Outsmart Your Competition by Designing Silk Business Cards!
Unforgettable should be one word to describe your business card. No matter which industry it is your business is in, these 3.5” x 2” cards will say a lot about your brand and image. This is just one of the many reasons why you should opt for luxurious fancy business cards that are silk-laminated. Here, we will learn about silk lamination and find out how you can outsmart your competition by designing silk business cards.
Silk Business Cards: Luxurious & Durable
First, if you need to have business cards printed out, what options can you choose from? When it comes to finish, you can take your pick from the following:
- Cotton
- Cheap
- Extreme Gloss
- Foil Stamped
- Linen
- Metallic Ink
- Pearl
- Premium
- Rounded Corner
- Silk
- Suede
- Spot UV Gloss
- Ultra Thick
As you can see, there are options where paper is laminated in such a way that the texture turns into linen, cotton, silk, or suede. How can such effect be achieved? When it comes to silk business cards, a special lamination process is used to achieve the fabric-like effect. Some examples of silk-laminated paper are the ultra-smooth packaging of mobile phone and other electronic gadgets. When you touch the surface of these packages, they feel smooth and silky to the touch, but they are made from paper and not wrapped in plastic. The same principle is applied in silk lamination.
Depending on the thickness of the card stock, uncoated paper is first used – which has a cardboard, rough texture. Once the silk lamination is applied onto the thick paper stock, the end result is a business card with a silky-smooth, matte finish.
Here are the distinct advantages of using silk business cards:
- You will stand out from the competition.
Let’s say that you are in a trade show and your direct competitors are in another booth, giving out ultra-thick business cards to people milling around. Just imagine the impression that potential customers will have if you will distribute business cards made from thin paper, which looks like they came straight out of a desktop computer printer. If you want to stand out from the competition, you should definitely invest in professionally-printed silk business cards. Doing so will make your brand leave a lasting impression in the minds of your customers. This is especially true if you will do the same thing with all the other items included in your print promotional campaign. When printing postcards, brochures, flyers, banners, notepads, and letterheads – make sure that they are high-quality and has a consistent look and feel as your company logo.
- Silk lamination enhances the look and feel of traditional business cards.
There is absolutely nothing wrong in using linen business cards – as long as the paper stock feels thick and solid to the hand. However, there is just a world of difference when you’re distributing silk laminated business cards. As compared to cardboard or linen cards, they simply feel more luxurious and expensive. The silk lamination process enhances the look and feel of the base cardboard material, so it’s a finish that you’d want to consider using for your stack of business cards.
- The lamination process improves the durability and longevity of the business card.
On a more practical standpoint, silk lamination adds durability and longevity to traditional cardboard materials. Once the silk lamination process is applied to cardboard or thick paper stock, the extra material makes the business card more resistant to wear and tear. The smooth surface of silk-laminated cards also helps with water resistance. Luxurious and durable, silk business cards will last you for practically a lifetime.
Add-On Features for Silk Business Cards
Next, when looking for a business card printing company, what are the factors that you need to consider? The number one thing that you need to check is the printing process that they use. Are they a digital printing company or an offset printing company? Digital printing is probably good for small printing jobs but if you need hundreds of business cards printed within the next 24 hours, for example, offset printing is the better choice. Complex lamination processes for business cards are also better handled by offset printers. Quality-wise, the results look more professional and the colours are more vivid. This is because offset printing uses state-of-the-art printing presses which are huge – and these can churn out hundreds or even thousands of printed materials in a short span of time – something that digital printers simply cannot do.
If you contacted a business cards printing company which specializes in silk laminated business cards, these are the other add-on features that you can go for:
- Matte Silk Business Cards
Matte silk business cards have a matte or non-shiny surface, although the silky texture of the material is retained. When choosing this option, make sure that the colours you will use will stand out on matte silk laminated paper.
