While traditional paper cards have long been the go-to option for networking and customer acquisition, more businesses are turning to digital business cards. Also known as e-business cards, digital cards are a modern electronic upgrade.
They have become a top option for teams, businesses, and remote professionals, as they make it easier to share contact details. Instead of constantly scrambling for physical cards during meetings, they can share details via quick QR Code scans or clickable links.
If you’ve been looking for ways to up your networking game, these cards should be a part of your plan.
In this post, we take a step-by-step look at how to implement digital cards effectively to maximize their value for your business.
Note: The brands and examples discussed below were found during our online research for this article.
What is a digital business card and why does it matter?
Digital business cards are electronic alternatives to traditional paper cards that allow you to store and share interactive, real-time contact info. They come in various formats (including wallet-based and app-based) and can be shared through delivery methods like QR Codes, near-field communication (NFC), and clickable URLs via email or text.
While there are both pros and cons of digital business cards (such as increased convenience, seamless tracking, and the need for an internet connection to network) the benefits outweigh the limitations, especially for mobile-first teams operating across distributed environments. So, it’s no wonder that their adoption is growing: 23% of individuals and 37% of small businesses have used a digital business card app before, a number expected to grow as more people seek convenient networking and sales solutions.
Top benefits of switching to digital cards
On the fence about switching to virtual cards? Here are some of the most significant benefits of digital business cards to help you make an informed decision:
- Ease of sharing: You never have to fumble through your bag looking for paper cards during networking events. Instead, you can share contact details with a quick email (or SMS) or QR Code scan.
- Eco-friendliness: They minimize paper use and environmental pollution by limiting carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. With modern consumers increasingly prioritizing sustainability when choosing brands, this can help you capture new markets.
- Cost-effectiveness: They reduce paper and printing expenses, especially for businesses with large teams.
- Consistency: They allow for standardized branding across all employees, as you can create digital card templates and share them with your staff.
- Multimedia integration: You can link various content types, including images, videos, and audio recordings.
- Flexibility: You can correct mistakes or update shared details whenever your contact info changes without reprinting and resharing new cards.
Pairing Bitly Pages with your digital business cards makes it easy to create landing pages to house additional content. For example, you can:
- Add portfolios to your digital business cards to showcase your work.
- Include video links to help potential customers visualize your product.
- Share your bio to help potential partners get to know you a little better.
- Upload links to lead capture forms to support your lead generation efforts.
Different types of digital business card solutions
Digital business cards come in a few popular formats, each suited for different preferences and team needs. Here are a few of the most widely used options, plus their benefits and limitations.
Wallet-based cards (Apple Wallet / Google Pay)
Wallet-based cards are digital passes stored in mobile wallets like Apple Wallet and Google Pay. They offer a mobile-first, app-free, and professional-looking alternative for sharing contact information. These cards support tap-to-share functionality, making them ideal for quick, in-person networking.
However, it’s important to note that Apple Wallet and Google Pay don’t natively support the creation of business cards. To generate wallet-compatible passes, users must rely on third-party tools like Passcreator, or leverage Bitly’s API in conjunction with such platforms to create and distribute these digital cards.
Wallet passes typically support custom fields and images, making it easy to incorporate Bitly short links or Bitly Codes that lead to personalized landing pages, contact cards, or social profiles. These elements can be embedded directly into the card’s URL or image fields for seamless sharing.
While the user experience is polished and platform-native, maintaining cross-platform consistency can be a challenge. Each wallet app has its own specifications for displaying and interacting with pass files, which may result in slight differences between Apple and Android devices.
App-based cards
As their name suggests, these are cards created using dedicated digital business card platforms, such as HiHello, Blinq, and Wave. They offer impressive features, like:
- Customization: Add logos and multimedia content (like videos and images) or portfolio links to give potential partners a better look at who you are and what you do.
- Integrations: Some digital business card solutions offer CRM integrations to streamline lead capture and automate follow-ups.
- Flexibility: Update contact information in real time without needing to reprint or reshare your cards.
App-based digital business cards do have a few drawbacks. Recipients need to install your chosen app to save your card, which some people may not be willing (or able) to do. This creates friction in the follow-up process, which may make networking less convenient—particularly in busy environments.
Physical cards with digital functionality
These are your standard cards, but with a twist: They contain embedded NFC chips or feature QR Codes that direct your audience to your profile.
Using NFC tags or QR Codes on business cards lets you enjoy the tactile feel of traditional cards, but gives you the freedom to share comprehensive details and multimedia content without overcrowding the small space.
