social media in transit
DESCRIPTION
This is a presentation given on May 28, 2014 at the Real Time Passenger Information Conference. It shows the experiences my team and WMATA faced and the steps we took to build a social media program at Metro.TRANSCRIPT
Assessing How Operators Are Integrating Social Media Into Existing Control Structures
To Determine Optimum Information Levels To Push To Digital Customers
Brian AndersonDigital Communications Manager, WMATA
introductionbrian anderson, manager of digital communications
began as Social Media Manager, building WMATA’s social program on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter
this is a story of what social means to WMATA, how we got there, lessons learned and thinking about the future
of social in transit
social @ wmata
twitter @wmata - 61,500 followers
@metrorailinfo - 17,500 followers @metrobusinfo - 4,642 followers
@metrotransitpd - 3,769 followers !
facebook - 7,300 'likes' youtube - 426,000 views
!
ridership total -1.2 million
metrorail - 800,000 people metrobus - 400,000 people
why social?washington, DC is a strong media market
!social provides incredible source
of intelligence !
keeping pace with new channels for communication
!need a broadcast platform for
WMATA initiatives like our capital rebuilding program -
MetroForward
social rules at the beginning
internal plan for social different than what riders demanded
social was only broadcast
!service engagement was to help
explain & control message
traditional Customer Service unchanged
challenges to introducing social capital program re-building effort (MetroForward) was not
showing immediate results in a "right now" world
constant reassurance of service delivery
strong group of extreme advocates
use of initials like ^BA & ^DS individualized responsibility for messaging
one account for everything
inconsistent response hours
inconsistent engagement
John Hendel, blogger for TBD On Foot, former mobility bloghttp://www.tbd.com/blogs/tbd-on-foot/
“WMATA now needs to tighten its commitment to specific channels and really develop a human, open, and consistent voice that
convinces its riders that the agency is listening and engaged and not entirely a PR flourish.”
social rules today
four twitter accounts
defined service hours!
more encouragement on human follow up using traditional channels
!goal of delivering consistent, fast,
detailed information
the social advantage
invaluable ability to provide real-time service updates and feedback through twitter
facebook provides a face to the organization with a chance for Q&A style education in messages &
comments; visual medium
youtube helps riders understand behind-the-scenes rebuilding and other complex WMATA issues
service information first
"first on twitter" approach to service information during rush hour
programmed tweeting
consistent engagement
mid-day or weekends for visual promotional product
maximizing social
balance social for your organization
*CONSISTENCY*
develop a plan with strong resources
making social an corporate culture
what's next?
self-reporting mobile apps
business intelligence analysis
customer profiling in CRM