DCTA’s Election 2020 Free Ride Campaign Helped Voters Get to the Polls
Target Audience: Key target audiences for the campaign included voters, DCTA riders and potential riders, stakeholders and member cities, community partners, social service agencies and local organizations (especially those with a tie-in to government/voting) and universities and colleges.
Strategy Objective:The main goals were to target audience about the free ride promotion, drive traffic to the promotional webpage, generate engagement and promotion awareness through DCTA's owned media channels (social media, email marketing, etc.) and have 1,400 total ridership on all qualified services on the days DCTA was offering free rides for Election 2020.
Situation Challenge: Election years always present transit agencies with the opportunity to get voters to the polls, and 2020 was no different. This year, DCTA provided free rides on select agency services on specific voting days (no proof of voter registration or destination was required to ride free). DCTA developed a strategic plan to promote its free ride campaign to its target audience. In addition, DCTA teamed up with its regional transit partners – DART and Trinity Metro – on a joint news release to announce all free transit ride opportunities for Election 2020. The main challenges DCTA faced was developing the campaign in house with no budget. In addition, DCTA had to ensure successful implementation in a short amount of time, while dealing with COVID-19 and ensuring passengers felt safe on DCTA.
Results Impact: - Total Ridership – 4,354 for all services included in campaign promotion (goal was 1,400) - Campaign Webpage – 328 total page views and 3:37 average time on page - Public Relations – 22 media articles secured with 2.3 million total reach and $21,278 publicity value - Social Media Advertising – 15,921 total impressions and 360 total engagements for Facebook and Twitter combined
Why Submit: Despite the challenges of COVID-19, DCTA was able to successfully implement a significant and relevant free ride campaign that helped increased ridership for the agency (during a time when ridership is decreasing) and was helpful in giving people a free ride to the polls to vote in Election 2020.