The world works much different than it did a few years ago. In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, there are many options for making employment more flexible.
Whether your employees are remote or in the office five days a week, fostering a positive environment is critical. In fact, statistics show that happy employees are 12% more productive than the average worker.
Everyone reaps the benefits of a great work environment, and the good news is, it’s possible to create regardless of the format. Here are tips for every employment setup.
The In-Office Experience
Relaxation may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think about work, but it should be. It’s important for workers to feel comfortable in the workplace, especially when it comes to highly creative employees. These are ideas you can adopt right away.
Establish Social Zones
Most people are naturally social creatures, even in the workplace. After all, many employees spend more time with their co-workers than they do with their own family members. It helps to create special areas to foster camaraderie and connection.
Perhaps your office has a deck or patio where you can place tables and chairs for people to enjoy lunch together. Don’t be afraid to think outside of the box. A pingpong table in the break room? Corn hole in a low-traffic hallway? Nothing is off limits.
Just be sure to keep socialization in an area that won’t disturb other workers when they’re busy.
Provide a Variety of Workspace Options
Give your employees the choice between a cubicle or an open format. You may even want to consider standing desks for those who prefer to stretch their legs while completing their tasks.
Employees love to customize their personal workspace, so encourage them to decorate their desk in a way that helps them express their personality. From family photos to artwork and mementos, it will help them feel more at home at the office.
Plus, the decor could serve as a great conversation starter among teammates.
Embrace Natural Lighting
There’s nothing like vitamin D when it comes to boosting positivity and employee well-being. If you have the option, rely on windows for natural sunlight and fresh air, when weather permits. This is one of the best ways to avoid an office that feels dark or depressing.
If you don’t have the luxury of adding windows to your space, lighting technology has luckily come a long way. Invest in overhead lights or even desk lamps that use bulbs designed to mimic natural daylight.
Declutter to Promote Focus
The minimalist movement is all about a tidy and stress-free way of living. Less clutter naturally leads to more productivity because there’s less to clean up. What’s more, people can think more clearly when you remove distractions.
Storage is key to cleaning and removing clutter. Provide plenty of file cabinets, drawers, and other spaces to store personal and work-related items.
If you want to take it a step further, look for cord organizers and charging stations to ensure a clean aesthetic.
Create Special Moments
Certain occasions can bring people together. It can be as simple as bringing a cake to celebrate someone’s birthday or allowing employees to bring their pets to work. This allows everyone to get to know each other better and provides something to look forward to.
The Remote Model
Many teams have transitioned to a fully remote model of work. Although this often presents challenges, many employees love the flexibility, as well as the comfort of working from home. Here are ways to embrace the work-from-home model and make it better.
Provide Opportunities to Connect
If your team works from home, but you all live in the same city that’s friendly to remote workers, try to plan events that provide time for everyone to connect. Whether it’s a happy hour or a team-building community service event, it can be helpful to get everyone together a few times a year. Besides helping newcomers put faces to names, it will also help your team feel more cohesive while collaborating.
Be Flexible
One of the primary reasons people love remote work is because it provides flexibility. Busy parents can take their kids to school before logging on for the day. Avid runners can spend their lunch breaks jogging around the neighborhood. Many employees seek remote work to avoid losing minutes, or even hours, to a commute.
Encourage your teammates to act as mentors to each other, even outside of work. In other words, have co-workers help each other through major life events.
Whether they’re searching for their perfect first home with a stellar office area or they’re listing their home on the market so they can have more space, offer advice and recommendations when you can. This can help foster better connections and create a mutually beneficial personal and professional environment.
Focus on Communication
The effectiveness of remote work depends upon great communication skills. Your team should find various ways to stay in touch.
For many companies, direct messaging apps are handy for facilitating quick questions or making small talk. This helps everyone maintain a clean and concise email inbox that isn’t bogged down with endless emails. Plus, it improves response time for brief reminders.
Offer Praise and Encouragement
When you’re working with people in person, it’s easy to pop into their office or cubicle and say thanks or give credit where it’s due. Unfortunately, this can fall by the wayside with remote work.
Don’t forget to go out of your way to show appreciation for your colleagues. A simple thank you note can go a long way when someone has taken the time to help you. This promotes a healthy and positive work environment.
The digital era doesn’t necessarily mean the end for print. But going digital could mean the difference between providing a better customer experience and clinging to outdated and less efficient practices.
So with almost everything going digital, one thing, in particular, seems to be doing it at a much faster pace: business cards. According to research done by Market Research Future, the digital business card market may reach USD 242.3 million at an 11.2% CAGR by 2027.
Digital business cards are in high demand. And in this article, you’re going to learn precisely why. We’ll also look at 10 of the best digital business card solutions you can use to help you make that digital jump.
What is a digital business card?
A digital business card is similar to a paper-based business card – less the paper. Think of them as digital versions of your traditional card. Once you store them in the cloud, any recipient can easily access them on a smartphone, tablet, or personal computer.
As you know, print always has limitations regarding the information it can store. Perhaps the most significant advantage of digital business cards is that they allow you to provide as much detail as you want – quickly and conveniently.
5 reasons why a digital business card is worth it
1. Provide convenience with easy sharing
Almost everyone owns a smartphone, which means almost everyone has quick access to any digital business card. When you go virtual, you don’t have to give away dozens and dozens of paper-based cards. Instead, recipients can save all details on their smartphones with a tap.
2. Offer a contactless solution
Clients, prospects, or partners – you’ll need to meet them in person to hand them your physical business card. You can cut out this process and opt for a contactless alternative. Share your digital business card anytime and anywhere via text, email, instant messaging, or other channels.
3. Stay up-to-date with your information
Ensuring accuracy with your business card information is always a great practice. Imagine if you’ve already bulk-printed your physical cards. If you’re using paper-based cards, even one slight detail change means starting from scratch with print.
Steer clear of this issue by switching to electronic business cards that you can update whenever necessary. You get to ensure you provide everyone with the latest information.
