Would you like to start a Twitter account for your transportation demand management agency but feel it’s too complicated to start? Then this video tutorial is for you! Watch this step-by-step guide to learn the basics behind signing up for an account on Twitter. You’ll learn how to send your very first tweets, follow other users, develop a following of your own, and more.

How to Create a Twitter Account was originally published on TDM Pop.
© Florida State University. All rights reserved.

In 1997, the City of Knoxville’s transit system undertook a major rebranding effort. In addition to a name change from K-Trans to Knoxville Area Transit, the system launched a promotional campaign that sought to educate the public about the name change and establish a new visual identity and feel for the system.

A highlight of these efforts was the production of two video public service announcements that challenged and even parodied prevalent automobile advertising practices of the day.

Despite the high-production values of these PSAs, they were done on a relatively small budget. How did they do it? KAT identified a local production company that had recently opened shop and was looking for a project on which to launch a reputation for quality work. Based on these PSAs, they certainly succeeded.

Transit Marketing Classic was originally published on TDM Pop.
© Florida State University. All rights reserved.

Does your organization have its own Facebook page? Do you ever find that you need to update that page’s status or upload a picture while you’re on the go? Until recently it was nearly impossible, but now there’s an app for that! Facebook has released an app for iPhone called Facebook Pages Manager. Link your Facebook account to this app and you’ll have access to all the pages for which you are an admin. In addition to being able to add content you’ll be able to access all recent page notifications, see who has recently liked the page, and read any direct messages that have been sent to you. Best of all, the app is free to download.

Facebook Pages Manager for iPhone was originally published on TDM Pop.
© Florida State University. All rights reserved.

Commuter Services of North Florida — Tallahassee, Florida

Watch these four creative commercials for encouraging carpooling created and used by Commuter Services of North Florida.

Carpooling Commercials from Commuter Services of North Florida was originally published on TDM Pop.
© Florida State University. All rights reserved.

De Lijn — Belgium

Watch these engaging, humorous, well-made commercials for the Belgian bus service De Lijn (literally: The Line).

Belgian Commercials Encouraging Bus Transportation was originally published on TDM Pop.
© Florida State University. All rights reserved.

It can seem daunting to start a social media presence, but the prospect of maintaining it might seem even more difficult. How much time will you need to devote to adding new updates throughout the week?

This is where a service like Buffer can become a huge timesaver. Buffer allows you to create an update for your Facebook page or Twitter profile, then gives you the choice to send it immediately or schedule it to be published at a later time. Imagine being able to sit down on Monday morning to write up all the updates your organization will want to post for an entire week. Then simply use the alert options built-in to Facebook and Twitter (either email or mobile push notifications) so you know when someone has interacted with your content. Until someone does you can choose to give your time and attention elsewhere.

Buffer offers several different plans. The free plan lets you keep up to 10 posts in your queue. You can link one Facebook account, one Twitter account, and one LinkedIn account. Buffer also offers two premium plans with additional features.

Use Buffer to Schedule Social Media Posts was originally published on TDM Pop.
© Florida State University. All rights reserved.

With that said, marketing is a very misunderstood concept within the public transportation sector. This could be attributed to numerous factors although the primary reason could be that public transportation has been, for the most part, modeled principally on planning and engineering concepts rather than on business.

This document contains summaries of the 4 Ps of marketing—product, price, place, and promotion—as defined within the context of TDM. They are by no means a complete overview of each, but they will help guide you in your marketing efforts.

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Understanding the 4 Ps of Marketing was originally published on TDM Pop.
© Florida State University. All rights reserved.

This is the first in a series on the basic concepts and implementation of a successful brand. Often misunderstood, branding is the foundation upon which your marketing and communication efforts are built.

The term “brand” refers to, arguably, the most vital aspect of any organization’s operations. Despite its importance, however, branding is frequently misinterpreted amongst marketers. A “brand” is often mislabeled as simply an organization’s name or logo — when, in fact, it encompasses those assets and so much more. When a brand is built properly, it can outlive any marketing campaign.

So, it is to no surprise that understanding the importance of “branding” can also make it seem daunting. In this two-part series, we will walk you through each step in the process of developing an effective brand. Our goal in Part 1 is to better acquaint public transportation professionals you with the concept of a brand; in later articles we’ll help you establish a sound foundation on which to build your brand and the assets that will support it.

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Understanding and Building Your Brand — What is Branding? was originally published on TDM Pop.
© Florida State University. All rights reserved.

Microsoft Office is a powerful and ubiquitous software suite for creating text documents, spreadsheets and presentations. But it’s also very expensive, especially if you need to purchase multiple copies for multiple computers. Furthermore, older versions of the software cannot edit the newer .docx, .xlsx, and .pptx files types. If you’re on a tight budget LibreOffice might be a great alternative for you.

LibreOffice is a free alternative to Microsoft Office. It is completely legal software. (The code for the software was written by volunteers for community use.) With it you will find Writer (an equivalent to Word), Calc (and equivalent to Excel) and Impress (an equivalent to PowerPoint), as well as other useful software. It can even open and edit the aforementioned newer file types. The user interface isn’t exactly the same as in Microsoft Office, but once you’ve used it for a while you will likely get used to the new icons and other differences.

Upgrade your productivity software with LibreOffice. It will allow you to allocate more of your program’s budget elsewhere while still providing the functionality you need.

Download LibreOffice as a Free Alternative to Microsoft Office was originally published on TDM Pop.
© Florida State University. All rights reserved.

Whether you’re interacting with people face-to-face or over the Internet, a great way to increase the public awareness and overall visibility of your program is to go where people are already going to be. With over 700 million users, Facebook is where practically everyone can be found. Creating a Facebook Page for your public transit agency or commuter assistance program is the first step to engaging these people. The process can be a bit involved, however, as there are numerous menu options and settings to consider. Here is a helpful guide to get you started.

View: PowerPoint presentation | PDF Document
Download: PowerPoint presentation | PDF Document

The Basics of Creating a Facebook Page was originally published on TDM Pop.
© Florida State University. All rights reserved.