6 Tips for Marketing Your Commuter Program

The success of a commuter program can often depend on reaching and engaging the right audience.

Depending on the target audience, organizations need to market and promote commuter programs in different ways. Government organizations may be looking to reach commuters directly, or to partner with local employers. Businesses are seeking to engage and motivate their own employees. Educational institutions want to spread the word among staff, faculty, and students.

Whichever scenario you are facing, you’ll need a tailored communications plan to connect with your target audience. To that end, here are six helpful tips that will help you market commuter programs more effectively:

• Start by listening. Commuter surveys are invaluable tools for understanding commuter behavior and preferences. They are essential in the planning stages of a campaign, especially for learning which alternative modes of transportation your commuter base would be most likely to try.
• Emphasize benefits that matter to commuters (or their employers). Surveys can also deliver valuable insights into what matters most to your target commuter base. You can use that information to design campaigns and marketing materials that emphasize benefits. For example, commuters might be looking to save money or get more exercise, so focusing on that interest might help you appeal to them.
• Use simple graphics to create eye-catching, easy-to-understand pictorial representations. There are many free or inexpensive graphics platforms you can use to put together visuals that quickly and clearly express your program’s fundamentals. Try pairing graphics with relevant statistics to draw attention to a particular problem associated with commuting, or to illustrate a specific benefit you’re trying to achieve.
• Create a strong, two-sentence summary for your program. When you market commuter programs, you’ve got to engage people in a simple and direct way on what matters to them. Have a clean, easily digestible, and compelling two-sentence summary of what the program does for your audience to add to your script anytime you talk about your efforts.
• Make the most of existing communications channels. Before you try to create brand-new channels for communications, use ones that already exist. For instance, use recurring departmental or interdepartmental meetings as an opportunity to market commuter programs, or leverage employee newsletters, campus newspapers, or existing advertising networks to help get the word out.
• Designate a “point person” to deliver your message. In large organizations, it’s better to designate a “point person” who can deliver your message directly to team members than it is for an anonymous, unconnected individual to reach out to the entire commuter base. Messages are more readily accepted when they’re delivered by someone you know, so try to get departmental or team-based reps involved in your program.

RideAmigos takes employer and commuter engagement seriously. Whether you have a professional branding and communications team, or you’re working with zero marketing resources, we have a solution for you. From science-based automated engagement programs built into our apps to premium self-service content management and email marketing tools for administrators in our Commute Hub and Regional TDM Hub, we are helping successful modeshift programs everywhere generate enthusiasm, high participation rates, and real measurable results.

For more insight, contact us to discuss your program today.