4. Track your virtual business card performance
You’d never know who or how many people are engaging with your physical cards unless they take deliberate action, like giving your company a call.
With digital business cards, you can monitor data points, like the number of views, locations, and clicks. And if you’re using a decent digital business card solution, you’ll have the means to set off retargeting for bounced viewers.
5. Digital business cards are in high demand
As businesses go remote, they must actively seek new ways to share essential information regardless of where their clients or prospects are. Needless to say, digital business cards allow for that kind of sharing. And it’s one of the reasons why they’re currently in high demand.
Now that you know why digital business cards are worth the transition, the next step would be to look for a suitable digital business card maker.
Before diving into our list of the best digital business card solutions, let’s go over 8 essential factors you’ll need to consider when choosing one.
8 things to consider when deciding on the best digital business card solution
With the advancement of technology, the number of offerings has increased immensely. Making a decision with too many options is not easy. You can create a digital business card with any platform that is available out there but to get the best value for your efforts, you need a solution that fulfills all your personal or business needs in-depth. So, here are ways that you can determine whether a particular digital business card solution is right for you or not.
Let’s get right into it.
1. Usability
Is the solution intuitive and easy to use? Does it boast a clean-looking interface? Does it force you to go through a steep and tiresome learning curve? These are some of the questions to ask when gauging usability.
Usability doesn’t just account for the “looks” of a platform. It has more to do with its structure and flow. In addition, it directly impacts your experience as a user, so it’s always a good idea to first get a feel of a platform’s usability before putting out your wallet and seeing if your chosen platform offers a free trial.
2. Page design
A good digital business card platform might do well in terms of usability. But does it let you create stunning designs for your e-business cards? Can you get as comprehensive as you like when adding details?
It makes little sense for a cloud-based vCard to limit you in design options and the details you can add. Digital business cards are supposed to be storehouses of personal and business information, so choose a platform that allows you to add more than just the basics.
3. Tracking and analytics
Page design is there to help you appear authoritative and professional, in turn attracting the right audience. But can the solution monitor the engagement once you’ve drawn your target leads, clients, and customers?
The best digital solutions offer comprehensive tracking, letting you capture data on essential metrics like views, shares, and audience location. Some will even allow a Google Analytics integration for more actionable insights.
4. Security
Many businesses, regardless of size, value security the most when choosing a cloud-based service. Anything that happens online is prone to security threats. And since your electronic business card has your name and other relevant details, it’s best to ensure that you and your clients are protected by high-level security.
If you can, choose one that’s SOC-2 Type 2 compliant. But so far, only one platform provides security at this level. Still, it would be best to go after the non-negotiables, like GDPR compliance, data encryption, and SSO authentication.
5. Value for money
No two digital business card solutions offer the exact same pricing. So is your platform of choice value for money?
For instance, some digital business card makers attract users with their low-cost plans. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re the best choice. Low subscription costs often come with significant drawbacks, like limited functionalities and inadequate security. So create your e-business card from a good digital business card solution in order to worry less in the future.
6. Ease of sharing
Business cards are meant to be shared. Does your chosen platform allow you to spread your digital business card using multiple avenues?
Every solution will allow you to grab an e-card link you can share across different channels – social media, email, text, etc. But some will even go as far as to let you generate QR Codes that you can embed in your physical business cards or NFCs for short-range sharing. Hence, choose the one that matches your expectations.
7. Bulk creation
If you’re running a large organization with hundreds of client-facing members, you will benefit from a solution that lets you bulk-create unique virtual business cards. A bulk-creation feature allows for significant savings on time and effort.
8. Integrations
Are API access and integrations that automate essential functions part of what you’re paying for? This factor is vital since purchasing third-party tools to get automation isn’t always practical money-wise.
App integrations can be anything from Google Analytics (for engagement insights) to Zapier (for workflow automation) or Slack (for notifications) that helps in automating the process.
Remember that not every platform will offer the same set of API access. So, if you need to use a particular integration, see if it’s available in the platform’s library.
10 best digital business card solutions for 2022
Now that we are aware of the factors to look out for while choosing a suitable business card platform, let’s review the top 10 digital business card solutions:
1. Beaconstac
Beaconstac takes the top spot on this list as the best digital business card solution that lets you create business cards with QR codes. The platform offers everything you need to effortlessly create electronic business cards and tweak them to your liking.
When it comes to security, you get the best a digital business card solution can offer with Beaconstac. You also get robust analytics, bulk-creation, and multi-app integrations accessed via an easy-to-use interface.
Notable features:
Intuitive and easy-to-use interface.
Zero learning curve – create your first digital business card in minutes.
Exceptional page design capabilities.
Google Analytics integration.
Top-notch security with SOC-2 Type 2 compliance.
Bulk digital business card creation.
API access to over 4,000 app integrations, like Zapier, Workato, and Integromat.
Drawbacks:
Beaconstac only offers QR Code-based digital business cards.
Pricing:
The price starts at 5 USD/month for the Starter plan. API integrations and dynamic QR Code API features unlock at Pro for 49 USD/month.
2. HiHello
HiHello is another widely used digital business card maker. Like Beaconstac, it’s recognized for its user-friendly interface and easy-to-use virtual business card creation dashboard.
It also delivers excellent design capabilities and sharing functionalities. For example, you can create attractive and professional-looking cards and share them via email, URL link, text message, or QR Code.
Notable features
Clean web and mobile app design.
Numerous attractive and professional templates.
Multiple channel sharing.
Phone number masking for increased privacy.
Drawbacks
You only get basic insights if you don’t integrate with Google Analytics.
Data tracking only unlocks at higher plans. Some solutions provide analytics right off the bat.
Access to bulk creation is available only at the highest-tiered plan.
Pricing
The platform starts you off with a Free plan (up to 4 unique business cards). The Basic plan (unlimited card creation) comes at 3 USD/month.
