The Rapid Social MediaGrand Rapids, Michigan

APTA Marketing & Communications Workshop

Jordan Buning

ddm marketing &

communications

February 22, 2010

Grand Rapids – a.k.a.

Who Is The Rapid

• 25 fixed routes

• Demand-response

services for people with

disabilities and those

living outside the fixed-

route service area

• Car and vanpooling

programs

2009 Social Media Facts

• > 100 million videos on YouTube

• > 9 million articles on Wikipedia

• > 200 million blogs

• > 1 billion tweets per month on Twitter

• > 400 million active users on Facebook each month

2009 Social Media Facts

• 200,000,000people active on Facebook daily

• 3,000,000,000photos added to Facebook monthly

• 188.7 minutes(avg. per person) spent watching online

video January 2010

• 55%internet users who have uploaded and shared

photos

• 57%internet users who have joined a social network

• 93%Americans online expect companies and

organizations to have a social media presence

2009 Social Media Facts

• 25% of all social media users are between 35-44

• 24% are 24 or younger

• 62% are 25-54

• Out of 19 sites listed in the study the following age

groups are the largest in:

– 0-17 4 sites

– 18-24 tops no site

– 25-34 1 site

– 35-44 11 sites

– 45-54 3 sites

– 55+ tops no site

Based on US Data, from Pingdom: http://royal.pingdom.com/2010/02/16/study-ages-of-social-network-users/

Social media earns attention because it demonstrates

accessibility, honesty, transparency, candor, and

authenticity.

These are precisely the qualities and aesthetics a

consumer is looking for in a provider and what they find

are too often lacking.

The Case For Social Media

Where Social Media Fits

Objectives Of Social Media Use

Listen Engage Interact

Monitoring tools

Traditional and new media

monitoring using keyword

driven tools

Is the subject matter gaining

traction/”getting legs” and if

so, where?

Seek information from

“searchable” content on the

Internet, blogs, Twitter, etc.

and instantly link to content

Interactive micro-site/blog

Create distinct areas to post

timely info, establish rapport

and build community

Instantly post content that

supports specialty areas with

stories, video, photos,

articles, news releases

Develop strategic

relationships with audiences

that utilize services or can

influence the marketplace

Key Categories of Information

• Riders

• Provide service value

• Real-time data

• Service changes

• Customer support

• Brand enhancement

• Community

• Connect to the community

• Educate

• Community activities and

events

• Provide insight into public

transit’s value

• Transit-related stories

• Development

What’s In Use For The Rapid

• Main site

• Facebook

• Twitter

• YouTube

• Blog

• Flickr

• Mobile Tools

Rapid Sites

Rapid Main Site

Mobile

Mobile

• Site launched Nov 25

• Average of 75 visits a day

• 882 unique people loaded the mobile site in January

• Those who didn't bounce (viewed more than one page)

– Spent over 6 minutes on the site average

– Viewed over 5 pages

• 30% of January visitors never visited mobile site

• No traffic dip on the main site

– if anything comparing October (avg. 987 daily visits) to Jan (avg. 1,014) has increased on main site

• 43% of mobile users are on an iPhone or iPod Touch

• Data supports iPhone app potential in the future

Twitter

Tracking/Managing Twitter Traffic

Tweet Samples

Tweet Samples

Tweet Samples

YouTube

YouTube

Flickr

Blog

ROI

• Likes/interactions/post quality

• Google Analytics

• General vs. mobile

• Referring sites

– FB (56) 3 minutes

– TW (28)

– Blog

– Track to specific tweets

Analytics

What We Seek For Engagement

• How can we improve engagement?

• How can we improve exposure and coverage?

• How are we empowering your community to interact?

• How do we grow usage from your community?

• How can we build a voice and a new stage for ideas?

• How do we bridge your offline experiences with your

online presence?

• How are we extending to the mobile environment?

Stories From The Road

• Content is king

• Need to create dialogue

• Need to offer quality

• Readable to the target audience

• Free it up

• Post everywhere

• Create more views / traffic

• Create momentum

ddm’s Role

• Develop strategic social media recommendations across

specific specialty areas

• Integrate social media with marketing and web strategies

• Facilitate implementation and content development (as

needed)

• Measure effectiveness

• Recommend appropriate revisions to strategies,

implementation

Thank You

Jordan Buning

ddm marketing & communications

100 Grandville Ave SW, Suite 600

Grand Rapids, MI 49503