Mandalay Bay Casino Guest Survey

February 3rd, 2011

In my previous post, I discussed some key areas of improvement for Mandalay Bay Casino’s confirmation email trigger. Four days after my stay, I received the following email for a guest survey. In the confirmation email, there was no branding and no design. Here they went a different route with what looks like a big image (though the copy is actually text).

Mandalay Bay Survey Email

While it’s good that they are trying to incorporate some branding, this email could benefit from some adjustments:

1. Branding: In the confirmation email there was zero branding and here it is more design heavy. I would like to see some brand consistency across their emails. For this one, the header section with the photo of the hotel, the hotel name, and the ‘Thank You…’ takes up too much space for what it is trying to accomplish.

2. Design: I don’t feel this email is too inviting. They are requesting my time for a guest survey, but the white on black and overall dark theme isn’t doing it for me.

3. Call to Action: The main goal of this email is for me to click through and take the survey. Below the signature (not in the screen grab above) they had a ‘Take the Survey’ button which was nice, but it was pretty far down. Plus, the long URL in case I need to copy and paste does not look too inviting. I would have a simple ‘click here to start the survey’ text link in the body copy, plus would move the button up to a more prominent position. I think this email could benefit from a completely different architecture, but without changing much, these small adjustments would help.

At least they are asking for customer input. With several great hotels to choose from in Vegas, it’s key to keep making improvements to the customer experience. One email I did not receive though was a Thank You for Staying with Us message. This would have been a great opportunity to extend the customer experience, and to let me know about upcoming events, special offers, other properties, and more.

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Posted in Analysis of Live Emails, Design | No Comments »

Mandalay Bay Confirmation Email

January 15th, 2011

I recently booked a room at the Mandalay Bay Casino for an upcoming Vegas trip. While I usually stay elsewhere, I had heard good things and have enjoyed several visits to Mandalay so thought I would give it a shot.

Surprisingly, I see a lot of basic mistakes email marketing being made by very large casinos. With such large marketing budgets, I would expect more sophistication from their email programs.

After making my online reservation, I received the following confirmation email. (click image to enlarge)

Mandalay Bay Casino Confirmation Email

It’s great that they are sending me a confirmation with some information in case I have questions, but where is the branding and other relevant content?

Key Items Missing:

1. Branding: All of us here at Email Aptitude are pretty big fans of having a higher text to image ratio, especially for transactional email triggers. But in this case there is zero branding. Mandalay Bay easily could have maintained a high text ratio (and all text for this main body copy) while still having a branded header and footer with additional call-outs.

2. Helpful Recommendations: Why not use this opportunity to let me know about exciting things to do at the hotel? They could have a graphic section showing events occurring during the dates of my visit; information about the the restaurants they have; games they offer; and other amenities I may be interested in. This can all be done in a very tasteful way that does not take away from the simplicity of the email.

3. Cross-Sell/Up-Sell: On my reservation confirmation email it would be a great opportunity to up-sell a different room or cross-sell some services like show tickets or a spa package. This too can be done very tactfully and presented in a way that truly benefits the customer.

With a little effort, Mandalay Bay could be doing much better with email. With some structured planning and testing, they could be crushing it. As of now though, they are leaving a lot of money on the table.

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Posted in Analysis of Live Emails, Design, Email Marketing Strategy, Personalization, Red Flag Mistakes, Welcome Emails | No Comments »

Canada Passes New Email Law

January 7th, 2011

Canada recently passed a new anti-spam law. Here is the long version for those who are looking for some extra pleasure reading. This new law is called FISA, Fighting Internet and Wireless Spam Act (Bill C-28).

Here is the Rundown:

1. FISA requires consent where the CAN-SPAM Act in the US does not.

2. The new law defines consent as: Explicit – when the subscriber specifically provides permission to the sender (e.g. through an opt-in webform) and Implied: where there is an existing or non business relationship, such as a customer purchasing a product or service.

3. FISA applies to anyone sending to subscribers in Canada, not just companies based in Canada. (Hint: you should start segmenting your subscribers based on location if you are not doing so already)

4. Other key elements include the basics that you should already be implementing, such as company contact information on every email, a clear unsubscribe link or reply email, and timely processing of opt-out requests (within 10 days).

skd284429sdcAt the end of the day, everyone should naturally implement these practices. We want to provide relevant content to individuals who want to receive it, and provide a nice user experience with transparency. On a strategic note, the need to have better data for Canada subscribers may sound like a pain, but embrace it as it could create some very interesting segmenting opportunities.

Posted in B2B, B2C, List Building/Opt-In | No Comments »

Hard Rock Email Design Confuses Subscribers

December 27th, 2010

Occasionally we see an email from a prominent brand that makes us question several elements. A recent message from Hard Rock Hotel & Casino was a great topic of conversation.

In the screen grab below, we see a design with no clear focus, and what appears to be an intentional lack of focus. If you’re going to get creative, please don’t forget about usability logic and conversion architecture.

Some Issues:

  • Is the yellow copy supposed to be a time counter? If so, is that supposed to be 1 day, 7 hours, 48 minutes, and 17 seconds? A counter can benefit from clear labeling.
  • With the fuzzy white on black, we don’t know where the eye is supposed to go. There is a lot going on here and not much consistency.
  • No clear click through: at the bottom it says ‘Click Here for Details’ but that is it. No call to action buttons or other entry points.
  • Zero Hard Rock branding. Hard Rock has such a distinct brand, it should be leveraged here.

Big picture, this email needs a lot of work. I would be very interested to see how this email performed in terms of click-through and site conversion. After staring at it for a while it’s great that there is an offer of up to 60% off, which could provide some great incentive to book! Unfortunately, execution was not consistent with the brand and offer.

Click image to view larger version.

Hard_Rock

Posted in Analysis of Live Emails, B2C, Design, Email Marketing Strategy, Promotions | No Comments »

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