Business Card Design Ideas to Build Social Media Networks

business card social mediaMake stronger connections for your business by turning printed business cards into an offline promotion of your personal and business social network accounts on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+

Networking online through industry forums or professional social networking sites is one of the most efficient ways to develop and maintain business contacts. With online social networks like LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook or Google+ you can easily build a network of connections and communicate with them on a regular basis. But what happens when you meet new business contacts at a trade event or through a quick sales visit? There are times when you still need a business card to hand over to someone so that they can get your contact information for future follow-up.

Offline contacts are just as important – if not more important sometimes – to build your social media network connections. Incorporating your social networking strategies into your printed business card design is one solution to bridge the gap between your offline business networking and your online social media accounts on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Google+.

Design a Business Card to Promote Social Media Accounts

Typical business card designs have a company logo, name, title, address, phone number, email and website address. Unless you are in a really creative industry and opt for unusual sizes and layouts, the format and design of business cards has not changed very much over the years.

Traditionally business cards were primarily for developing a contact list for use with direct mail, sales calls or email campaigns. But these days, having contacts included in your professional social media network has become the preferred way to make and maintain business connections because of the ease of use and the low cost of social media.

If social media is your primary method of keeping in touch with business contacts, then designing a business card with a focus on your social media accounts may be more important than using a traditional business card design.

Here are some creative social media design ideas for your next business card design:

  • Include your most important social media icons for Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Google+ next to your social media user names or quick links
  • Make your business card more personal – use a photo of yourself alongside or instead of a company logo. Use the same photo or headshot you use on your social media sites to connect them visually.
  • Use a QR code that can be scanned by a smartphone and directly link to one of your main social media accounts. Or have it link to a blog to have your recipients easily subscribe to your blog’s RSS feed.
  • Promote your YouTube account for a special video message for new contacts
  • Use photos, colors, logos or special taglines that are used on your social media sites to make a connection with your business card
  • Take advantage of a double-sided business card design (an option available with most printing vendors) to fit multiple social media icons, account names and/or QR codes.

Most online printing vendors give you flexibility to include whatever information you want in their basic business card templates. If physical address no longer applies in your virtual business world, then use those fields to enter social media addresses. Take advantage of image or logo upload sections for uploading your own photo or special message to connect on your social media networks. Make the fact that you are interested in building your social network a focal point in your business card content.

If you have more advanced design skills (or someone that can help you with a design layout) you can also download business card templates (available from online printing vendors) to allow for maximum flexibility when you create your business card design layout. You will likely need to do this to size and position social media logos and really get creative with the business card layout.

The main goal is to break the mold of traditional business card designs. Make your card stand out from others and invite contacts to continue connecting with you and building on your business relationships through your social networks.

For a list of cost-effective online printing tools that offer flexibility with design, layout and printing of business cards, check out our Branding and Graphics Tools Directory.

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Editorial Staff

This article was written by SBMarketingTools.com editorial staff.