MarketingSherpa had an entertaining post the other day about an unfortunate URL. The placeholder URL — vanityurl.com — wasn't replaced before the piece went to print. The writer of the post over at MarketingSherpa keeps a fairly light tone, but she underscores how critical it is to check URLs.

I wanted to add my two cents in here as I've had a similar experience. A company unexpectedly shut down a 1-800 number for a piece after it had gone to print. Fortunately, we managed to get the number up and running again.

We all know this, but it's worth checking and double checking all methods by which customers can respond, whether it's entering a URL or calling a number. If the customer can't follow through on the call to action, the piece isn't going to be successful.