How to Use Your iPhone as a Digital Business Card

Ever experienced the frustration of searching through your bag to find a business card that you urgently needed to reach someone but couldn’t find?

Well, we all have been there.

This is not uncommon and is primarily because we use regular paper business cards – they can get lost or damaged, or you might even forget where you put them.

Now, you’d agree that technology has been reshaping established business practices, and business cards are no different. An iPhone business card or digital business card has emerged as an efficient technological solution that solves problems that traditional paper cards pose.

In this article, we will discuss how digital business cards can turn the tables for your business, how to choose the right app for creating a business card, and how to quickly add the created Apple Wallet Business Card to your iPhone.

Let’s get started.

The Emergence of Digital Business Cards

The print rate of business cards dropped more than 70% post-Covid. Now, that’s not just a statistic but a clear reflection of the limitations of traditional paper business cards that became apparent when physical interactions took a back seat during COVID-19.

The networking industry saw a significant shift in how professionals prefer to exchange contact information and the increasing reliance on smartphones for communication. An electronic business card addresses the evolving needs of the networking industry.

A recent study showed that the key drivers accelerating the adoption of digital business cards are – convenience (45%), sustainability (20%), security (15%), personalization (10%), and cost-effectiveness (10%).

With digital business cards, professionals today can effortlessly exchange important business details while saving on printing costs and reaching a global audience.

That’s not it! Digital business cards bring more to the table, which we will discuss now.

Perks of Using a Digital Business Card

There’s a long list of perks that come with digital business cards, but we will discuss the major ones for now.

1. Shift from Paper

When you think about traditional paper business cards, a lot goes into their production. You need to design them, print them, and possibly include QR codes for quick digital access.  All of this incurs costs. But with digital business cards, incurring these costs becomes history.

The shift from a traditional to a digital business card saves the bucks you’d spend on printing and contributes to environmental sustainability by reducing paper waste. You’d be shocked to know that for every 100 million business cards made, 6 million trees are cut.

Plus, you no longer have to order new cards whenever the contact details change, which leads to significant cost savings in the long term.

Also read: Top 5 Business Card Scanner Apps

2. Tracking and Analytics

Imagine handing out your traditional business cards and having no clue what happens next. You don’t know if people looked at them, found them useful, or threw them away.

That’s where a digital or a mobile business card changes the game. Often, they come with built-in tracking and analytics features that provide you with a wealth of data.

You can see exactly:

• When someone opens your card
• Which links do they click on
• How often they engage with your information

This gives you insights into your networking efforts – who are genuinely interested, which parts of your card are most engaging, and when it’s a good time to follow up.

3. Scalability

Think about attending a big conference or networking event. You meet a lot of people, exchange business cards, and suddenly realize you’ve run out.

It’s frustrating and can make you miss out on all the valuable connections.

Digital business cards solve this problem effortlessly. You can share your card with as many people as you meet without ever worrying about running low. In fact, you can share your business card with anyone sitting in any corner of the world.

This scalability allows you to make connections without limitations and ensures you never miss an opportunity to connect.

4. Two-Way Contact Sharing

Traditional business card exchanges are often one-way – you give out your card, but you might not always receive one in return.

Digital business cards change the picture entirely here. When you share your mobile business card, the recipient can easily send theirs back to you.

This results in a more balanced interaction that improves mutual connections. Additionally, some digital card platforms offer a centralized dashboard where you can organize all the cards you receive. This eliminates the hassle of keeping track of physical cards and ensures that your contacts are neatly managed in one place.

5. Customize It as Per Your Brand

Your business card is an extension of your professional identity and brand. Traditional cards have limited space for customization, but digital business cards open up a world of possibilities.

You can

• Add your company’s logo
• Choose brand colors that resonate
• Incorporate brand elements

All these customizations showcase your brand’s personality and help your card stand out, creating a memorable impression and reinforcing your brand identity in every exchange.

Unlike traditional cards, digital business cards can also include interactive elements. You can link to your website, portfolio, and social media profiles or even embed videos showcasing your work/ products.

But how to create a digital business card on an iPhone? We will answer this in the next section.

Choosing the Right App for Creating Your iPhone Business Card

Now that you have understood the importance of transitioning to an electronic business card in the modern digital age, we will help you choose the right app for creating these dynamic cards, specifically for an iPhone.

1. Beaconstac

Beaconstac offers a wide range of digital solutions, including the ability for users to create an Apple wallet Business Card. You can simply create them, save and share them amongst your team or with prospects. You can also analyze the card performance for timely and effective follow-ups.

Trusted by renowned brands like Pepsi, Fidelity, and Toyota, Beaconstac offers top-notch features and customizability to elevate your networking efforts in a digital era.

While iPhone users may use the feature of NameDrop to share their details, digital business cards provide a more comprehensive approach by enabling personalized branding, multimedia content, cross-platform compatibility, and better networking that NameDrop can not.

Also, their two-way contact-sharing feature is quite unique. It lets you and your recipient share contact details with each other using the same card.

Pricing: Beaconstac offers a free trial, and its pricing starts from $6 per month, billed annually.

Also read: Top 10 Resume Builders: Make A Professional Resume Online

2. Blinq

Blinq is another app for creating a digital business card for an iPhone. It places a strong emphasis on design and aesthetics. The platform offers a selection of modern and visually appealing templates that users can customize to match their personal or brand identity.

Blinq’s templates ensure that your digital business card stands out with a professional and stylish appearance, making a positive first impression on recipients.

Pricing: The pricing starts at $2.99 per month.

3. Haystack

Haystack takes a comprehensive approach to digital business cards. Users can create and share their business cards, and the platform also provides tools for managing and organizing contacts.

Haystack’s integrated dashboard allows you to categorize contacts, add notes, and set reminders for follow-ups. This feature-rich approach aims to streamline the entire networking process, from card creation to maintaining professional relationships.

Pricing: The platform offers a free plan, and its pricing starts at $4.95 per month.

Now, go ahead, asses each platform, and choose the one that fulfills the needs of your business precisely.

How to Use Your iPhone as a Digital Business Card?

After researching the best platforms for creating iPhone digital business cards, let’s now take a closer look at the detailed process of using your phone as a business card using Apple Wallet.

These steps will walk you through the process:

1. Use one of the above platforms to create your iPhone business card. For this particular example, we are using Beaconstac primarily due to its exclusive Apple wallet business card feature.
2. After you have created your digital business card using the platform, look for the option to “Save to Apple Wallet” within the app.
3. When prompted, grant the app permission to access your Apple Wallet.
4. If you’re using a PC to create your card, you will see an option to add the card to Apple Wallet. A QR code will be displayed, which you’ll need to scan using your Apple Wallet.
5. Now, open Apple Wallet on your iPhone. You should see your newly added Apple Wallet business card. Tap on it to view the card’s details.
6. To share your digital card with someone, simply tap the share icon within the card. Choose how you want to share your card – email, message, AirDrop, or any other.
7. The recipient will receive your digital business card and can easily save it to their own Apple Wallet for future reference.

Voila! You just turned your iPhone into a digital business card.

Your Turn to Go Digital in Networking!

As industries worldwide ride the waves of digital transformation, a digital business card is definitely making a statement with its contactless information sharing.

These cards enable businesses and professionals to reach people globally while offering convenience. Most importantly, an electronic card of your business helps you stay consistent across channels so that you maintain a professional image at every touchpoint – be it email signatures or your LinkedIn profile.

Remember, you must try out different platforms for creating an iPhone business card before boiling down to one so that you maximize the ROI of your investment.