Return on investment, or ROI, is an important way businesses evaluate their spending. A positive return on investment means money was spent in a way that increased revenue through profits.

A negative ROI means the investment resulted in zero returns. Every system, process, and product within a business has either positive or negative ROI.

digital business card ROI

Digital business cards are no exception. How do you check the ROI of a business card?

Create your free digital business card

Let’s explore the value and costs of these professional staples. This way, the next time you need a business card you’re making an ROI-based decision.

Important Stats to Know

Here's some great stats to consider at-a-glance before diving in.

First impressions only take 7 seconds to form
81% of consumers only buy from brands they trust and consider reputable.
72% of people judge brands JUST on their business cards
39% of people won't do business with a brand if the card design is poor or looks cheap
The average cost of paper business cards ranges between $100 - $2300 per year per person. Digital business cards reduce these costs by 50%.
27 million paper business cards are printed daily.7 million trees are cut annually to meet the high global demand for paper.
90% of paper cards are tossed immediately
88% of cards end up in the trash within a week.
63% of people throw away the cards because of a lack of immediate need for the service or product.

Positive ROI of the Popl Digital Business Card

Popl’s digital business card is invaluable in sales and networking. Instantly connect, automate personalized follow-ups, set reminders, and, ultimately, close more deals.

As opposed to paper business cards, with Popl you’re able to

Share more information
Update your information or create use-case-specific cards in real time
Capture more leads
Share unlimited amounts of information
Make better first impressions creating stronger in-person networking connections
Save on printing expenses
Have peace of mind knowing your information and leads are secure

Share More Information

81% of consumers only buy from brands they trust and consider reputable.

This percentage is much higher when it comes to people. Professionals must curate their online and offline images to present themselves best. This is especially true when meeting potential clients, customers, or partners for the first time.

This is one of the most-important aspects of Popl’s ROI: improving your professional appearance and making the best first impression.

Update in Real Time

The average individual cost of a paper business card ranges between $100 - $2000 per year. This number increases if you switch jobs, change email addresses, or make some other change. Think about the massive cost in a company with many employees.

Create your free digital business card

Popl, on the other hand, saves time and money. Users can quickly change any information they need to. They can also create multiple cards for different situations. You may, for instance, want to share a different business card when you’re meeting a client vs at a job fair.

Improve Lead Generation

Sales professionals need robust lead-generation strategies to convert prospects into customers. Unfortunately, 90% of paper cards are tossed immediately.

Popl decreases lost leads with a customizable lead capture form. It's easy for users to collect the information they need to nurture leads and turn new connections into customers.

Popl knows not everyone has made this smart transition. Popl’s paper business card scanner makes uploading contacts to your CRM easy. Just take a picture of any paper business card.

Create Lasting Impressions

Did you know 72% of people judge brands JUST on their business cards? This shouldn’t come as a surprise. First impressions only take 7 seconds to form. Why would it take any longer to form one of a business?

The lesson is simple. Ensure all your brand’s touch points are clean, professional, and well-designed.

Enter Popl digital business cards.

Reduces Printing Expenses by Over 50%

For small-to-medium sized businesses the average cost-per-employee for business cards is nearly $200. Multiply that by the number of your employees and the costs quickly add up.

Slash these expenses with Popl digital business cards. Popl Teams creates branded digital business cards for entire sales or marketing teams.

Drive Direct Traffic

Digital business cards send connections exactly where you want them to go. Get them to a landing page, social media, or even to an ebook.

Optimize In-Person Sales

It's hard to improve what you can't measure. Curious about the precise ROI of digital business cards? Popl's platform provides detailed analytics. Track the number of cards you and your team shared, card engagements, and links clicked.

Create your free digital business card

Use Popl’s analytics to identify which cards are more effective. Then, fine-tune the content of the cards. Up that ROI with better sales outreach, customer interaction, lead generation, and more.

Negative ROI of Paper Business Cards

Globally, 27 million paper business cards are printed daily. That’s 10 billion business cards per year. That's a huge environmental impact! 7 million trees are cut annually to meet the high global demand for paper.

Despite the millions of cards and trees felled, traditional business cards don’t deliver significant ROI. Why not? Because modern customers are tech-savvy and yearn for interactivity. They want professionals and brands who embrace technology and offer interactive connections. Engaging content (e.g. user-generated and product review videos) increases revenue by 49%. Tap into this by switching to a digital business card.

Here are 5 major drawbacks of paper business cards.

Limited Information Capacity: The standard size of a paper business card is 3.5” x 2”. You can only share basic information with such limited space. Any attempt to go overboard will ruin the design and appearance of the card. 39% of people won’t do business with a brand if the card design is poor or looks cheap.
Lacks Interactivity: Paper business cards lack interactivity. Their mundane design explains why 88% of cards end up in the trash within a week. 63% of people throw away the cards because of a lack of immediate need for the service or product.
Environmental Impact: 7 million trees are cut to meet the high demand for paper globally. Tree cutting destroys the environment, increases the effects of climate change.
Limited Searchability: Most professionals use digital platforms as the main source of information. Paper cards are 100% offline, making it difficult for connections to find information.
Costly Expenses: The cost of hiring a graphic designer ranges from $500 to over $2,000. Printing the card ranges from $100 - $300. And this isn’t just a one-time cost! Any time there is a change in staffing, email, phone number, logo or anything else, cards must be re-printed.

These drawbacks render paper business cards ineffective networking tools. Connecting with the target audience using a paper business card is difficult. That’s why 8 billion business cards are thrown away within one week.