decide which business card you give out for the occasion.

In this day and age, all businesses rely on emails to communicate with their customers for a number of reasons. The first being that it leaves a paper trail which is useful if there is ever a disagreement. Secondly, it allows people to manage their time better since they can reply to emails when it’s convenient for them.

Since email communication is so prevalent, it would be silly and a total waste of a business card not to include your email address. If you have secondary generic email addresses (sales, support etc), you can include them too.

A website isn’t just a place for prospective customers to read about your products and services, it’s a tool used to convert prospective customers to full paying customers.

Including a link to your website gives your leads a place to learn more about your company and the services you offer. Think of a business card as an introduction to your company, and a website as the full catalog explaining everything.

If you have an office address or a brick and mortar retail shop where you sell products, ensure you list it on your business card. Including a graphical map with a drop pin pointing to your location can also be a popular addition.

Including an address on your business card also shows that you’re an established business and allows your customers to come visit you whenever they want. If you have multiple locations, it’s also great to list all the cities where your company operates.

If your company uses a logo on all other correspondence such as email signatures and outgoing letters, it’s important to use the same logo on your business cards too. This creates brand consistency.

If someone takes a look at all of your company stationery, it should all look fairly similar, not in terms of the layout, but in terms of the design aspects such as having the same logo, fonts, and colors. This makes all your communications with customers uniform and standardized – which is a good thing!

Most of the time, a company name doesn’t tell you what the business actually does and this can be somewhat of a detriment to the company. Because of this, companies will often have a tagline that explains what they do.

Some companies don’t have a tagline so this an optional step. If you do have a tagline, consider adding it under your logo or somewhere on the business card so your customers can instantly know what you do.

Social media is the perfect solution for businesses to stay in touch with customers and keep them updated on everything, hence why most businesses have social media profiles. In fact, it also shows that you care about your customers and the experience they have with your company – and that wins business.

Although you don’t need to include your social media profiles on your business cards, it can certainly help when you have a business that relies on it for social proofing or customer reviews. After all, social media is here to stay for good, so we may as well make the most of it.

Including qualifications on your business card is not always required, but it does add an element of trust for some professions. For example, most accountants will have “CPA” as a qualification on their business cards and doctors will have “MD”.

This basically makes their customers feel more at ease that they are dealing with someone who is qualified to do the job. The aim of a business card is not only to spread your contact information but also to show people what you’re qualified to do.

Usually, when looking at a logo, it includes the name of the company – but not always. If your logo doesn’t include the name of your company, or if you choose not to include a logo in your business card at all, you will want to at least include your company name or trading name in plain text.

If you don’t include a logo on your business card, it may lack color and in turn, look dull. A logo usually makes a business card more colorful and adds some personality to it so I would always suggest including a logo design in your business card.

If you sell more than one product or service, listing your most popular ones allows your customers to know more about your business at a quick glance.

For example, if you’re a real estate agent, you want people to know that you also manage rentals, do appraisals etc. The aim of listing your products and services on your business card is to show people what you can do for them.

I am a huge fan of using QR codes on business cards, mainly because its a much faster way to transfer your contact information to someone. Rather than typing it in manually, scan the vCard QR code and it will automatically create a contact in your phone with all the business card details, it’s that easy!

However, they also look kind of ugly if you don’t know what they are, and that puts a lot of people off using them. You should consider who your clients are and what sort of products you’re supplying to your customers. If you’re selling gophers to retirees, you probably shouldn’t include a QR code on your business card.

Using a call to action to entice your potential customers to contact you is a good way to increase revenue. One way you could do this is by offering a discount or coupon on your business card. This works wonders because if someone is looking for a plumber, and has 2 business cards, they will call the one that offers a discount.

Because a call to action takes up valuable space on a business card, it should only be included when you can give a generous discount, otherwise, it may not be worth it to your potential customer. It’s a good way to get more clients.

Now that you’ve seen a comprehensive list of information to include on business cards, you should be better equipped to create an effective business card that works for your business.

It’s important to sit down with the different departments in your company and figure out what everyone’s needs are when it comes to business cards. Some people may need QR codes for their cards, whilst others won’t.

Don’t be afraid to experiment and test how people react when being handed different business cards so you can figure out which one works the best.