3. Blinq
Easy contact sharing – that’s what Blinq is all about. And it remains to be one of the most highly-rated mobile business card solutions out there. The platform offers comprehensive sharing functionality – one that trumps most entries on this list. It also lets you add all the details you need to complete your contact information without the need to compromise on any critical data.
Notable features
Multi-channel sharing.
NFC-based business card creation.
Includes all essential API integrations
Comprehensive customizations.
Drawbacks
Robust customizations and custom branding are paid features.
Security measures aren’t clear-cut.
Pricing
The first tier is free, providing you with basic creation tools. Both Premium (for individuals) and Business (for teams) plans cost 2.99 USD/month.
4. Know.ee
Know.ee offers a sleek interface, and it doesn’t take long to figure out that this platform was built with enterprise needs in mind. But that doesn’t mean it comes behind in terms of features targeted at the individual professional.
Notable features
Seamlessly combines platform intuitiveness with extensive design capabilities.
Full-scale customization and branding tools.
Practical data analytics complete with timeframe filters.
An Enterprise plan well-suited for teams of all sizes.
Drawbacks
Access to decent security only unlocks at higher-priced plans.
Auto credential generation and bulk creation only come with the costly Enterprise plan.
Pricing
The Individual plan is free but only provides basic features. Paid plans are priced based on the number of digital business cards created, starting at 2 USD/month.
5. Haystack
“Make a great first impression” – is what greets you upon visiting the Haystack website. Sign-up for a free trial, and you’ll soon realize this solution has a laser focus on helping you market your business.
Haystack wants you to be known, which becomes apparent with the analytics, design capabilities, and integrations.
Notable features
Unique branding elements
Valuable engagement insights, including the number of referrals.
Integrate with hundreds of apps, including Zapier and HubSpot.
Showcase essential links to drive traffic to key online destinations.
Drawbacks
Pricing is somewhat on the higher side.
You’ll also have to pay an additional 3 USD/month for each extra user.
Pricing
You can grab the For Individuals plan free for the basic tools. Data tracking and integrations start at 7.95 USD/month for the Business plan.
6. QR Code Generator Pro
You might recognize QR Code Generator as a QR Code platform, but it also offers a QR Code-based digital business card solution. It enables you to create a virtual version of your physical card, which you can link with QR Codes.
Notable features
Intuitive and easy-to-use dashboard.
Create QR Codes for your physical business cards.
Track engagement for insightful data.
Integration with Google Analytics.
Drawbacks
Minimal security features.
The vCard service is entirely QR-based – no NFCs.
Pricing
The Starter plan is 6.99 USD/month. Bulk creation and API requests unlock at the Advanced plan for 15.99 USD/month. All plans are billed annually.
7. SwitchIt
SwitchIt lets you craft beautiful and professionally-designed business cards you can use to connect, keep track of, and convert clients. The dashboard feels simple, yet it has all the essential tools you need to create and share your virtual business cards quickly.
Notable features
Comprehensive page design and branding elements.
Efficiently distribute your business card on various channels.
SMART Contact Manager for a comprehensive contact library.
App-initiated phone calls and text messaging.
Business card scanner.
Drawbacks
Analytics and major integrations only become accessible at the highest tiered plan.
Pricing
You can use a “free forever” plan for basic elements. Premium plan comes at 6.99 USD/month.
8. Kado Network
Kado’s platform was built primarily as a networking and relationship management platform. So it comes as no surprise that you can use it to create practical and comprehensive digital business cards.
The dashboard provides more than just the basics. You can even record and share notes, events, and critical information for better team collaboration and productivity.
Notable features
Robust team collaboration tools.
Customization allows multimedia elements like images and video content.
Easily import contacts from Excel files.
Integrate directly with Outlook and Gmail for real-time contact updates.
GDPR and AWS compliant.
Drawbacks
Some admins find Kado’s process of adding users via email unintuitive.
Gmail, Outlook, and Google Calendar integrations are only available at the highest-tiered plan.
Pricing
You can get the Free plan for limited features. Advanced features start at 4.95 USD/month.
9. Dibiz
Dibiz provides a dashboard packed with the tools you need to create practical digital business cards. From the dashboard, you can customize appearance and content to suit your needs and monitor digital business card performance through Dibiz Statistics.
Notable features
Add diverse media, like custom URLs, image galleries, and videos.
Share business cards on multiple channels.
Create tailored contact forms when you opt with Dibiz+.
In-depth data tracking and analytics.
Drawbacks
Access to fundamental insights unlocks at a premium.
Dashboard intuitiveness falls short.
Lacks essential API integrations.
Ambiguous security measures.
Pricing
You can avail of the free forever plan for basic functionalities. Dibiz+ is 60 USD/year for unlimited multimedia uploads and contact forms.
10. QRd.by
The last entry on our list of the best business card solution is QRd.by. Like any decent virtual business card maker, it lets you easily create e-business cards that you can share via multiple channels.
What differentiates it from most card generators is that it gives you a dedicated landing page where you create your updatable digital business card.
Notable features
Create updatable mobile-friendly business cards.
Add as many business card details as you need.
Use analytics right from the Free plan.
Full CCPA & GDPR compliance.
Drawback
A landing page has to be created to generate a vCard, making the process complex.
Pricing
QRd.by provides a free plan but limits you to 1 landing page. The Starter plan (for 5 landing pages) costs 5 USD/month.
Conclusion
Companies embracing digital cards are rapidly increasing in number. And the recent pandemic only fueled this adoption.
Even though physical business cards are still essential, especially during offline meetings and events, going digital can make a massive difference in reach and engagement.
When choosing a service, you must consider your needs and that of your target audience. Great digital business card platforms don’t just provide the tools required to digitize contact information. They’re also there to help you easily share them with the people that matter. Hope this comprehensive list of the best digital business cards available out there helps you stand out in this digital era.
The digital era doesn’t necessarily mean the end for print. But going digital could mean the difference between providing a better customer experience and clinging to outdated and less efficient practices.
