Draft graphic: Marketing strategy connected with behavioral change process
Client Question:
Do we have enough unused capacity (empty seats) within our current operations to support expanding ridership without incurring significant additional costs? If we do, we plan to market our services to help expand ridership; how should we go about the marketing process? Who should we market to, what materials and messages should we consider, and what results could we anticipate?
Civic Sphere worked with a public transport provider in Northeast Iowa, USA through a National Center for Applied Transit Technology-funded project in 2023. Part of the project involved creating a package of materials to help the organization get started on marketing its demand-responsive transport (DRT) service to a broader user group. But first, they wanted proof that there was enough unused capacity to support increased ridership.
The answer? Yes, absolutely, there is plenty of unused capacity to leverage. After Civic Sphere completed a “latent capacity analysis,” the organization was aware that its operations had more than 85% unused capacity on average. With this unused capacity confirmed, they knew they could safely market their services to new rider types such as factory workers and university students – ultimately better serving the community without a large increase in operational costs.
Civic Sphere provided a marketing package that helped the organization consider which audiences and sub-audiences to target, provided messages that were likely to resonate with such audiences, and included suggestions for in-person, mail-based, and virtual methods of connection. A results tracking framework was also provided which leveraged all available data. This framework will also inform how the organization adjusts the marketing campaign over time, based on what is not working and what is working well.
Do we have enough unused capacity (empty seats) within our current operations to support expanding ridership without incurring significant additional costs? If we do, we plan to market our services to help expand ridership; how should we go about the marketing process? Who should we market to, what materials and messages should we consider, and what results could we anticipate?
Civic Sphere worked with a public transport provider in Northeast Iowa, USA through a National Center for Applied Transit Technology-funded project in 2023. Part of the project involved creating a package of materials to help the organization get started on marketing its demand-responsive transport (DRT) service to a broader user group. But first, they wanted proof that there was enough unused capacity to support increased ridership.
The answer? Yes, absolutely, there is plenty of unused capacity to leverage. After Civic Sphere completed a “latent capacity analysis,” the organization was aware that its operations had more than 85% unused capacity on average. With this unused capacity confirmed, they knew they could safely market their services to new rider types such as factory workers and university students – ultimately better serving the community without a large increase in operational costs.
Civic Sphere provided a marketing package that helped the organization consider which audiences and sub-audiences to target, provided messages that were likely to resonate with such audiences, and included suggestions for in-person, mail-based, and virtual methods of connection. A results tracking framework was also provided which leveraged all available data. This framework will also inform how the organization adjusts the marketing campaign over time, based on what is not working and what is working well.