Dynamic QR Codes also give you access to valuable digital business card analytics. When you use Bitly Codes, you get insight into how often people engage with your codes, plus other helpful details like where your audience is located and which devices they use (depending on your plan). These analytics can help you gauge the effectiveness of your networking efforts and inform future targeting and content optimization strategies.
How to implement digital business cards for your team
Successfully rolling out digital business cards for your team will require the right structure, training, and support. Here’s how you can implement digital cards in a way that promotes adoption and supports your networking goals.
1. Choose your digital card platform
Start by evaluating digital business card providers based on your company’s size, branding, scalability, and security needs, and determine whether wallet- or app-based cards make more sense. As you’re evaluating, look for platforms that offer:
- Customization options to support branding and creative business card designs.
- Update functionality to help you keep your contact details current.
- Templates to help you standardize digital card designs across teams.
- Dashboards with admin controls to promote seamless team management.
- CRM integrations to automate follow-ups and promote effective contact management once new contacts reach out.
- Support for QR Codes to streamline contact sharing.
2. Set up custom templates and access control
After settling on a platform, create branded templates with optional fields for personalization to make it easy for employees to create digital cards and promote consistency. Standardize fonts, colors, and company logo placement, and let your team know which fields they can edit to fit the different use cases for digital business cards—such as sales, networking, and portfolio sharing.
Set up access controls based on employees’ roles, specifying who can create, edit, or delete your templates (and cards). This gives you better control over how your business cards look, as well as protects data privacy by limiting access to sensitive information.
Pro tip: Make sure your chosen platform supports scalable access updates, like the ability to change card URL or QR Code destinations in bulk.
3. Train your team to share effectively
Digital business cards are most valuable when your team knows how to use them effectively. Train your employees (especially sales teams, event staff, recruiters, and marketers) on how to work card sharing into their workflows. Here are a few best practices to encourage:
- Add cards to their digital wallets.
- Share the cards via email signatures, SMS, or social media platforms like WhatsApp and LinkedIn profiles.
- Present NFT or QR-Code-enabled physical business cards in in-person meetings or networking events.
- Include short links (like Bitly Links) tied to contact details in email footers and mobile landing pages.
- Sync contacts with your CRM when leads reach out.
The easier it is for your team to share and manage electronic business cards, the more consistently they’re likely to use them.
Integrations, tracking, and analytics to consider
Connecting your digital business cards to other tools in your tech stack is a great way to boost their value. Integrating them with CRM platforms like Salesforce or HubSpot can automate contact logging and follow-ups, streamlining lead capture and reducing the potential for manual data entry errors—saving your team valuable time in the process.
Bitly supports such integrations through Zapier, custom APIs, and a Marketplace of app connections, making it easy to incorporate Bitly’s digital business card solution with your other tools.
With Bitly Analytics, you can get valuable insights into how people interact with your cards. But for even more granular tracking, append UTM parameters to your URLs to tie traffic back to specific campaigns or sources.
Security, accessibility, and sustainability
Digital business cards inherently offer sustainability benefits by reducing paper use and minimizing your carbon footprint. This makes them worthwhile for any brand looking to improve its eco-friendly efforts.
That said, they can pose some security and accessibility issues. To protect your brand and promote optimal user experiences:
- Use platforms that support data encryption.
- Make sure your tools comply with privacy regulations, like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), especially if you use them to collect and store parties’ data.
- Use readable fonts and sufficient contrast.
- Ensure screen reader compatibility.
Bitly prioritizes security, making it one of the best platform options for your business. SOC 2- and GDPR-compliant, Bitly encrypts all our URLs with HTTPS, minimizing your security and privacy risks. With Bitly, you also get preview links for QR Codes to protect users from spoofing scams and allow you to control access and manage permissions in your Bitly account to protect data privacy.
Ready to modernize how your team networks?
As brands increasingly look for more agile and scalable business solutions, digital business cards have become a popular alternative to traditional paper business cards. They support real-time updates, reduce environmental impacts, save businesses money in paper and printing costs, and enable more comprehensive information sharing.
With Bitly, you have most of what you need to implement digital business cards. You can use Bitly Pages to house contact details and content, Bitly Links to share your cards via digital channels, and Bitly Codes to quickly exchange info in in-person settings. Best of all? You receive engagement data for each product to help you assess your networking efforts.
Want to elevate sales and networking via custom QR Codes, links, and landing pages? Create a Bitly account today!