So with almost everything going digital, one thing, in particular, seems to be doing it at a much faster pace: business cards. According to research done by Market Research Future, the digital business card market may reach USD 242.3 million at an 11.2% CAGR by 2027.
Digital business cards are in high demand. And in this article, you’re going to learn precisely why. We’ll also look at 10 of the best digital business card solutions you can use to help you make that digital jump.
What is a digital business card?
A digital business card is similar to a paper-based business card – less the paper. Think of them as digital versions of your traditional card. Once you store them in the cloud, any recipient can easily access them on a smartphone, tablet, or personal computer.
As you know, print always has limitations regarding the information it can store. Perhaps the most significant advantage of digital business cards is that they allow you to provide as much detail as you want – quickly and conveniently.
5 reasons why a digital business card is worth it
1. Provide convenience with easy sharing
Almost everyone owns a smartphone, which means almost everyone has quick access to any digital business card. When you go virtual, you don’t have to give away dozens and dozens of paper-based cards. Instead, recipients can save all details on their smartphones with a tap.
2. Offer a contactless solution
Clients, prospects, or partners – you’ll need to meet them in person to hand them your physical business card. You can cut out this process and opt for a contactless alternative. Share your digital business card anytime and anywhere via text, email, instant messaging, or other channels.
3. Stay up-to-date with your information
Ensuring accuracy with your business card information is always a great practice. Imagine if you’ve already bulk-printed your physical cards. If you’re using paper-based cards, even one slight detail change means starting from scratch with print.
Steer clear of this issue by switching to electronic business cards that you can update whenever necessary. You get to ensure you provide everyone with the latest information.
4. Track your virtual business card performance
You’d never know who or how many people are engaging with your physical cards unless they take deliberate action, like giving your company a call.
With digital business cards, you can monitor data points, like the number of views, locations, and clicks. And if you’re using a decent digital business card solution, you’ll have the means to set off retargeting for bounced viewers.
5. Digital business cards are in high demand
As businesses go remote, they must actively seek new ways to share essential information regardless of where their clients or prospects are. Needless to say, digital business cards allow for that kind of sharing. And it’s one of the reasons why they’re currently in high demand.
Now that you know why digital business cards are worth the transition, the next step would be to look for a suitable digital business card maker.
Before diving into our list of the best digital business card solutions, let’s go over 8 essential factors you’ll need to consider when choosing one.
8 things to consider when deciding on the best digital business card solution
With the advancement of technology, the number of offerings has increased immensely. Making a decision with too many options is not easy. You can create a digital business card with any platform that is available out there but to get the best value for your efforts, you need a solution that fulfills all your personal or business needs in-depth. So, here are ways that you can determine whether a particular digital business card solution is right for you or not.
Let’s get right into it.
1. Usability
Is the solution intuitive and easy to use? Does it boast a clean-looking interface? Does it force you to go through a steep and tiresome learning curve? These are some of the questions to ask when gauging usability.
Usability doesn’t just account for the “looks” of a platform. It has more to do with its structure and flow. In addition, it directly impacts your experience as a user, so it’s always a good idea to first get a feel of a platform’s usability before putting out your wallet and seeing if your chosen platform offers a free trial.
2. Page design
A good digital business card platform might do well in terms of usability. But does it let you create stunning designs for your e-business cards? Can you get as comprehensive as you like when adding details?
It makes little sense for a cloud-based vCard to limit you in design options and the details you can add. Digital business cards are supposed to be storehouses of personal and business information, so choose a platform that allows you to add more than just the basics.
3. Tracking and analytics
Page design is there to help you appear authoritative and professional, in turn attracting the right audience. But can the solution monitor the engagement once you’ve drawn your target leads, clients, and customers?
The best digital solutions offer comprehensive tracking, letting you capture data on essential metrics like views, shares, and audience location. Some will even allow a Google Analytics integration for more actionable insights.
4. Security
Many businesses, regardless of size, value security the most when choosing a cloud-based service. Anything that happens online is prone to security threats. And since your electronic business card has your name and other relevant details, it’s best to ensure that you and your clients are protected by high-level security.
If you can, choose one that’s SOC-2 Type 2 compliant. But so far, only one platform provides security at this level. Still, it would be best to go after the non-negotiables, like GDPR compliance, data encryption, and SSO authentication.
5. Value for money
No two digital business card solutions offer the exact same pricing. So is your platform of choice value for money?
For instance, some digital business card makers attract users with their low-cost plans. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re the best choice. Low subscription costs often come with significant drawbacks, like limited functionalities and inadequate security. So create your e-business card from a good digital business card solution in order to worry less in the future.
6. Ease of sharing
Business cards are meant to be shared. Does your chosen platform allow you to spread your digital business card using multiple avenues?
Every solution will allow you to grab an e-card link you can share across different channels – social media, email, text, etc. But some will even go as far as to let you generate QR Codes that you can embed in your physical business cards or NFCs for short-range sharing. Hence, choose the one that matches your expectations.
7. Bulk creation
If you’re running a large organization with hundreds of client-facing members, you will benefit from a solution that lets you bulk-create unique virtual business cards. A bulk-creation feature allows for significant savings on time and effort.
8. Integrations
Are API access and integrations that automate essential functions part of what you’re paying for? This factor is vital since purchasing third-party tools to get automation isn’t always practical money-wise.
App integrations can be anything from Google Analytics (for engagement insights) to Zapier (for workflow automation) or Slack (for notifications) that helps in automating the process.
Remember that not every platform will offer the same set of API access. So, if you need to use a particular integration, see if it’s available in the platform’s library.
10 best digital business card solutions for 2022
Now that we are aware of the factors to look out for while choosing a suitable business card platform, let’s review the top 10 digital business card solutions:
1. Beaconstac
Beaconstac takes the top spot on this list as the best digital business card solution that lets you create business cards with QR codes. The platform offers everything you need to effortlessly create electronic business cards and tweak them to your liking.
When it comes to security, you get the best a digital business card solution can offer with Beaconstac. You also get robust analytics, bulk-creation, and multi-app integrations accessed via an easy-to-use interface.
