Smaller coach and bus operators should not neglect marketing despite their relatively small budgets, experts agreed during a panel session at the Confederation of Passenger Transport Conference in London on 23 January.
Speaking during a section entitled “The new customer”, Sarah Bartlett, Senior PR Manager at FlixBus, warned against over-investment in social media. “Understand who your audience is and find ways to deliver your message to them directly,” she says.
“It is very easy to say that social media might be a good idea but, if your customers typically aren’t there, there is no point investing your time, energy and hard-earned revenue into a channel that doesn’t work for your customers.”
Alistair Hands, UK Bus Managing Director Regions at Arriva, agrees with the need to take a very measured approach. “I’d almost say don’t be distracted by whistles and bells. It may be that it’s not for a smaller operator if you can’t make the return on an investment that size,” he says.
However, Mr Hands adds that partnership working can do much to market an operation more effectively. “There are lots of opportunities for local authority and private partnerships to be able to band together to put together campaigns that drive patronage across an area,” he adds.
“That is important for the sector because head-to-head competition is relatively low – it is not like we are competing like airlines for the same passenger. But also, when we’ve done our customer research, brand recognition is relatively low, so promoting bus use can absolutely work in areas where a group of operators band together.”
