Business cards used to be an important networking tool in the days of yore when digital marketing and correspondence were not so widespread. People would meet in person and exchange business cards instead of swapping contact info.
In the modern world, where finding people and creating contacts has become much easier, business cards seem redundant. People can just go on LinkedIn and find people instead of going to expos and networking events.
However, it can’t be denied that expos and networking events are still the best way to showcase your selling propositions and business acumen. So business cards can work. However, they need to be modernized to stay relevant.
Enter QR codes, a handy technology that bridges the gap between digital and analog worlds. Let’s explore how QR codes on your business cards can help them stay relevant and improve your networking all at once.

6 Reasons To Print QR Codes on Your Business Cards
Here are six reasons to print QR codes on your business cards and help them stay relevant.
1. Provide More Information
A standard business card is 3.5 inches wide and 2 inches tall. That is a compact size that can fit easily in a wallet, but it also means that you can’t put much information on it.
Using fine print, you can add more info, but it just becomes harder to read. That’s why typical business cards just have the company logo, your name, phone number, and sometimes email address.
However, QR codes can provide much more information than that. A standard QR code can store around 4,000 characters. That’s enough to give a concise introduction to your company.
So, instead of printing all of the information on your business card, you simply print a QR code. Users can scan the code with a QR code scanner and access the information digitally.
This effectively extends the functionality of a business card. You can leverage this technology to create a more convincing touchpoint for conversions.
2. Convenient for Recipients
In the current networking and marketing landscape, user convenience is a top priority. The easier you make something to do, the higher the likelihood that users will do it. This can be seen in marketing with 1-button sign-ups.
QR codes bring this kind of convenience to networking. Specific types of QR codes can be used to provide specific kinds of information very conveniently.
Take, for instance, the vCard QR code. This particular code, when scanned, automatically opens the contacts app on your phone and populates all the relevant fields. The user does not have to copy your name and phone number from the card; they just have to scan the code.
Similarly, Business Card Scanner tools and apps allow recipients to scan and digitize business card details instantly, ensuring they don’t have to manually enter information. By combining QR codes with a business card scanner, you provide multiple convenient ways for recipients to save your contact details effortlessly.
For business cards, that is perfect. It offers a lot of convenience, and you can potentially reuse the same card, i.e., let people scan the card and take it back.
3. Allow Tracking and Analysis
There are two major types of QR codes: static and dynamic. Dynamic QR codes have two special properties. One is that you can change the data they have retroactively, and the other is that you can track how many people scanned the code.
Tracking and analysis are always required to understand whether your efforts are working or not. Now, you may be wondering, how does tracking a QR code on a business card help? After all, you know how many people you gave out the cards to.
The thing is that business cards don’t have to be limited to a physical format. You can share them online as well. So, tracking how many people scanned your code and which sources yielded the best results can help you improve your networking programs.
Just remember, tracking is exclusive to dynamic QR codes. You can’t track static QR codes.
4. Allow you To add More Information
Business cards can benefit greatly from dynamic QR codes. A dynamic QR code is special in that you can change its contents even after it has been printed out.
Normally, this is not possible because the black-and-white areas of the code represent bits of data. So, once the code is printed, its contents can’t be changed.
Dynamic QR codes overcome this by just containing a link to a server. Whatever data you store on the server ends up getting shown to the scanner.
You can update the data on the server whenever you like. This is useful for business cards because it means you can update things like:
- Contact info, i.e., phone numbers and email addresses
- Promotional or introductory text that provides an overview of your brand and services.
- Link to a website that may have all of the above and more.
You can do this with dynamic QR codes and efficiently reuse your business cards without having to print or design new ones.
5. Leave a Good Impression
QR codes on business cards can leave a positive first impression. It is a unique way of merging the old and the new. The added convenience (which we have talked about) reinforces the good impression.
The end result is that people are more willing to interact with you or, at the very least, hear you out. This is often the only breakthrough a savvy businessman needs to create a business deal.
So, a good first impression is a pretty good benefit of QR codes.
6. Allow for Unique Designs
If you think that QR codes are just black-and-white squares, then you would be happy to know that you can use different colors and designs. Of course, the colors still need to be two-toned, i.e., blue on white, green on white, etc.
You can also add your company logo to the center of your QR code. You can change the color scheme to match your brand colors and create a personalized QR code.
This is possible with the help of QR code design tools that are available online. Unique designs help with positive impressions and help you stand out against your competition as well. So, it’s great for business networking.
Conclusion
So, those were some compelling reasons to put QR codes on your business cards. The benefits of doing so are quite powerful. They can improve the potential of your networking efforts and result in better deals and conversions.
The best thing is that QR codes are cheap to create and have a lot of flexibility. So, utilizing them in the listed ways is not hard to do. That’s why you should definitely employ them and gain their benefits.