Modern society has changed greatly, and with it, so has essentially every aspect of building a business.
Consumers have changed. Marketing has changed. Even the aspects that people are looking for in a brand have changed.
It’s just not as simple as handing over a business card with your company’s name, address, and phone number any longer to get clients.
Actually, not only is it not that simple, there’s a good chance that your target market might literally laugh at you if you try to hand them one. That’s probably not the best starting point.
Today’s consumers are really interested in authenticity and connection. They want to know about the brands they use. They want to know that they’re supporting a business that has shared values and concerns with them.
They don’t just want to buy a product or service, they legitimately want to feel like they’re joining together with a company they can connect and grow with.
Essentially, that’s why your website is more important than any business card. A business card shares your contact information. A website shares your story.
Here’s an in-depth look at why your website really is more important than your business card. With your website, you can do a number of things that you can’t do with a simple little business card, such as:
You can build your brand
Building your brand is a key component in marketing today and your website provides you the opportunity to do it. We all know the possibilities are endless on a website. You get to create a title, a subtitle, design a specific aesthetic that presents the look and feel that you want your business to give off.
On your website, you get to tell the story of your business. You get to share your mission, your values, and your goals. You can share photos of yourself, your team, your workplace, and more. Essentially, you get to use your website to paint the picture of your brand in the mind of your audience.
You get to craft a website that introduces your brand to the world, utilizing the consumer values of authenticity and integrity to showcase your business. That is something a business card could never do.
You can connect with your target market
Today’s consumers are looking for connection and engagement. Social media has created an expectation of pretty much instantaneous communication and the ability to build relationships with practically anyone.
While a business card will give your leads the ability to contact you, it definitely isn’t an inviting form of connection and engagement. Your website, on the other hand, is.
Your website offers the opportunity through your story and branding, for visitors to begin to develop an emotional connection with your business.
It provides the ability for them to comment and begin a dialogue, and it also gives them your basic contact information as a nod to the good old business card. “You want to call? Sure, here’s my phone number, Mr. 1985.”
Your website will share links to your social media account where you’re able to grow your connection with your audience and engage with them through comments, messages, and more. Consumers are much more likely to take the plunge and become a customer when they feel connected to a brand that they believe in. Your website provides the opportunity for them to develop that.
You can update your site anytime
Obviously, when you print your business cards, you can’t go around updating them any time you get a hankering to. You design a business card, you get a certain number printed, and then you keep that design until you have passed out all the cards. If you have any changes you want to make, you do so on your new design, then get them printed again.
Whoops! What’s that? Misspelled something? Now you either have to wait for this batch of cards to be passed out with a misspelled word, or you waste hundreds, sometimes thousands, of dollars by burning them and getting a new, updated batch printed.
Your website is yours. You have constant access to it. You want to change something, you change it. Want a new header? Change it. Misspelled a word? Edit it. Wrote an article that you want to take back? Delete it. It’s yours. You can do whatever you want with it.
You can literally update your website anytime you want, at pretty much no cost to you.
You can share any information you want
A business card usually contains your business name, address, and phone number. They’re pretty basic. Sometimes people will give a little more information, maybe a quote or slogan or something, trying to build their brand a bit. There’s not really an opportunity for much on that little card.
On your website, however, you can share as much information as you want; your story, your values, your products and services, your cost, your location, even your grandmother’s name if you really want to. You are able to provide any information that you think will help to build your brand and attract your clients.
You can offer promotions
Leads love promotions. Not only that, but promotions help you gain visibility and bring in new leads. It’s a win-win. You can use your website to offer promotions. Giveaways, sales codes, coupons, and more, are all things that you can give out on your website.
Visitors will jump at the chance to use them and they’ll be sharing your promotions with others, bringing new people to your website.
You can offer tons of relevant and useful content
Your website lets you show off your brand, your expertise, and what you have to offer. You get to use it to provide regular useful and relevant content to your audience.
Content is so important because it really gives you the chance to shine and cast yourself as an industry expert. When your content is relevant, your audience is bound to share it with others on social media, which increases your visibility and brings you new leads.
Offering great content to the world is one of the things that is going to differentiate your business from others and bring you the continual leads that you need. A business card would never give you the chance to do that.
If you liked this blog and thought it could help someone out, feel free to give it a share, and check out our website at Hawaii Web Design for more helpful tips to help set you up for success!
