Social Media: SORTA/Metro
(2021 — 2023)
As External Affairs Manager at SORTA/Metro, I oversaw all owned digital content strategy, including the agency’s social media platforms. While many transit agencies utilize social media for real-time service alerts, Metro used them primarily for sharing agency news and achievements and engaging present and future customers with compelling content and contests. In this role, I developed the strategy and oversaw a digital media specialist, who produced the content and managed the platforms day-to-day. Occasionally, I would contribute copy and/or graphics.
UC Students Ride Metro Fare-Free
Fall 2022/Spring 2023: Metro partnered with the University of Cincinnati (and later Xavier University) to provide fare-free bus rides for students who used the Transit app to plan and pay for their trip. This post was a collaboration with the UC Student Government, showing how easy it was to get started.
Copy/Graphics: UC Student Government
Metro Madness 2023
Spring 2023: Metro utilized “March Madness” hype to engage our existing followers with information about new routes by way of a good, old-fashioned tourney bracket contest. Followers voted on match-ups each round (voting for whichever route they liked best, for whatever reason they liked), and the most accurate brackets received prizes.
Copy: Pat LaFleur
Graphic: Jackson Thurnquist/August Schweitzer
Bus Rapid Transit Public Outreach
Fall 2022: Metro launched a study to determine which two of four possible bus rapid transit (BRT) corridors the agency would construct over the next decade. Metro utilized its social media platforms to educate the public on what BRT is and to direct them to upcoming public forums and an informational website (www.metrobrtstudy.com).
Copy: Pat LaFleur
Graphics: Regional Mobility Group
Bus Rapid Transit Public Outreach Trivia
Fall 2022: Metro also promoted the BRT study by integrating content into existing social media staples already well-received by followers, in this case the weekly #WinItWednesday trivia question.
Copy: August Schweitzer
Graphic: August Schweitzer
Shop Small, Go Metro!
Holiday Season 2022: Leveraging the annual “Shop Small” movements around the holidays, this campaign worked to remind existing and future customers that Metro is more than just a ride to and from work. Metro engaged anchor small businesses in key neighborhoods to partner for rewards and giveaways. The campaign promoted both the businesses and the rewards of riding Metro to visit and patronize them.
Copy: Pat LaFleur
Graphic: Metro intern
Metro Great Summer Staycation
Summer 2022: As part of Metro’s larger strategy to position taking the bus as for more than just one’s work commute, it partnered with neighborhood business districts across Cincinnati to offer prizes and rewards for visiting these destinations by Metro.
Copy: Pat LaFleur
Graphic: Shamir Ballard
Metro Summer Staycation 2023
Summer 2023: The Summer Staycation was so popular its first year Metro decided to do it again with a refreshed, retro 1970s look as a nod to the agency’s founding 50 years prior in 1973.
Copy: August Schweitzer
Graphics: August Schweitzer
Had E-nough at the Pump?
Spring 2022: When gas prices in the U.S. quickly spiked after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Metro saw an opportunity to ease people’s pain at the pump and to introduce them to an affordable alternative with fare-free rides for a week.
Copy: Pat LaFleur
Graphic: Suzanne Gilkey
Bus Operator Hiring Campaign
Ongoing: Metro didn’t limit its job promotion to LinkedIn; Facebook, Instagram and X posts promoted upcoming job fairs and available positions between three and five times each month.
Copy: Pat LaFleur
Graphic: Pat LaFleur