Advantages and Disadvantages of Electronic Business Cards
Advantages:
Free Smartphone Apps in Most Cases
Many electronic business card services offer a mobile application (available on the App Store or Google Play Market) that is usually free. This is a significant advantage, as the paid version is typically designed for business use.
Your Electronic Business Card Is Always with You
Your phone is always with you, and one of the biggest advantages of electronic business cards is that as long as you have your phone, you will always have access to your virtual business card. (Let's remember – when was the last time you left home without your phone?)
Cost Savings on Printing Business Cards
Transitioning to electronic business cards for a company with 250 employees can lead to savings of 125,000 rubles per year compared to paper business cards. Of course, the savings depend on various factors, such as the type of paper business cards you used previously and the electronic business card service you choose.
Convenient Management of Employee Business Card Inventory
Electronic business cards are an excellent choice for companies of any size. When talking about electronic business cards for business, this certainly implies the ability to manage the inventory of employee business cards from the company's personal account and analyze statistics on the use of business cards by each employee. These are some of the main functions for businesses. Each employee of the company will be automatically informed of the activation of their electronic business card. You will never have to reorder new cards due to a change in an employee's name or for other reasons.
Promotion of Personal and Company Brand
For example, if you are a popular blogger or want to strengthen your personal brand, electronic business cards give you the opportunity to use your business card for promotion. You can include links to customer reviews, social media profiles, videos, and more in your business card profile.
Tailored Business Cards for Different Occasions
With electronic business cards, you can create multiple business cards for different projects, language regions, or business directions. For example, one business card for each real estate property that a manager sells or rents out.
Disadvantages:
You Can't Feel the Business Card in Your Hand; It's Electronic
You cannot physically feel an electronic business card, and many people prefer to take a business card out of their jacket pocket and hand it to their partner. In such cases, NFC business cards or smart cards are suitable.
You Cannot Share the Business Card Without a Phone
Your phone is always with you, which is one of the main advantages of electronic business cards. However, if the battery is dead, you won't be able to share your business card.
Some of Your Partners May Not Embrace Electronic Business Cards
Some of your clients/partners may not be accustomed to innovations. In such cases, you may need to have paper business cards on hand.