Notable features:
Intuitive and easy-to-use interface.
Zero learning curve – create your first digital business card in minutes.
Exceptional page design capabilities.
Google Analytics integration.
Top-notch security with SOC-2 Type 2 compliance.
Bulk digital business card creation.
API access to over 4,000 app integrations, like Zapier, Workato, and Integromat.
Drawbacks:
Beaconstac only offers QR Code-based digital business cards.
Pricing:
The price starts at 5 USD/month for the Starter plan. API integrations and dynamic QR Code API features unlock at Pro for 49 USD/month.
2. HiHello
HiHello is another widely used digital business card maker. Like Beaconstac, it’s recognized for its user-friendly interface and easy-to-use virtual business card creation dashboard.
It also delivers excellent design capabilities and sharing functionalities. For example, you can create attractive and professional-looking cards and share them via email, URL link, text message, or QR Code.
Notable features
Clean web and mobile app design.
Numerous attractive and professional templates.
Multiple channel sharing.
Phone number masking for increased privacy.
Drawbacks
You only get basic insights if you don’t integrate with Google Analytics.
Data tracking only unlocks at higher plans. Some solutions provide analytics right off the bat.
Access to bulk creation is available only at the highest-tiered plan.
Pricing
The platform starts you off with a Free plan (up to 4 unique business cards). The Basic plan (unlimited card creation) comes at 3 USD/month.
3. Blinq
Easy contact sharing – that’s what Blinq is all about. And it remains to be one of the most highly-rated mobile business card solutions out there. The platform offers comprehensive sharing functionality – one that trumps most entries on this list. It also lets you add all the details you need to complete your contact information without the need to compromise on any critical data.
Notable features
Multi-channel sharing.
NFC-based business card creation.
Includes all essential API integrations
Comprehensive customizations.
Drawbacks
Robust customizations and custom branding are paid features.
Security measures aren’t clear-cut.
Pricing
The first tier is free, providing you with basic creation tools. Both Premium (for individuals) and Business (for teams) plans cost 2.99 USD/month.
4. Know.ee
Know.ee offers a sleek interface, and it doesn’t take long to figure out that this platform was built with enterprise needs in mind. But that doesn’t mean it comes behind in terms of features targeted at the individual professional.
Notable features
Seamlessly combines platform intuitiveness with extensive design capabilities.
Full-scale customization and branding tools.
Practical data analytics complete with timeframe filters.
An Enterprise plan well-suited for teams of all sizes.
Drawbacks
Access to decent security only unlocks at higher-priced plans.
Auto credential generation and bulk creation only come with the costly Enterprise plan.
Pricing
The Individual plan is free but only provides basic features. Paid plans are priced based on the number of digital business cards created, starting at 2 USD/month.
5. Haystack
“Make a great first impression” – is what greets you upon visiting the Haystack website. Sign-up for a free trial, and you’ll soon realize this solution has a laser focus on helping you market your business.
Haystack wants you to be known, which becomes apparent with the analytics, design capabilities, and integrations.
Notable features
Unique branding elements
Valuable engagement insights, including the number of referrals.
Integrate with hundreds of apps, including Zapier and HubSpot.
Showcase essential links to drive traffic to key online destinations.
Drawbacks
Pricing is somewhat on the higher side.
You’ll also have to pay an additional 3 USD/month for each extra user.
Pricing
You can grab the For Individuals plan free for the basic tools. Data tracking and integrations start at 7.95 USD/month for the Business plan.
6. QR Code Generator Pro
You might recognize QR Code Generator as a QR Code platform, but it also offers a QR Code-based digital business card solution. It enables you to create a virtual version of your physical card, which you can link with QR Codes.
Notable features
Intuitive and easy-to-use dashboard.
Create QR Codes for your physical business cards.
Track engagement for insightful data.
Integration with Google Analytics.
Drawbacks
Minimal security features.
The vCard service is entirely QR-based – no NFCs.
Pricing
The Starter plan is 6.99 USD/month. Bulk creation and API requests unlock at the Advanced plan for 15.99 USD/month. All plans are billed annually.
7. SwitchIt
SwitchIt lets you craft beautiful and professionally-designed business cards you can use to connect, keep track of, and convert clients. The dashboard feels simple, yet it has all the essential tools you need to create and share your virtual business cards quickly.
Notable features
Comprehensive page design and branding elements.
Efficiently distribute your business card on various channels.
SMART Contact Manager for a comprehensive contact library.
App-initiated phone calls and text messaging.
Business card scanner.
Drawbacks
Analytics and major integrations only become accessible at the highest tiered plan.
Pricing
You can use a “free forever” plan for basic elements. Premium plan comes at 6.99 USD/month.
8. Kado Network
Kado’s platform was built primarily as a networking and relationship management platform. So it comes as no surprise that you can use it to create practical and comprehensive digital business cards.
The dashboard provides more than just the basics. You can even record and share notes, events, and critical information for better team collaboration and productivity.
Notable features
Robust team collaboration tools.
Customization allows multimedia elements like images and video content.
Easily import contacts from Excel files.
Integrate directly with Outlook and Gmail for real-time contact updates.
GDPR and AWS compliant.
Drawbacks
Some admins find Kado’s process of adding users via email unintuitive.
Gmail, Outlook, and Google Calendar integrations are only available at the highest-tiered plan.
Pricing
You can get the Free plan for limited features. Advanced features start at 4.95 USD/month.
9. Dibiz
Dibiz provides a dashboard packed with the tools you need to create practical digital business cards. From the dashboard, you can customize appearance and content to suit your needs and monitor digital business card performance through Dibiz Statistics.
Notable features
Add diverse media, like custom URLs, image galleries, and videos.
Share business cards on multiple channels.
Create tailored contact forms when you opt with Dibiz+.
In-depth data tracking and analytics.
Drawbacks
Access to fundamental insights unlocks at a premium.
