[IMAGE]Marketing.jpg[/IMAGE]With millions of people consuming information through blogs, Twitter and Facebook, many transit authorities across the U.S. are hopping on board these rapidly growing social networking Websites for their versatility and cost-effective marketing aspects and adding more sophisticated Web applications.

The San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) started a Twitter feed last August and has — as of April 1 — 2,867 “followers” who also share their updates. “It lets you get a pulse on what’s happening on any given day in the system,” says Melissa Jordan, senior marketing representative and Web producer.

BART also uses a Facebook page to share news headlines and blog posts with fans, and has a “developer tools” section on its Website. “We’re [also] really eager to see what other types of things third-party developers might create,” says Jordan.

For example, a local developer used BART data to create a Facebook application that customers can download to their page, enabling them to view arrival info for the next train so they can “message” friends to let them know what train they will be taking. Jordan cites this as a great example of how transit agencies, who themselves may not be in a position to create these applications, can still provide the data and partner with those who can create new, user-friendly tools.

The agency redesigned their Website last year, with the goal of making it more interactive. Riders can report observations on the “Seen and Heard on BART” Web page, and a blog has been added, designed to be more light-hearted and visual, where riders can share photographs. “We attempted to make it more engaging and build as we see what works with our customers,” says Jordan.

To get the word out about these tools, BART primarily uses email updates, Website promotions, and posters on trains and in stations. Secondarily, it uses its electronic board messaging system, when no priority messages need to run. They cycle through different announcements and short teases intended to drive people to the Twitter page, the Website and developer tools. “We have a big target audience, because they’re already in the station,” Jordan says.

She notes that a significant plus to using these tools is that it helps humanize the brand. “It’s immediate, it’s personal. You definitely have the sense that you’re giving riders information that they can use right then. I get a lot of really great feedback from people that they appreciate that.”

Like a lot of businesses, BART is trying to trim and conserve wherever possible. “[None] of these tools cost anything, they’re really easy to use, and they leverage the strengths of your community and customers in sharing content. It’s an economical way to go about producing content of interest,” says Jordan.

After having spoken at the Web 2.0 Marketing Seminar at the APTA Marketing and Communications Workshop in San Francisco in February, Jordan says the biggest concern many transit marketing department staff have is how much time it will take. “It depends on your ability to multi-task, but if you disperse it throughout your day, altogether it doesn’t take that much time. It might take 20, 30 seconds to send a short message on Twitter, and you might do that three to four times a day. Knowing what you want to say and posting it is five minutes or less.”

The transition can easily be made if media and marketing staff are interested and become advocates; often, they’re using social media in their personal life, so they’re already comfortable with the technology, Jordan says.

Timely updating key

Everett, Wash.-based Community Transit’s first foray into social media took place two years ago when they partnered with a local youth organization, the Lynnwood, Wash.-based Lynnwood Teen Advisory Group, to get help designing and spreading the word about their MySpace page.

In return for the assistance, the agency sponsored a number of activities for the group, including a skateboarding event. “We would take laptops out there, and kids would come by, log on to the MySpace page and sign up as ‘Friends,’” says Martin Munguia, public information officer. They held a contest to give away a bus pass for those who submitted suggestions on what could improve the page. With about 100 people signing up and giving ideas, the promotion was successful. “It was more authentic than some suits sitting around saying, ‘this is what we think kids will like,’” says Munguia.

Since they didn’t continue updating the page, one lesson the agency learned was “that it is sort of death for this type of medium, because people will see nothing’s changed and then they’ll lose interest, and that’s kind of what they did,” Munguia recalls.

He adds that they are moving forward, taking steps to ensure the new site on Facebook is fresh. Now, there is an appointed staff member who logs on every day, posts new information, checks for messages and ensures there’s nothing outdated on the site.

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“Other world” presence

Community Transit launched its Facebook page last November, and by March 2009, it had 258 fans. “We have a very robust Website, and we get a lot of hits, but some people live in this other world, and we want to have a presence there,” Munguia says.

The agency initially chose not to activate the “Wall” feature, which allows for posts and comments. “We have a lot of resistance — probably a lot of businesses do — to this notion that everyone can say whatever they want about your business [online], and it’s out there; executives get nervous about that,” says Munguia.

When they created the MySpace page, Munguia explains, several people posted negative comments. “Usually in that type of environment, you get self-policing: ‘No, you’re wrong, this is great,’ or discussion at least [returns] to a more objective feel.” For now, though, Munguia says that the Facebook page is more of a one-way information channel. People can post comments, but not on the Wall feature.

