Commenting in March on the Best of Impressions made by Southern Vectis' new website, we audaciously said, 'What SVOC might also find useful in reaching its passengers is an earthy tell-it-like-it-is blog'. And low, that's exactly what SVOC's gone and done. Was it us? We hope so.
We felt and feel that commercial bus blogs have the power to reach people in a far more open way than traditional websites and other marketing. Blogs can't replace printed or screen-based material but they can easily sit side-by-side, as another avenue open to the operator. We still feel that, written well, blogs can appear as if they come from the heart. They project a personality that is human in scale and believable in nature. In short, they can add personality. If you're unsure, check out Phil Stockley's Velvet Bus blog.
We'd say that Stockley's blog is aimed squarely at enthusiasts whereas SVOC's (so far) reaches customers. There are few posts to judge, to date, but the prognosis is good.
The blog has the stamp of a certain but anonymous key player over on the island and is consequently informed, well written and effective. It allows passengers to see some of the reality of running a successful bus operation. The blog owner doesn't promise to post every day; in fact, weekly posts are more likely, with quality tipped to top quantity.
Such blogs are still rare, so fair play to SVOC for giving it a go. It's the perfect addition to its top-ranked website. And you never know how successful blogs can be till you try.
islandbuses.info/wordpress
Thursday
New Blog on the Block
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6 comments:
Diamond Bus in the West Mids also has a blog: http://www.diamondbus.blogspot.com/
Its good to see that the industry is learning to communicate in new ways with its customers. I've always thought that the industry can challenge the way customers think about operations, perhaps even open the lid on why things run how they do.
As an enthusiast who has crossed over into the industry, its been educational to see how and why things are done, so if we can find new ways to communicate that's really good.
Will we get to see postings on why we have to have crew changes, what happens when you make a complaint - things that just happen in the industry, but things that probably confuse the customers as to why we have to do them...
Metrobus are now on Facebook...an industry first perhaps ?
Victor, Brighton's The Big Lemon has used Facebook but Lemon aims at student market, who use Facebook quite a lot I should imagine. Not sure whether Lemon is still going?
Arriva Guildford & West Surrey are also on facebook. Unfortunately not for the right reasons...
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=14745628039
The writing style employed by the anonymous islander is very similar to that used by Omnibuses' main authour. I wonder if they are perhaps related? I think we should be told!
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