November 2, 2005

Stumbled across this post from The Content Wrangler (love that name!) about a software company's less-than-perfect attempt at online marketing.

Reminded me of a very similar experience that I had this week with the W hotel in Seattle. Now, staying at a W hotel is, without a doubt, a fantastic experience. The service is outstanding, the decor is gorgeous...I could go on like this for hours.

The W even goes so far as to send a "thank you" e-mail after a visit. What a wonderful idea -- particularly since the e-mail includes a link to special offers, making it very easy for the recipient to book another trip right away.

Too bad the link on my little thank you note was broken.

I actually need to go back to Seattle in a couple of weeks so it would have been very convenient for me to just book my trip right then and there. But instead, I received an error message. It's a minor irritation, but now that I have not been delivered directly to a "book now" type of page, I will probably shop around a bit to see what rates other local hotels are offering.

Bottom line from a marketing perspective? After a wonderful stay, my last impression of the W is a generic Page Not Found message. And while I won't boycott the chain because of one e-mail faux pas, they won't necessarily get my business on this upcoming trip.

Posted by at November 2, 2005

Comments

TrackBack Link