The agency has used the page to provide information about events they have hosted since launching Facebook and a YouTube page that they have started populating with videos and an animation of their BRT line.

 “We held a groundbreaking for our new bus rapid transit line, and started construction in December. We made a big deal around that event,” says Mungia. While he can’t say for certain that Facebook was solely responsible for the turnout, about 150 people showed up on a cold December day. Then in February, after opening a new parking garage, Community Transit did a lot of promotion on Facebook on the green aspect of the building, which used solar panels and recycled materials in the construction. Approximately 300 people showed up—an atypically high number.

Looking to the future, Community Transit is exploring Twitter, which will especially come in handy for the agency’s recent marketing plan changes brought on by budget issues. Last year, their marketing budget was cut nearly 20 percent, and this year they’re making revisions to the 2009 budget before even approaching the 2010 budget. “Marketing and training are the first to go. Usually we do a lot of institutional advertising to remind people who Community Transit is, and that we’re out there serving them. We cut that completely this year,” Munguia says. “We are looking for ways to reach people that don’t cost anything or cost very little.”

He adds that agency staff will probably pound the pavement a lot more, talk to people and reach out to them through electronic media. “We usually do that sparingly. If we also have other advertising going on, we may not need that as much, but with the absence of the more expensive marketing tools, getting out there and just talking to people is probably all we’ve got left.”

As for negatives Munguia sees with taking on social networking tools, the biggest, he says, is the unknown. “From a corporate standpoint, if you’ve never done it before, and if you don’t have any of your peers — other transit agencies that have really have a lot of experience doing it — you don’t know what to expect. There was a lot of internal discussion [over] what we would get out of it, how we would use it and who we would reach. At some point, you just need to try it and see if it works at all.”

Munguia also notes that it does take staff resources. “It’s not a lot, we’ve been learning that, but it could be, and that’s part of the unknown: how much time will you spend and the [resulting] benefit.” He says his staff dedicates about two to three hours a week, but could spend 10 hours a week and do a lot more. “At this point, we probably haven’t seen what the value of doing that would be. As we find a niche and we are seeing a lot of value coming out of it, then we’ll probably start putting a lot of investment into it,” he says.

On the positive side, Munguia notes that there are people who are interested in the agency’s services, who, when they see them in that environment, are going to be even more excited about what they have to offer, possibly because it is novel to see a transit agency on Facebook. “You may score some extra points, and then you’ve got to keep it up.”

Re-branding made easier

Johnstown, Pa.-based CamTran is primarily using Twitter and Facebook to expand their brand. They set up their Web pages at the beginning of this year and, as of early March, had about 53 Facebook page fans.

Jill Nadorlik, director, marketing and planning, is trying to gain new ridership, focusing on local bike enthusiasts. With all CamTran buses equipped with bike racks, the agency is very biker-friendly. Nadorlik is trying to educate riders and potential riders using the Facebook page, posting information on other bike advocacy organizations and news articles about the benefits of biking and multi-modal transit systems. “I also use it as a way to gain feedback, so we’ll see some event listings up there, some discussion boards, but primarily I use it to link to organizations that are doing what we would like to be doing,” says Nadorlik.

A presence on Facebook and Twitter is not what customers had expected of the agency, according to Nadorlik. “Johnstown County has an older population. Usually we’ve marketed to senior citizens who can ride our buses for free. We push that a lot. But, I talk with people who have ridden our buses or who have never even thought about it. I use Twitter for that, and it’s been pretty positive.”

One new service CamTran is marketing with social networking tools is the Johnstown Inclined Plane service, emphasizing a multi-modal transit system by utilizing a 117-year-old inclined plane. After the 1891 Johnstown Flood, a car was built to transport people out of the downtown area in case there was ever another devastating flood. CamTran took ownership of it approximately 30 years ago. Back in its heyday, when the steel mills were running, the service operated 24/7 and carried nearly one million passengers a year. Now, they carry approximately 100,000, and it mainly serves as a tourist attraction. Beginning last summer, CamTran opens it earlier and encourages commuters to bike over to the incline and ride it downtown.

 “People are trying to be greener, healthier and incorporate a little activity into their day. We see ourselves as having all of those assets that can help them live that lifestyle. That’s part of the re-branding that we’ve done,” says Nadorlik.

