What should a service business put on its business card, and are digital cards worth it?
Put only what helps someone reach you later: your name, the business name, what you do, the area you serve, one phone number that reaches a person and your website written out. Add a license number where your trade shows one. A QR code can help if it opens a page on your own website with the address printed beside it. The FTC tells consumers to inspect the link behind a code they find in an unexpected place, so make yours easy to check.
The short list
- Your name, and your role if you have a team.
- The business name, written the way customers say it.
- What you do in a few plain words, such as "Roof repair and replacement", rather than a slogan.
- The town or area you serve.
- One phone number that reaches a person during your hours.
- Your website, written out in full, and an email address at your own domain if customers email you.
- A license number, if your trade shows one; the related answer on showing your license and insurance covers Florida's rule.
What to leave off
- A second or third phone number, which makes people guess which one to call.
- A long list of every service; the website can carry that.
- Icons for social accounts you do not post on.
- Type so small or pale that it is hard to read in poor light.
- Anything likely to change soon, such as a seasonal offer, because a box of cards often lasts a year or more.
A QR code people will trust
The Federal Trade Commission's December 2023 consumer alert says scammers hide harmful links in QR codes, and that there are reports of scammers covering real codes on parking meters with their own. Its advice to consumers is to inspect the web address behind a code found in an unexpected place before opening it, looking for misspellings or a switched letter.
As general advice, that is a reason to make your code open a page on your own domain, print the short web address next to it so people can type it instead, and test the code on two different phones before you order a full run.
Digital business cards
A digital card is usually a link or a contact file you share by tap, by code or by text, and the person saves it to their phone. It is easy to update when a number changes, which a printed card is not. A paper card still helps at a job site, at a counter or with customers who do not want to swap phones. Many owners use both.
If you use a digital card service, check what happens to the link if you stop paying, and send a card by text only with the person's consent.
Making a card traceable
A card with its own short web address, code or phone number, used nowhere else, can be traced like any printed item: log those inquiries under the campaign channel and name the card in the notes. The related answer on tracking leads from flyers, signs and vehicles covers how. Ask every new inquiry how they heard about you as well, because many people who kept a card will simply search your name.
Sources
Related answers
- How do you track leads from flyers, yard signs and truck wraps?
- What should a business email signature include?
- Should your website show your license number and insurance?
Lead generation and lead tracking
A lead that waits a day goes cold, and a lead with no source teaches you nothing. Ascent Vision fixes both.