Dashboard intuitiveness falls short.
Lacks essential API integrations.
Ambiguous security measures.
Pricing
You can avail of the free forever plan for basic functionalities. Dibiz+ is 60 USD/year for unlimited multimedia uploads and contact forms.
10. QRd.by
The last entry on our list of the best business card solution is QRd.by. Like any decent virtual business card maker, it lets you easily create e-business cards that you can share via multiple channels.
What differentiates it from most card generators is that it gives you a dedicated landing page where you create your updatable digital business card.
Notable features
Create updatable mobile-friendly business cards.
Add as many business card details as you need.
Use analytics right from the Free plan.
Full CCPA & GDPR compliance.
Drawback
A landing page has to be created to generate a vCard, making the process complex.
Pricing
QRd.by provides a free plan but limits you to 1 landing page. The Starter plan (for 5 landing pages) costs 5 USD/month.
Conclusion
Companies embracing digital cards are rapidly increasing in number. And the recent pandemic only fueled this adoption.
Even though physical business cards are still essential, especially during offline meetings and events, going digital can make a massive difference in reach and engagement.
When choosing a service, you must consider your needs and that of your target audience. Great digital business card platforms don’t just provide the tools required to digitize contact information. They’re also there to help you easily share them with the people that matter. Hope this comprehensive list of the best digital business cards available out there helps you stand out in this digital era.
You’ve probably noticed platforms like YouTube and Instagram taking over the world recently, right? If you’re a marketer or a business owner, it’s only natural to want a piece of the action and hopefully increase your influencer marketing ROI.
You want to connect with your target audiences in a new way. And you want to connect with them in their natural environment: social media. This is where influencer marketing comes in.
Influencer marketing can range from sending free products to content creators in the hopes that they’ll feature it to more formalized agreements in which influencers are paid by posts. Other agreements in which influencers profit from affiliate tracking programs are also becoming more popular.
Unlike celebrity endorsements, in which a celebrity is employed to represent a brand in campaigns, influencers generally operate solo and create their own content on social media, YouTube, blogs, and other platforms based on a brand’s advertising specifications.
However, keep in mind that influencer marketing is becoming increasingly popular by the second. And tracking your return on investment (ROI) is a must if you want to run a successful campaign.
This guide will discuss ROI, how it appears in influencer marketing, and how to calculate the ROI of influencer marketing, as well as other variables.
What is ROI?
Return on investment (ROI) is a performance metric used to assess the efficiency or profitability of an investment or to compare the efficiency of several investments. ROI attempts to directly measure the amount of return on a specific investment in relation to the cost of the investment.
A marketing strategy is like a fan. And each marketing channel (such as SEO, influencer marketing, PPC, etc.) is a blade. The fan’s blades all work together to keep it spinning. You can measure the ROI of the entire fan (the strategy as a whole). Or you can choose to calculate the ROI of each individual blade (each channel).
In this case, before you can measure your influencer marketing ROI, you must first determine how much to invest.
Here are the most commonly tracked performance indicators for determining whether an influencer’s bid is fair.
1. Audience reach
Reach refers to how many people view your influencer’s content. The incredible reach provided by various social networking platforms is the primary reason why brands are turning to influencer marketing.
As a result, campaign reach becomes an important metric for determining campaign success. However, keep in mind that quantifying the benefits of reach is difficult.
And, even if an influencer has a million followers, remember that only 15-30% of those people will see any given post. Then there’s the possibility that the followers are fake or inactive accounts.
Consider an author who has just published a book called “What is orchestration?” and wants to reach out to influencers to promote it. In this case, impressions, which reflect how many times users saw the influencer’s post or downloads, would be a better indicator than followers for calculating the influencer’s actual reach.
2. Engagement on social media posts
In comparison to reach, engagement is frequently regarded as a better indicator of campaign performance.
However, keep in mind that actual KPIs that you can measure will vary depending on the social media platform. But they’ll typically include the following:
Number of shares
Likes
Comments
Brand mentions
Engagement rate
If you’re not sure which social media platform to use, here’s a guide to help you decide and tips on how to use them.
You should also track mentions of your brand on social media using a social media listening tool and a campaign management tool to manage campaigns. As part of your agreement with the influencer, you should request that they report on their analytics so you can measure how well the campaign is performing.
3. Leads and sales conversions from referral traffic
Referral traffic statistics show you which influencer content is directing traffic to your website or a specific landing page. It provides meaningful, actionable insights into which campaigns are resonating with their target audiences and which social media platforms are being used.
Google Analytics is excellent for determining where your website’s traffic is coming from. You can also use it to track a variety of metrics, such as:
Who’s visiting your site and their demographics
What content they prefer
How much time they spend on your pages
How do you calculate ROI influencer marketing ROI?
1. Set realistic goals
Is your goal to increase sales, raise brand awareness, expand your audience, or form partnerships?
“The biggest mistake brands make is not knowing what they want to achieve and then getting an unexpected result.”
For example, if forming partnerships is a top priority, you should be familiar with everything there is to know about partnership relationships, such as the proper partner relationship management definition or what the best brand influencer proposal template to use. Knowing the basics will save you a lot of time and stress when pitching and managing potential partners.
“Start with a clear goal, understand it thoroughly, and know how you’ll measure it.”
2. Identify the key performance indicators (KPIs) that are most relevant to your goal.
It cannot be overemphasized how important it is to have the proper tools in place to accurately measure KPIs.
Your goal will determine which KPIs you’ll need to track to ensure your campaign was a success. For example, to increase customer retention, tracking customer retention rate and churn rate will outperform tracking revenue.
The interesting thing about using the right KPI is that it allows you to understand your business’s performance and health so that you can make critical adjustments to achieve your strategic goals.
For example, if your customer retention rate is decreasing due to inaccessibility and poor customer communication, hiring the best small business phone service near you can help solve the problem.
