Valuable Online Marketing Lesson from Super Bowl Screw Up
Imagine spending thousands of your hard-earned dollars on Super Bowl tickets to then be turned away at the door because the seat you bought wasn’t available. You’d be pretty darned mad to say the least.
Did you hear about this in the news? About 400 fans were locked out of Super Bowl XLV even though they had tickets.
You see, the temporary seating for the 400 ticket holders wasn’t approved by the Fire Marshall. And the worst part is, the stadium officials supposedly knew about this for about one week prior.
Now how does this all relate to online marketing? Well, keep reading and I’ll tell you.
It’s a huge lesson in not forgetting about your customers. Jerry Jones and his crew were so busy worrying about getting that coveted attendance record that they neglected the very people who were helping them create the record in the first place.
And this happens all the time on the internet. Companies create flashy, innovative websites that look pretty but often neglect the visitor.
Many websites are heavy on graphics and low on content. Sometimes the Flash on websites make it more difficult for other relevant elements on the pages to work properly.
Some websites completely ignore user experience and create endless hoops for visitors to jump through to get the most basic of information.
Ughhh…why???
I’ll tell you why. It’s because the site was never designed with the visitor in mind. It’s often designed to satisfy the egos of the graphic designer, web developer or even the owner’s Uncle Chester (yes, I’ve encountered this before).
So when you take a fresh look at your website, is it set up to create a simple and easy user experience? Does it answer all questions that visitors may have? Are there obvious ways for the visitor to get a hold of you if necessary or do they have to hunt around?
If not, take a lesson from the Jerry Jones playbook. He was so focused on appearance that he forgot about the basics: the fans. Learn from this and make your website a good experience for your fans.
Now that Google has started using the new external keyword tool interface, there’s one thing I noticed that may trip some users up.