There’s both an art and a science to business card printing, which we’ll cover in the steps below. But first, it’s important to define what purpose a business card actually serves:

Business cards convert

Business cards convert relative strangers into interested prospects. They can even convert prospects into paying customers if the time and the need (and your business cards’ design) are just right. And while some people may invest more into printing business cards with a beautiful, luxurious look and feel, others may order the cheapest possible prints because their business cards are “just something they need to have.” But there’s also a third approach to designing and printing business cards: the understanding that effective cards use an effective (and familiar) sales formula. Let’s take a look at this formula below.

1. Attention

Effective business card printing grabs people’s attention. They stand out from the stack, using a cohesive, industry-appropriate colour palette and every print option they can to their advantage – whether that’s gleaming foil print to make their branding catch the light, or thicker card stock to reflect the quality of your service. Or even a vibrant, full-colour background photo to represent your industry clearly on the front of your card. In essence, your business cards need to shout the loudest in the stack, using the visual language of a specific design style that your customers are looking out for.

2. Interest

Effective business cards hold attention and then foster a growing sense of interest in your brand and services. This is the part where your prospective customer either begins to trust you, or distrust you, based on the design of your business card. For this reason, your business cards’ design needs to be professional and immaculate, with as few design elements as possible to keep things simple and appeal to your target market. Your card’s look and feel should represent the best, simplest essence of your brand.

3. Decision

Before a prospective customer begins the sale process, they have to feel enough trust to make that decision. When someone turns your business card over, they should understand exactly what you do, and precisely why you’re the best at it, and the best way to get in touch. For all these reasons, a business card design that’s professionally targeted to your customers can be far more effective and persuasive. One of the secrets of great design is knowing what to leave out, rather than crowding your business cards with visual noise – so if you can afford to leave anything out, do.

4. Action

You now have the attention, interest and decision of a prospective customer. The final step is on their part: to take action, and get in touch and do business with you. For this to happen, their ‘need’ has to be great enough, and at the same time, your business card has to inspire enough confidence and trust that your brand is the right choice. So while Step 3 relies on the way your business cards present your details, Step 4 comes back to your card’s entire print design, and how the sum of its parts leads to that phone call, that email, or that DM on your social media. For this reason, we specialise in ready-made business card design templates with a choice of well over 2,000 business card designs to suit you perfectly – and, crucially, to encourage your prospective customers to take action.

We hope this overview gives you some added insight into business card printing and design! If you’d like to find out more about our entire range of print products and services, click here for our bestsellers or here to speak with our expert print team, PrintUK.com.

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