3. Evaluate your expenses
This is where the “I” in ROI comes into play. Ask yourself how much you intend to pay the influencer. Determine your maximum budget. Identify which options provide the best possible return. It could be one or two advertisements in a more expensive medium or several advertisements in less expensive outlets.
You can calculate how much it will cost to reach each potential customer. For example:
An influencer fee costs £5000
You expect to reach 50,000 people
50% are your potential customers
It will cost 20 pence to get your message to each potential customer
What other variables should you take into account when tracking ROI on an influencer marketing campaign?
1. The period of the year
Influencer costs rise during the holiday season and other special occasions, such as Children’s Day, due to the volume of campaign opportunities available and demand.
This also means that during these periods, social feeds become saturated with branded content, potentially skewing your ROI lower.
To stand out (at this time of year), you’ll need to devise creative guidelines that will attract attention, such as customer appreciation or interactive video content such as viral infographics and use of animation.
The types of campaigns you opt for and how you measure them can vary dramatically depending on whether you sell impulse purchases or investment pieces.
Recently, short-term content creation (think Instagram stories and TikTok) has become more common. But certain products, like blog posts, still lend themselves to longer-form and long-term content.
For example, an enterprise contract management software is unlikely to be sold through an Instagram story swipe-up. You could, however, sell one via an Instagram swipe-up that links to a blog post in which someone reviews the product.
3. Consider the content’s longevity
Finally, just because a campaign has officially “ended” does not mean that the content has lost its impact or impressions. Content lives on long after a campaign ends. And depending on the terms of your agreement with the creator, the collateral produced can be repurposed for targeted ads, email marketing, or other campaigns.
Also, remember that, as influencer marketing grows, the concept of a person’s identity, image, or personality as a property right is becoming more deep-rooted. As a result, it’s more important than ever to ensure the safety of those engaged in these activities.
Without a basic understanding of online image copyright, such individuals may be vulnerable to exploitation, while consumers may fall victim to deceptive marketing schemes.
What’s considered a good ROI in influencer marketing?
Ultimately, there’s no universal standard or key industry number for calculating the ROI of an influencer marketing campaign.
Let’s imagine an ad agency wants small business owners to sign up for a webinar on how to build affiliate network best practices.
According to the 2020 report from Influencer Marketing Hub, they can earn up to $18 in earned media value for every dollar spent on influencer marketing, with the average being closer to $5.78 per dollar spent.
Taking the next step with influencer marketing
Working with an influencer, marketing firm, or app partner can help you save money and time on influencer marketing campaigns. Technologies and agencies that already have relationships with influencers will assist you in securing lower rates. They identify content creators who are the best fit for your objectives. They also build data-driven campaigns based on reliable metrics.
However, don’t rely entirely on influencer marketing because it’s not a guaranteed success. Successful influencer marketing requires dedication, time, and research. A well-thought-out influencer program and effective customer communication should be integrated into a broader marketing strategy.
CX (customer experience) and UX (user experience) are two important business strategies aimed at optimizing customer communication and engagement. The principles of UX have been around for centuries, but the term was first coined in the 1990s by Don Norman.
CX is a much newer concept that’s been gaining popularity as companies look to improve customer satisfaction. Many designers now argue that UX is a subset of CX, but there are some important differences between them.
In this article, we’ll look at where CX and UX differ and where they meet to improve the customer experience. But first, let’s define what CX and UX design are.
What is UX design?
User experience design focuses on the interactions people have with a service or product. This is usually a digital product such as an app, website, or software like PD DataFrame Python. But UX can also apply to non-digital products.
The aim of UX is to create better-designed products to improve the user experience. And it works: over two-thirds of businesses say UX improves customer satisfaction. Plus, 62% say it improves brand perception. So UX design is crucial for businesses to attract and convert customers.
UX design considers everything that shapes the user experience, from how the actual product feels to how easy the buying process is. An amazing product is one that’s efficient and easy to use, and that’s what UX is all about.
Experience strategy aims to combine business and design strategies to create a holistic experience that gives value to both users and businesses at the places they interact. So ExS considers both digital and bricks-and-mortar experiences.
ExS roles include product designer and product manager. Their aim is to align the company vision with customer needs and technical capabilities. They help companies manage their teams and keep them focused on the user experience.
User research helps companies understand their users’ needs, motivations, and behavior. For instance, UR could help you understand why users are looking at alternatives for Grasshopper. This makes user research a vital part of UX design. In fact, integrating UR into product development boosts customer satisfaction by 30% and brand perception by 31%.
User researchers collect qualitative and quantitative data to create user personas. This involves collecting feedback from customers with surveys, interviews, and usability testing. They then use these personas to inform product development.
Information Architecture
Information architecture focuses on the structure of digital products. This includes how content is organized and the type of language used. The goal is to help users quickly find information with minimal effort. As such, you can use IA for wireframing to plan the layout of a product.
IA roles include data analyst, content strategist, and information architect.
Interaction Design
Interaction design focuses on the way users interact with a system. IxD considers all the interactive elements of a product, such as buttons, animations, and transitions. Interaction design roles include product designer, interaction designer, and experience designer. Their aim is to integrate ExS, UR, and IA into an interface that’s intuitive and effortless to use.
The role of UX designers
The role of UX designers is to make products and services accessible, user-friendly, and enjoyable. They usually work as part of a product team and bridge the gap between the user and the company.
The most common uses of UX design companies are discovering usability issues (68% of companies) and validating designs (66% of companies). But UX designers perform a variety of tasks, including:
User research
User testing
Wireframing and prototyping
Presenting designs to stakeholders
Creating user personas
Designing the information architecture of a product
Depending on the company, UX designers may focus on UX for non-digital products. They may also be service designers that focus on the experience of using services like public transport. But whatever their area of focus, it’s their job to ask questions like:
Is this product/service easy and intuitive to use?
Is this product/service accessible to a range of users?
Will this product/service make users happy?
Is this product/service what users want?
What is CX design?
