Orbitz is a pretty well known little website, so I’m really surprised at the amount of mistakes I came across today when signing up for their 21 Prizes in 21 Days promotion. I orignially heard about the contest on the radio. “Orbitz.com slash twenty-one”, the commercial announced. Easy to remember, at least.
The Lead-in Page
The first thing Orbitz does is ask me for my email address – unmistakably the most important piece of info for the contest (for Orbitz). Get the users email and you have a lukewarm lead. But then they screw up and don’t ask for permission to market their wares to you in the future. Big mistake.
(click to see larger version on flickr)
The Contest Signup Page
Lots of mistakes here – mistakes that I wouldn’t expect a reputable company like Orbitz to make.
(click to see larger version on flickr)
Next, the ‘more information’ links on the left. As I said, I would have put them on the first page where it asked for my email. Put them under the email box and have them already checked. Personally, I think this is the biggest mistake Orbitz made. They asked for the email address, then on the next page didn’t give themselves permission to use it. Why not let the user uncheck the boxes instead of checking them? This is a hugely missed opportunity.
Since that was IMO their biggest mistake, the rest are minor but noteworthy. Look how long the pages are. There are so many distractions and escape routes that it’s not even funny. If they are there to collect information about users which they can use in the future to market to, why are they giving them so many opportunities to not submit their info? Classic landing page mistake. Don’t give the user any ‘outs’.
Finishing Up
Upon completion of their entry, they provided the user an opportunity to play a little ‘card counting’ game. Personally I didn’t get it and closed the window, but some other geniuses might find it mildly entertaining. The game really has no purpose beyond entertainment, and they probably should have just dumped the contest entrant to their $50 off Vegas sale instead.
Show Some Love
Now Orbitz did do a few things right on here. On the first page (email page), the links to the various hotels and the LV Visitors Convention do open in new windows. Good move, don’t lose the user altogether. I still think they could have provided most of this info after they got the users information, but that’s me.
The ‘click here to learn more about the prize’ is a javascript that opens a new, small window. Good move, assuming most of your users have JS turned on.
Internet Marketing is a Learning Process
I’m no marketing genius, but this little contest could have been a bit more thought out. The marketing team at Orbitz missed a big opportunity on the first page, and then continued their errors on the next few pages.
Take these errors into thought for your own site. If you’re running a contest, or just selling a product, get the email address (and permission!) at the very beginning. All the rest is just a bonus. You’re there to get leads.
