Transit Marketing Best Practices Brian Sullivan, Chief Marketing Officer National Express Transit Corporation Thursday, October 22, 2015

2 Start with well-defined objectives Leverage every resource Encourage and harness creativity Make it fun Measure results Learn from mistakes Overview

3 Why are we doing this? (What are we working to accomplish?) Who is needed to achieve the goals? Who is “in charge”? Where will the messaging be targeted? When does the project or campaign take place (be specific)? What is the project or campaign? How will we measure success/results? Start with well-defined objectives

4 Every transit marketing project has a limited (or “no”) budget Transit marketers must be masters of resourcefulness Develop a plan to wisely invest any budget allotted Rely heavily on cost-effective social media throughout  Make continual efforts to build your social media audience in anticipation of specific campaigns downstream  Develop a social media plan for every project  Be sure to use the “right” social media for the project Leverage the resources of vendors and partners  They want to bring added-value  They may have additional “budget” resources they can apply on your behalf  Be careful not to let them “take over” Work media trades if applicable and allowable (e.g. on-vehicle advertising) Leverage community partnerships/stakeholders for cross-promotion Don’t forget your most important resource… Leverage every resource

5 Human creativity is your greatest resource In the very early stages, brainstorm and cultivate creativity Use humor and appeal to the senses Seek a variety of opinions  Some of the best ideas come from unexpected sources Bounce ideas off non-transit people Reach out to peers in the industry  There is a good chance there is some excellent advice out there Don’t be afraid to revisit the creative throughout process Be true to your brand Encourage and harness CREATIVITY

6 PART 13 th Anniversary Celebration Encourage and harness creativity

7 The best way to accomplish marketing goals is to make getting there fun Everyone loves to celebrate Use marketing campaigns and brainstorming to build morale It’s amazing how much you can achieve by providing pizza and refreshments If successful, your target audience will also have fun Make it fun

8 All marketing campaigns and projects are measurable Include results measurement techniques in your plans up-front Results reporting is not always complicated Use the formats most comfortable for your stakeholders If you want future resources, you must show and share results (ROI) Measure results

9 Measure your internal customers’ satisfaction with results Discuss what worked Discuss what didn’t work Document both This can even be done during the process if you believe you may be veering off course Learn from mistakes

10 Start with well-defined objectives Leverage every resource Encourage and harness creativity Make it fun Measure results Learn from mistakes Summary