Customer experience design includes all the interactions a customer has with each of a business’s touchpoints. CX considers a company’s advertising strategy, reputation, pricing, customer service, delivery, sales process, and the usability of a specific product or service. In this sense, UX is part of the broader experience of CX design.
Let’s use a VoIP call center solution as an example. The customer experience isn’t only what it’s like to use the software, but also:
What it’s like to buy the software
How easy it is to access support
How effective is the company’s marketing campaign
What it’s like to upgrade or replace the software
What it’s like to receive notifications or offers from the company
CX design also considers a customer’s emotional satisfaction. That is how they feel about a business. So, CX design is crucial to a company’s success. For instance, three-quarters of customers say it’s important to have a good experience on digital channels. The same goes for offline channels.
CX design considers three levels of customer experience:
Single-interaction
Customer journey
Lifetime relationship
Single-interaction
The single-interaction experience is the customer experience during a single interaction or task. This is usually a short-term interaction with a product or service, such as ordering something from a website or signing up for a mailing list. Experiences at this level are only a small part of the total customer experience.
Design at the single-interaction level is what most people associate with UX design. In other words, this is the level most UX designers work at.
The journey level of customer experience focuses on the series of interactions that take place to accomplish a goal. An example is buying journeys. It usually involves several channels, so a CX customer journey map may look something like this:
You want to return a sweater, so you log in to your account and request a return.
You print out the return label and take your parcel to the post office.
A few days later, the company emails you to confirm the return and refund your money.
Many companies are now adopting an omnichannel approach to improve CX at the journey level. In fact, over one-quarter of companies say improving the omnichannel experience is a top CX priority.
Lifetime Relationship
The lifetime relationship level takes into account the single-interaction and customer journey levels to consider every interaction a customer has with a company. Each customer exchange with a company affects their perception of the company. So, CX design at this level is about nurturing the customer relationship.
For example, a software company that sells call center enterprise solutions would optimize their product to make it attractive to buyers and easy to use, upgrade, or uninstall. But they’d also look at improving their customer service and advertising campaigns.
The role of CX designers
To create a bulletproof CX strategy, CX designers analyze how customers feel about a brand. They also look at ways to improve the quality of interactions with them. This means problem-solving skills are a must.
CX designers may have backgrounds in advertising, marketing, psychology, management, sales, and customer service. They perform a variety of tasks, such as:
User research and testing
Collecting and presenting data
Creating customer personas and empathy maps
Mapping the customer journey
Creating storyboards and workflows
Defining business goals
Tracking performance
In other words, CX designers focus on the who, what, where, when, why, and how of the customer experience.
UX is an important part of CX, but there are some key differences to be aware of. These differences include:
Focus
Responsibilities
Metrics
Audience
Testing
Focus
UX designers focus on how a user interacts with a single product or service?whether that’s an enterprise security solution or a hotel room. Their aim is to help users interact easily and successfully with a product. They want products to be accessible and give users a sense of satisfaction.
CX designers focus on the customer’s entire experience with the company. Their goal is to ensure customers have a good experience whenever they interact with a company. This includes both online and offline channels. They also want to boost brand revenue by nurturing customer loyalty.
Responsibilities
The responsibilities of UX designers revolve around the product or service. They spend most of their time on product design, usability testing, and improving the product based on user feedback. Both CX and UX design involves user research. But UX research tends to be smaller in scale and focuses on individual personas or groups.
The responsibilities of CX designers are more to do with boosting brand perception and customer loyalty. Their goal is to optimize marketing, communication channels, customer service, and all other business touchpoints. So, CX research tends to involve large-scale studies and surveys.
Metrics
Because CX and UX focus on different aspects of the customer experience, they use different metrics to measure their success rate. For instance, over 50% of UX designers use product and site analytics like cart abandonment rate and engagement rate. Also, 48% use outcome metrics like app store ratings, conversion rate, and support tickets. But CX designers use metrics like:
For example, 63% of designers measure customer satisfaction, and 31% measure NPS. They may also look at how many customers the company gained or lost in a certain time frame.
The target audience for UX designers is the product’s end-user, whereas CX designers target customers. What’s the difference? Customers aren’t always the product’s intended user.
For instance, say a company’s CEO is buying software to reduce their employees’ data privacy risks. A UX designer would focus on the employees (the users), while a CX designer would focus on the CEO (the customer).
By focusing on the customer, CX designers look to enhance the business-customer relationship to make it mutually beneficial. The customer gets good service, while the business gets more income and a better reputation.
In contrast, since UX designers focus on the user, any business benefits are more of a by-product.
Testing
UX design mainly involves usability testing. Usability testing ensures the product or service is intuitive and easy to use in the way the designer intends. It involves observing real people using a product. For instance, watching people use a work schedule app to see if they get confused or frustrated. UX designers can then use these insights to make improvements.
CX testing looks beyond usability to create a holistic view of the customer experience. This usually involves studying key metrics and mapping the customer journey with diary studies, interviews, and surveys. Once CX designers understand the current customer journey, they can look at ways to optimize it.
Where do CX and UX meet?
Although CX and UX are different, they’re also similar. They both focus on improving the customer experience, and without one, the other won’t succeed. If a user isn’t happy with a product, they may not use that company again. And if a customer isn’t happy with a company’s buying process, they won’t buy the product in the first place.
Companies should use CX and UX together to optimize the whole customer experience. After all, 64% of customers stopped doing business with a company because of a bad customer experience. In contrast, a great customer experience increases customer satisfaction. This in turn improves brand reputation and revenue.
It’s important businesses pay attention to customer feedback, including how customers use, buy, upgrade, and troubleshoot a product. As we’ve said, a great product isn’t enough unless a customer also has a great lifetime experience. For this reason, many companies are now looking to hire designers with skills in both CX and UX.
It should now be clear that although there are differences, UX is an integral part of CX. For businesses to succeed in an increasingly competitive market, they should use CX and UX together as part of their business optimization strategies.
Designers that consider both CX and UX will not only create better products. They’ll also enhance the customer experience at all stages of the customer journey.
