Unless you’re in the industry you are unlikely to be aware of how many uses a plastic card can have, which could mean you’re missing out.
As with everything, technology has brought change to print in many ways, not least its ability to produce short runs and make them personalised or include variable data.
Printed plastic cards are a typical example, where many uses have evolved due to costs being reduced and the ability to produce personalised versions.
Below are 9 Uses for The Printed Plastic Card.
Here’s a selection of card uses that exist today, some you’ll know well, and others may not be so obvious.
Membership Card – Don’t Forget the VIP Version
If you have a club or group a membership card can be a great way of creating a status, where just having the card immediately tells someone something about the owner. Having different types of card, such as VIP can also add value to the card and encourage further interaction.
Membership can also give people discounts as well as promote your brand and build loyalty.
Clubs and societies can use plastic cards to add perceived value to a membership and remember perception can count for a lot when trying to win or keep members.
Appointment Card – What Does It Say About Your Company
Making sure clients keep appointments can be challenging in today’s times of information overload and remember not everyone uses diaries, electronic or real world.
Giving them a plastic appointment card places greater perceived value on the appointment, but more importantly, it will keep it front of mind in the purse or wallet as it will likely be placed somewhere where its seen daily
Discount and Gift Cards – You Give and Customers Give
Making sure you have all angles covered when it comes to promoting your business and making it easy for customers to either buy more or to give a monetary gift is something that’s easily overlooked.
Their size makes them easy to carry or place with your credit cards in your wallet or purse. While they should also help promote your brand, don’t forget to make them stand out – you want them to get noticed, so don’t skimp on the design.
Snap-off Card – Twice as Good
Get more from your card by getting 2 for 1. Have a business card with an offer on, which someone can take up when first using your service.
Another option is to have a snap of section that can be hung on a key ring, for instance, if you’re an auto locksmith part of the card can go in the wallet or purse and the snap off section (with hole) can hang on a keyring.
Consider how having two cards in one could enable someone to place your information in two places, to their benefit and yours.
Plastic Business Card – Remembered or Obscurity?
Plastic cards used for business cards can help get you noticed. If you’ve ever been networking, you’ll have noticed that cards that are different get more attention and plastic cards fall into this category. Plastic cards don’t damage as easily, their corners don’t go all ‘dog-eared’ and messy hands don’t ruin the surface finish.
For some throwing away a plastic business card is not as easy, probably due to perceived value and even when it’s been sat around for some time in a wallet or other card holder, it still looks good.
This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t consider the design. You should actually spend more time designing a stunning looking card – you wring every ounce of marketing or PR that you can from the card – it could mean the difference between being remembered and obscurity.
Identity Card – Do You Know Who’s in the Building?
Knowing who’s official and who’s not can be important. If you have a paying event you want to know who’s staff.
Many companies are working with technologies they would want competitors or outsiders to know about. Levels of access can be set for both staff and visitors.
Educational environments use plastic ID cards for the security of pupils as much as for the staff and visitors, so if you need to control movement the plastic identity card is the place to start.
Key Tag Card – Smaller but Gets Seen More.
A small card that can hang on the keyring can be used in place of the full-size card. For instance, loyalty cards can have a scannable barcode that identifies the user or keeps a critical phone number close to hand.
The idea is to enable someone to have your info, your brand, their membership details etc. close to hand as well as enable others to see the card when they get their keys out, further enhancing brand recognition.
Event Pass – Only Let in the Good Guys!
Putting on an event can be an expensive business, so the last thing anyone wants is people getting in for free. If an event has a perceived high value and is run over several days and the card is being used for access to different areas a plastic card may be appropriate.
If you are running an event for high worth people a plastic card would be more appropriate than a printed paper version, which would soon look worn if being used to move from area to area.
Plastic event passes for key people may be all you need to allow certain people to access key areas, where you don’t need to go to full on ID card or badge.
Anti-Microbial Card – Kill the Little Blighters!
Safety in health, medical and food environments is crucial and if any element such as a card can be walked in and out day in day out without consideration for when it was last cleaned you could have a problem waiting to happen.
The solution is the Anti-Microbial plastic card that has a surface which prevents replication and therefore kills off the unwanted microbials.
Summary
Plastic cards are prevalent but most of us a probably don’t realise how many we have or how many different uses we are putting them too. Cards can also be eco-friendly, so if you have a situation where they are the ideal solution, there’s no reason not to use them.
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