Marketing and Outreach Tools Overview

Marketing and Outreach Tools Overview

Marketing Strategies Within the Checklist Tool

1. Community Outreach

  • Develop Local Advisory Board(s)
  • Create Community Feedback Forum(s)
  • Publish a Newsletter
  • Participate in Community Events
  • Participate in Targeted Outreach
  • Develop a Travel Training Program

2. Branding

  • Develop or Enhance an Image
  • Actively Manage Your Image

3. Rider Information and Awareness

  • Develop a Rider Mobility Guide
  • Develop a Website
  • Utilize Social Networking Sites

4. Media Advertising

  • Maintain Strong Media and Public Relations
  • Advertise the Public Transit System
  • Participate in Public Speaking Events
  • Embark on a Testimonial Campaign

5. Customer Service

  • Develop a Customer Feedback System
  • Market Internally
  • Administer Rider and Non-Rider Surveys

6. Additional Marketing Strategies

  • Sell Advertising Space on Transit Vehicles

Possible Marketing Objectives

Marketing objectives support a public transit system’s mission and assist in accomplishing its goals. Your objectives should guide which marketing activities are included in your plan. Below are several sample marketing objectives.

  • Build greater awareness of the transit services offered
  • Increase the availability of information
  • Enhance rider knowledge of the public transit system
  • Build a more positive image through better customer service
  • Make the public transit system easier to understand
  • Make transit more appealing for everyone

It may be beneficial to be more specific on your marketing objectives. For example, instead of stating that you wish to build a more positive image through better customer service, you could say that you wish to reduce customer complaints by 10%. Reducing customer complaints by 10% would create both a more positive image and improve customer service.

Marketing Plan Checklist Guide

A public transit system’s primary goal should always involve a customer centered approach that addresses the community’s needs; therefore, a public transit system must inform the community of what their services are and the benefits they offer to meet those needs. To accomplish this and to gain buy-in, a public transit system must produce, implement, and evaluate a marketing plan.

A marketing plan does not need to be complex. However, it should contain the following parts: marketing objectives; activities with action steps to meet those objectives; a timeline for implementation; a budget; and a method to evaluate marketing effectiveness.

Before work on a marketing plan begins, clearly establish roles for everyone involved. This guarantees that marketing responsibilities will not fall onto a single person. Directors, staff, and any boards that are developed should be included in the marketing process. Those chosen for such positions must be persistent and have strong leadership skills.

Be realistic about the time and resources you have available and only work on the activities you can accomplish well. While it would benefit your public transit system to participate in all of the activities listed on the following pages, it is better to prioritize several activities rather than attempting all activities. Once you’ve seen some success on the more important activities, move onto the others.

A marketing plan should be reviewed annually to assess whether it can be more specific or better reflect current marketing activities. The following pages provide a checklist of activities, action steps, and three worksheets to create or update a marketing plan. This checklist is based on marketing best practices.

Checklist Directions

  1. All decisions made throughout your marketing plan should be customer-focused. Review your transit system’s mission statement to verify it is focused on the rider. If you do not have a mission statement, it is critical to your marketing plan to develop one. A sample can be found on the Marketing Objectives Worksheet. Write your transit system’s mission statement in the box provided on this worksheet.
  2. After reviewing, updating, or drafting a mission statement, determine those objectives you wish to accomplish with your marketing plan. A list of sample objectives has been provided at the bottom of this page; please note that this list is not comprehensive and you may have additional objectives you would like to accomplish. Once you have determined your marketing objectives list them on the Marketing Objectives Worksheet.
  3. Once you have selected the objectives you wish to accomplish, look at ACTIVITIES HYPERLINK for activities that may help you complete them. As you read through these activities, place a check next to those activities you wish to include or expand upon in your marketing plan. If you are currently engaged in an activity, that’s great! Based on the “Action Steps” listed, determine whether or not there are additional actions that can be taken to further improve the activity and continue participating in that activity. At the end of each table is an open box for you to write in any additional activities you wish to engage in related to the strategy.
  4. After selecting activities you wish to focus on, go to the Marketing Activities Worksheet. Follow the instructions on the worksheet.
  5. Finally, go to the Marketing Evaluation Worksheet. This worksheet will establish how to evaluate whether the marketing activities are successful. Follow the instructions on the worksheet.
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