- Foil Stamped Business Cards
If you want extra-luxurious fancy business cards, go for the foil stamped option. If your logo is in an elaborate, elegant font, for example, you can ask to have the letters foil-stamped in different colors:
- Blue
- Red
- Black
- Gold
- Silver
- Copper
Think of how impressed a customer will be when you hand over a foil stamped silk business card. This is a great option for those who are in the events planning, bridal, fashion, and similar industries.
- Silk Spot UV Business Cards
If you have a black-and-white or a grey, silver, black or any dark colour scheme for the logo, you might want to go with the silk spot UV option. For this, a flat layer of gloss is added to a specific area of the business card. If you’re a real estate broker and you want to highlight your name, for example, a layer of gloss will be added to the box circumscribing your name. This works best if you have a dark colour theme and you want to create a contrast to still make the letters on the card pop.
- Unique-Sized Business Cards
In the United States, the standard size of a business card is 2” x 3.5”. These can be made in plain, painted edge, or foil stamped options. But if you want to veer away from the traditional, you can go for European size business cards which measure 2.125” x 3.375” or square business cards which measure 2.5” all around. Those who are in the creative industry can make their business cards stand out by going for non-traditional sizes.
Deciding on the Content of Your Soft Business Cards
Whether you’re a small start-up company or have been in the business for a long time, your business card serves as your first introduction to a potential customer, client, or business partner. Business cards have very limited space, so you need to be strategic when writing the content and deciding which elements to include.
To make sure that you are maximizing the marketing potential of your business with the help of business cards, here are a few tips on how you can write the content:
- Traditional business cards contain the business name or your name and job title; the name of the company; the office address; telephone number; and email address. These days, you don’t necessarily need to include all these. If you don’t have a brick-and-mortar store, for example, there is no need for you to include an office address. If you have a fully operational online store, you can include your website, social media accounts, and maybe a QR code which can be scanned. This code will lead your customers to your website once they use your mobile phone to read it. This is a great way of merging your digital with your print promotional campaign.
- If you must include a marketing tagline, keep it short but memorable. Use language that customers can relate to. If you’re a law firm, for example, you won’t use terms that only millennials might know. If you have a younger clientele, you can attract them using language and marketing lingo that they are already familiar with. If you’re a business who is targeting other business owners, you have to be strategic with what language to use.
- Lastly, include a call to action. What is your purpose in printing out the business cards in the first place? Do you want customers to visit your website? Do you want them to purchase from your online store? If you’re a boutique business, would you like them to visit your physical store? If you’re a real estate agent, do you want clients to call you so that you can gain leads and conversions?
Again, you have a very limited space to “talk” to your customers if you have a business card. As such, you need to make sure that the language used is something that they can relate to. The information should be accurate and include only what’s necessary. More importantly, let them know immediately what you have to offer as a business, which is something that you can do with the tagline printed in the front or in another area of the card.
Other Design Elements of Silk Laminated Business Cards
You do have the option to print silk laminated business cards which are one-sided or two-sided. With two-sided business cards, you will include another set of information at the back – it could be a discount code, a QR code, or information about your social media accounts like your Instagram or Facebook name, or your Twitter handle.
Should you decide to use the second page of the business card, make sure that you are not occupying the full space. The text should not look too crowded. Remember that there are people who may want to scribble notes at the back of your card but if there is no space left, they might simply forget about what you have to offer. If you are printing soft business cards which you will distribute in trade shows, you might want to leave the second page completely blank.
There are no right or wrong choices here. As long as you will use the space effectively, you can either leave the back page free or write something on it. If you must use the back page of a business card, make sure that it includes information that is beneficial to the customer. As mentioned earlier, you can print QR codes or discount codes that customers can use when purchasing something from your store.
If you have a complex set of services offered, you can use the back page to list it all down. If you have a physical store, you can print your office address and hours of operation. You can also include a longer marketing message at the back of the card. Another thing to remember when using the back page of the card is that it has to look and feel the same as the front page, so your print promotional campaign is consistent across the board. Finally, the front of the card should contain pertinent information – and don’t forget to incorporate your business logo.
By keeping these tips in mind, you can maximize the use of silk laminated business cards and enjoy its full marketing benefits for your business.
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