Business cards are a common way for professionals and businesses to introduce themselves to potential customers and partners. You’ve probably received or given out business cards in the past and know how common they are. This commonality is good because people know how to read business cards and what information to put on their cards when they design them. The problem with this common method of communication is that many business cards end up looking the same, which means they’re easy to forget and ignore. To make yourself stand out, you have to design your business cards with something special, such as foil. Keep reading to learn more about why you should hand out foil business cards.
Stand Out
As we mentioned above, the most important reason to hand out foil business cards is that they help you stand out from the competition. Most business cards are plain white rectangles with dark writing. While those types of cards communicate everything necessary about your business, they look like everyone else’s, which means they’re easily lost, forgotten, or ignored. A foil accent against a white or colorful background immediately makes your business card stand out visually and tactilely.
Visually, recipients of your card will immediately notice its shiny aspect. You can place a foil accent on the top of your cards or along the edge; any placement will catch the light and shine. Once people finish admiring the shiny aspect of your unique card, they’ll read your information and tuck the card somewhere safe. Even if they don’t immediately call you, they’ll enjoy seeing this unique visual aspect of your card whenever they look through their wallet. This means you’ll continue to stand out, even when you’re not around anymore.
Tactilely, the foil part of a business card will also feel different. Even the smoothest, highest quality of paper won’t feel like a foil print. Even if someone isn’t looking at your card when you hand it to them, they’ll immediately feel the difference when they touch it. That tactile difference will draw their attention and help you stand out in the moment and in the future.
Silently Communicate
Business cards are a popular form of silent communication, since all someone has to do is read them to learn about your business. But what is your business card silently communicating other than your business information? Plain cards aren’t communicating much. They’re focused more on the message than the medium.
But the medium of your card matters just as much as the message because it is what will help make the message more memorable. If your card features a special quality, such as foil, you are showing that your business pays attention to detail, cares about luxury, and invests in the best. These details help the nonverbal message of your card go further.
Declaring on your card that your business cares about customer experience is one thing. Handing out cards with special elements like foil that you invested time and money in designing proves that you don’t just make claims—you keep them.
And it’s not just the foil detail that silently communicates your business’s assets; it’s also the color of that foil. Many card printers only offer traditional metallic foil prints in gold and silver. SilkCards offers foil stamped business cards in a variety of colors, from calming blue to passionate red. Your choice between these colors matters because they also serve as a form of silent communication. Color theory has a significant impact on the signals your business cards give off to recipients.
For instance, blue is frequently found in nature and has a calming effect on the mind, which means many people associate it with intellect. If your business specializes in book printing, tutoring, or another intellectual field, choosing blue foil for your business card will send a silent message that you truly care about the intellect of the recipient.
Conversely, red is considered the color of passion and fire. People often associate red with both love and anger, so it’s a color you need to use wisely to ensure you don’t silently communicate the wrong thing. You may want to consider red foil if your business specializes in something related to love, such as a flower shop, or something related to fire, such as blacksmithing.
Get the Most From Your Tax Return
Most people tend to think of business cards as only an outward-facing expense since they go to potential clients and partners. How, then, can they affect your taxes? Advertising and marketing expenses, even when focused more on the client than you, are still business expenses, which means you get to write them off on your taxes and can get more out of your tax return.
While your business shouldn’t opulently spend based on the potential of a tax return, knowing that this investment will pay off financially within the year is a good thing. It can take longer than a fiscal year for a well-placed business card to turn into a client, which leaves some people wondering if spending more on business cards to make them stand out is worth it. Knowing you can get some of that money back on your tax return proves that this is a worthy investment, even if it takes a while for the recipient to respond. If you’re going to spend money on business cards that you can claim on your taxes, you may as well spend a little more for cards that stand out.
There are many reasons why you should hand out foil business cards. Foil business cards will help you stand out from the competition since they’re both visually and tactilely different than the cards most people receive. They silently communicate how much you care about your business, and using the right color foil can also silently communicate the purpose of your business. Lastly, handing out business cards acts as a tax write-off, so spending a little more on special cards means you can write off a little bit more money. These benefits all combine to make a compelling argument for why your business needs foil cards.
