Submitted by G. Tomas M. Hult, Ph.D. |
The Importance of Developing a Marketing Plan
A strategic market plan is an outline of the methods and resources required to achieve a public transit organization’s goals within a specific target market. It takes into account not only marketing, but also all functional aspects of a business that must be coordinated (i.e., finance, research and development, human resources, and marketing). The process of strategic market planning yields a marketing strategy that is the framewo...
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Submitted by G. Tomas M. Hult, Ph.D. |
Establishing a Mission and Goals
The goals of any public transit organization should be derived from its mission. Most successful public transit systems put their missions in writing in the form of a mission statement, which is a long-term view, or vision, of what the organization wants to become. A mission statement highlights the distinctive competencies of the particular public transit organizations vis-a-vis its competitors. Several reasons exist for the public transit or...
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Submitted by G. Tomas M. Hult, Ph.D. |
Organizational Opportunities and Resources
Once the public transit organization has established its mission and goals, it must then take stock of its opportunities as well as the resources it has available to take advantage of those opportunities. There are three major considerations in assessing opportunities and resources in the public transit marketplace, including: environmental scanning, evaluating market opportunities, and understanding the organization’s capabilities a...
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Submitted by G. Tomas M. Hult, Ph.D. |
Developing Corporate Strategies
Corporate strategy determines the means for utilizing resources in the areas of finance, research and development, human resources, marketing, and production to reach the organization’s goals. A corporate strategy determines not only the scope of the business but also its resource deployment, competitive advantages, and overall coordination of all the functional areas. Two questions have to be addressed in the process of establishing a corpora...
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Submitted by G. Tomas M. Hult, Ph.D. |
Developing a Marketing Strategy
The next phase in the strategic market planning is the development of a marketing strategy. A marketing strategy for a public transit organization is typically designed around two components: (1) the selection of a target market and (2) the creation of a marketing mix that will satisfy the needs of the selected target market. A marketing strategy is a detailed explanation of how the public transit organization will achieve its marketing objecti...
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Submitted by G. Tomas M. Hult, Ph.D. |
Creating the Marketing Plan
The final stage of the strategic market planning process is marketing planning, or the systematic process of assessing market opportunities and resources, determining marketing objectives, defining marketing strategies, and establishing guidelines for implementation and control of the public transit organization’s marketing program. The outcome of this process is a formal, written document that outlines and explains all the activities necessary to ...
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Submitted by G. Tomas M. Hult, Ph.D. |
References
The following represents a list of references used to compose the document on "Strategic Market Planning for Public Transit Systems: The Importance of Developing a Marketing Plan." Although our goal is to provide a comprehensive yet manageable document that covers all aspects of strategic market planning based on established knowledge in marketing and management, we realize that some of this knowledge may be copyrighted. While we have not intentionally used such ma...
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Submitted by The American Public Transit Association | America
The key to implementing an effective marketing strategy is being aware of the characteristics of transit riders. What follows is a series of graphs which illustrate the make-up of transit riders in America today. The information was compiled from "Americans in Transit: A Profile of Public Transit Passengers", a report produced by the American Public Transit Association in 1992.
Here is a quick overview of the information contained within the report:
* The majority o...
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Submitted by Jessica Cumbie | Florida
Until recently, the use of promotional products for business marketing has been kept to a minimum. Promotional products are now gaining more popularity and because of the benefits associated with promotional product marketing, more businesses are flourishing as well.
In 2005, Georgia Southern University conducted a study to see the reaction of consumers who received a business gift. Those who received a promotional product had a significantly higher positive image and perception of ...
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Submitted by Elizabeth Stutts and Elizabeth Bailey | Florida
Purpose: To help Transportation Management Organizations assess their communications methods and develop a more strategic approach to reaching their most valuable audiences.
Transportation organizations face numerous challenges in reaching their audiences and motivating them to action. Despite compelling arguments such as traffic congestion, diminishing air quality, and time-consuming commutes, it has proven extremely difficult to convince commuters to use alternativ...
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