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Why ACT’s Content Marketing is Just the Ticket

June 28, 2009, by , Posted in Case studies, 0 Comment
Of all the forms of public transport, the bus is probably the hardest sell. They’re invariably uncomfortable, dirty, over-expensive and difficult to walk in without ploughing hip bone into steel rail. For all the stick they get, the train is a vastly superior alternative.
Of course, the above view was largely formed about 15 years ago, since when I’ve taken approximately two bus journeys. Both were undeniably miserable, but are they really all like that?
Perhaps what the bus really needs is decent bit of online marketing. AC Transit runs the bus transport in the San Francisco Bay area, handling more than 65million passengers each year. I don’t know whether they all have a more positive idea of bus travel, but even if a small proportion do, ACT Travel deserve some credit.
They’ve created an excellent microsite called ACT for me, which presents a welter of useful content that succeeds in presenting bus travel as a far more friendly and worthwhile means of getting about.
Take the webisode contest, which asked travellers to submit a short video highlighting the role their bus plays in their community. An overly ambitious project, you may think, but the results are impressive – and the winners and finalists are all now enjoying cash prizes and free bus rides.
Aside from that, there’s a hugely useful savings calculator, which calculates how much money and carbon you could save by taking the bus instead of your car.
Then there’s lots of information about community and environmental benefits, as well as the future of ACT Transit (“essentially light rail without the tracks”). Testimonial quotes and images, news and a link to journey details complete an impressive example of how to use content marketing online.

ACT

Of all the forms of public transport, the bus is probably the hardest sell. They’re invariably uncomfortable, dirty, over-expensive and difficult to walk in without ploughing a hip bone into steel rail. For all the stick they get, the train is a vastly superior alternative.

Of course, the above view was largely formed about 15 years ago, since when I’ve taken approximately two bus journeys. Both were undeniably miserable, but are they really all like that?

Perhaps what the bus really needs is decent bit of online content marketing. AC Transit runs the bus transport in the San Francisco Bay area, handling more than 65million passengers each year. I don’t know whether they all have a more positive idea of bus travel, but even if a small proportion do, ACT Travel deserve some credit.

They’ve created an excellent microsite called ACT for me, which presents a welter of useful content that succeeds in presenting bus travel as a far more friendly and worthwhile means of getting about.

Take the webisode contest, which asked travellers to submit a short video highlighting the role their bus plays in their community. An overly ambitious project, you may think, but the results are impressive – and the winners and finalists are all now enjoying cash prizes and free bus rides.

Aside from that, there’s a hugely useful savings calculator, which calculates how much money and carbon you could save by taking the bus instead of your car.

Then there’s lots of information about community and environmental benefits, as well as the future of AC Transit (“essentially light rail without the tracks”). Testimonial quotes and images, news and a link to journey details complete an impressive example of how to use content marketing online.

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