Something to watch for with social media tools, Nadorlik points out, is that they can seem suspect. “It’s a very personal thing, so any time that a company joins Facebook, or puts up a MySpace page, there’s a little [potential] backlash, because people feel like, ‘you’re just some company that wants to find out my demographic data.’” To move past that, Nadorlik recommends representing yourself as somebody at the company, and not that you are that company.

Munguia has solved this issue by forming an internal advisory group of employees who are on Facebook. They meet every quarter, check out the page and have become fans of it so that they can help get the word out. They contribute their comments to the administrator to help keep it fresh, provide ideas as Facebook users and share what attracts their interest, so that features on the profile remain relevant.

Nadorlik also advises agencies to be prepared when opening up a discussion. “You have to be ready for what people are going to fire back at you. If they’re going to say that your service is awful, you have to be ready for that.”

Jordan agrees. “You have to be willing to take some criticism, if you’re putting yourself out that way, have a thick skin. If you engage people, and you invite them to talk to you, they’re going to tell you what they think, good or bad.”

Agreeing with Munguia’s point that constant updates are imperative, Nadorlik stresses, “You can’t have a stale page out there, especially Twitter. People are updating 20 times a day; it’s something that I try to stay on top of.”

Holding off on participating in this media may hurt transit agencies, Nadorlik warns. “You might be missing out on a demographic that’s going to be your new rider, if you’re not already. If you don’t try to get these younger riders, who’s going to be riding your bus in 10 years? You need to act fast. If not, you might be missing a connection with potential riders.”

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Quick, direct communication

In preparation for the huge crowds attending the Nationals Park baseball stadium, the pope’s visit and the Inauguration, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (Metro) posted videos on YouTube, letting riders know what to expect and supplied tips to make navigating the transit system easier.

“We wanted people to understand, if they’re going, it’s best to buy a round trip pass, or one of our day passes,” says Doug Karas, Office of Strategic Communications, Metro. “What we were doing was really new for us, and that helped drive our media coverage, made people aware of our message.”

In March, Metro launched a Twitter page that allows riders to sign up to get information about service disruptions.However, Metro wasn’t able to implement the page right away, because the messages they planned to use were too long for the microblogging service, which restricts messages, or ‘Tweets,’ to 140 characters. Soon after identifying the problem, though, the IT department was able to work out codes that fit into that parameter.

In addition, Metro published an RSS feed on their Facebook page that shows system disruptions and plans to add a blog soon. That page was started in February, and now has more than 2,500 fans.

Recently, when Metro started a discussion on Facebook asking for ideas for other ways to generate revenue, customers joined the page as fans and started their own discussion group. “That gives us an idea of what people are talking about and their concerns, so it’s good for direct communication,” says Karas. His next step will be to ask what will keep customers coming back to the page and make it more useful.

One concern with using social media that Karas has is that it’s not always clear whether a message will go viral or not. Despite the unpredictability, he observes that due to the nature of the medium, you’re not really spending a lot of money, which makes taking risks easier.

 “The videos that we’ve done have all been very low-budget. You’re not penalized by the audience…if you try something new, different and risky, and it doesn’t take off, you haven’t invested a lot of money into it,” he says.

What was surprising to Karas was the amount of effort and energy required. “I have two people working for me [on this]… I view it as manpower-intensive. We don’t necessarily do everything that we might want to with it. We have to balance that with [performing] other functions in our job,” says Karas.

Still, he compares the results he gets from these sites versus other methods, and finds the effort a worthwhile investment. “You can have a speakers’ bureau, go out and talk to civic organizations about your agency. I think that social networking can help with that as well. It’s more direct than going to news stations. That’s the promise of it…what makes it worth trying. You have this huge opportunity.”

Along with Nadorlik, Karas stresses that eventually, if transit agencies don’t use these tools, customers will move on.

“I think more and more people are going to be using [social networking], and, if you’re not involved, you’re going to be left far behind. In terms of the health of your agency or organization, you need to start engaging people in this way,” he says. “It’s not the only way to do it, and you still have to use all the old ways, media relations and community relations, but I think you need to add this to your toolbox, if you’re going to have the best communication you can with your customers.”

About the author
Nicole Schlosser

Nicole Schlosser

Former Executive Editor

Nicole was an editor and writer for School Bus Fleet. She previously worked as an editor and writer for Metro Magazine, School Bus Fleet's sister publication.

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