Business Cards are Dead – Long Live Video Business Cards!
A small piece of marketing real estate that can generate leads, referrals and sales, business cards have long represented valuable marketing real estate. In today’s increasingly paperless and virtual business networking atmosphere, video business cards are ready to step up and take the lead.
The proclamation “The King is dead, long live the King!” adopted and used by monarch-led countries and kingdoms for eons represents continuity. One monarch has passed, but a new one is ready to step in and lead.
Business cards have long been “king” when it comes to professional introductions. Something to remember them by. However, traditional business cards have limitations in today’s digital marketing world, limitations that do not constrain their natural inheritors: virtual, or video business cards.
You’re reading this article on a device right now, so let’s compare the effectiveness of a traditional business card with video business cards.
Exhibit A – A traditional business card may evoke memories of a brand or professional with a big personality, but it doesn’t convey much in the way of emotional connection, personality or even branding. It relies on you knowing why you should take the next step in visiting a website, going to a store, placing a phone call or making contact in some other way.
Average Size: 2” x 3.5”
Average Life Span: 1 week (ouch!) – 88% of business cards are thrown away within 1 week (adobe)
Exhibit B – The natural successor to traditional business cards, video business cards pack a big punch into a small space, enabling you to convey personality, branding, emotional connection and a concrete call to action, complete with the all-important universal or niche buying “why.”
Average Size: 30-60 seconds
Average Life Span: Forever! – Long after your paper business card is lost, filed away or tossed, your video business card remains online until deleted or replaced.
Video Business Cards Suit the Virtual and In-Person Marketplace
Consumer and business buyers alike increasingly use small devices – smartphones and tablets – especially during the exploration, discovery and research portions of the buying journey. Cisco predicts that mobile data traffic will increase by 700% between 2017 and 2022. And video is the unparalleled Rockstar of internet traffic:
- 80% of all web traffic will be video by 2022 (Cisco)
- The average consumer watched 90 minutes of video online every day in 2018 (wyzowl) and 15% watched more than 3 hours per day
- 81% of businesses used video in 2018 (wyzowl)
- 78% of marketers said video provided good ROI (return on investment) (wyzowl)
- After watching a business video, 64% are more likely to buy (marketingdesks)
What Types of Businesses and Professionals Should Use Video Business Cards?
Video business cards can be used by any type of business, but would be especially helpful for brands and professionals that:
1. Sell high ticket items
Why? When people are making a more costly purchase, they want to feel confident in both the product or service they are buying, and this requires establishing trust. Video gives people opportunity to connect not only with the brand, but with the salesperson or business owner behind the brand, which can increase trust and confidence in purchases.
2. Need to fill a wide sales funnel
Why? Professionals such as real estate agents, insurance agents, title agents, financial advisors and other consultants know their numbers; i.e., the number of introductions they need to make, on average, for every sale they want to receive.
They need to be introduced to a lot of prospects in order to fill the top of the sales funnel in order to ultimately hit specific goals in terms of conversions, or sales. Video business cards are high-engagement tools that literally work day and night to increase the number of potential buyers they are introduced to, across any and all of their digital marketing channels.
3. Need to create a brand point of difference
Why? Some types of products and services are commodities. Meaning, they are essentially similar to those offered by competitors. Video business cards give you a chance to breathe personality and life into your branding, helping to set apart from competing products and services.
How Can Video Business Cards be Used?
While traditional business cards are distributed one-on-one at various events, left on counter tops or mailed out to prospects, video business cards can be distributed 24 / 7 / 365 via any digital channel; including:
- Your website
- Your branch or office page hosted on a corporate website
- In your email signature
- Via email newsletters
- Your LinkedIn profile
- YouTube
- Social media including Twitter, Facebook and Instagram
You can also use your virtual business cards as an introduction or postscript when giving presentations, have it playing in your waiting room, set it to play as part of your trade show display, and so on.
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