What is a digital business card? A guide for companies

Plans: QR codes, vCard, NFC, the contact form and email signatures are included in Starter and higher plans; your own logo and colour on cards in Pro and higher; Contacts, Follow-up, departments and employee sync in Enterprise.

When people hear "digital business card", most picture a single profile page opening on one person's phone. For a company the job is bigger: keeping ten, fifty or two hundred employees' cards consistent, updating titles and numbers on time, closing the card of someone who leaves, and not losing the interest those cards create. This article briefly explains what a digital business card is and then focuses on how a company sets one up and uses it.

What is a digital business card?

A digital business card keeps the information from a paper card (name, title, company, phone, email, website, social profiles) on a web page at a permanent address. The person you meet opens that page through a link, by scanning a QR code or by holding their phone near an NFC card, and saves you to their contacts with a single tap. If you are curious about the different names ("electronic business card", "QR business card", "smart business card"), they are collected in electronic business card: is it different from a digital one?; in short, they all describe the same product.

How does it work inside a company?

At company scale a digital business card is not a collection of pages but a way of managing them. In DigiCardSystem it is set up like this:

• One panel: all of the company's cards are created, edited and closed from the same panel. Every card has its own web address.
• Brand settings live in one place: in Pro and higher, the company's logo, colour and footer text appear the same on every card. When a new card is created, the company name comes from the company settings; fields such as address, website and phone are kept per card.
• Sharing routes come ready: each card's QR code is downloaded from the panel, an NFC tag is linked to the card from the panel, the "Save contact" button produces a vCard file and the card link goes into the email signature.
• Updates appear instantly: when a title or number changes, updating the card is enough; because the QR codes and NFC tags already handed out point to the same address, everyone sees the new details.
• A leaver's card is closed: when a card is set to inactive, anyone who opens its address sees "This business card is not published" instead of an empty page. An inactive card also frees a slot for a new card.

In Pro and higher, when the logo or corporate colour is changed in the brand settings, the change appears on every card at once. The details of a team-wide setup are explained step by step in managing digital business cards for a team.

Which teams benefit most?

Sales teams

In sales, the real job of a business card is to keep the conversation going after the meeting. When someone saves the card to their contacts, a "Leave your details too" window opens; if they want, they leave their name and a phone number or email, the request lands in your panel and the card's owner is notified. Sending requests to your own CRM is available in Pro and higher; a shared customer list with follow-up reminders (Contacts and Follow-up) is in Enterprise. The card link in the signature of the email you send after a meeting does the same job at a distance. The whole flow is in lead capture with a digital business card.

Field and service teams

Field teams change often; phone numbers and regions change as well. On paper every change means a reprint; on a digital card it is a single update from the centre. The old card a customer holds still leads to the current person, or says clearly that it has been closed.

Trade fair and event teams

At a fair you meet dozens of people in a few hours, and most paper cards end up at the bottom of a bag. A QR code on the stand or an NFC card lets visitors save you to their contacts on the spot, and the analytics screen shows how many times the cards were opened during the fair days. How to use the first days after a fair is covered in digital business cards at trade fairs and events.

HR and management

At recruitment fairs and candidate interviews, a tidy and current card leaves a professional impression. A new employee's card is ready on their first day; nobody waits for cards from the printer. For management the biggest gain is consistency: every card follows the same layout and, in Pro and higher, shows the company's logo and colour. For larger teams, departments with department managers looking after their own people, and syncing the employee list from an HR or directory system, are available in Enterprise.

A checklist for a good setup

Points a company should not overlook when moving to digital business cards:

• Keep the card address fixed. If the address changes, every QR code and tag already handed out points to the old one. Only the content should change.
• Decide who edits what. Admins edit all cards; employees with a panel account can edit their own; larger teams give department-level permissions.
• Keep information that does not belong to the card off it. Whether a personal mobile number goes on a company card is a decision to make together with the employee.
• Know what the measurement shows. The analytics screen shows how many times a card was opened, which links were clicked, and which devices and sources the visits came from; it does not show who looked. Details are in digital business card analytics.
• Think about visitor data. The data of people who open the card and fill in the form is the company's responsibility; the basic questions are covered in privacy and security of digital business cards.

Moving to digital business cards: five steps

1. Decide who gets a card. Everyone who meets customers face to face is a good start: sales, field, management and event teams.
2. Set up the brand. Enter the company name and (in Pro and higher) the logo, colour and footer text once; the company name goes into new cards and the brand onto every card.
3. Create the cards and have employees check them. Each employee confirms that their title, number and photo are correct.
4. Choose the sharing routes. QR codes on paper cards, NFC cards for those who want them, and the card link in everyone's email signature.
5. Look again at the end of the first month. Which cards are being opened, which links are clicked, are requests coming in? These questions decide the next step.

What a digital business card does not solve

Knowing a tool's limits lets you use it with the right expectations. There are a few things a digital business card cannot do on its own:

• It does not bring customers; it keeps you from losing the interest you already have. Its job is to let the person you met reach you easily and leave their details. The meeting itself and the follow-up are still your team's work.
• Left unattended, it goes out of date. Easy updates do not mean updates will happen. Decide up front who updates a card when a title or number changes.
• Not every phone is the same. On some phones NFC is switched off or missing, and some people do not know how to scan a QR code. That is why a card should carry both a QR code and a short address.
• Numbers do not show people. A view count can include the same person opening the card several times. These numbers show a trend; the way to learn who is interested is for the person to leave their own details.

Will paper business cards disappear completely?

In most companies, no; the most common model uses both. A paper card gives you something physical to hand over at a first meeting, and the QR code on it or the NFC tag on its back connects it to the digital card. When each one makes more sense is discussed in digital or paper business cards for companies, and calculating what paper cards really cost your company is explained with a table in the real cost of paper business cards.

You can compare plans and see which feature is in which plan on the pricing page.

Frequently asked questions

Is an app needed to open a digital business card?

No. The card page opens in the phone's browser. Phone cameras read QR codes, and most NFC-capable phones read the tag without an extra app.

What happens to the card when an employee leaves?

The card is set to inactive. Anyone who opens its address sees "This business card is not published"; cards already handed out do not lead to someone else's details. An inactive card frees a slot within your plan's card limit.

Can I see how many times a card was opened?

Yes. The analytics screen shows view and click counts, the daily trend, and the device and source breakdown. Individual visitors are not identified; if someone wants to leave their details, they do so through the contact form.

Should we throw away the paper cards we already have?

No. Use the existing stock until it runs out. Adding the card's QR code to new prints is enough; the paper card then leads to the digital card, and the next change of title does not require a reprint.

Who enters the card details?

An admin sets up the brand once. Card fields (title, phone, photo, social profiles) can be filled in by the admin, or completed by employees with a panel account on their own card. Whichever you choose, having each employee check their own details before publishing prevents the most common mistake.

How long does it take to set up?

The brand is set up once; after that each card takes a few minutes. The part that takes time is employees checking their own details.