| I recently returned from a trip (part work, part pure | | | | asked for it back so I could write about it. |
| play) to San Francisco. I grabbed a cable car ticket | | | | Not only did the ticket serve a dual function as an |
| before jumping on and found myself enthralled by a | | | | ticket and an educational "brochure," it provided cable |
| strikingly effective marketing tactic - The San | | | | car riders with an opportunity to become collectors |
| Francisco Cable Car Collectors' Series. | | | | and provided them with a natural viral marketing |
| Here goes:o The Tactic: | | | | opportunity (sending the postcard to friends or family). |
| My ticket featured a 1914 photo of two cable cars | | | | Absolutely brilliant and very low cost. No fee for |
| stopped at a famous San Francisco intersection with | | | | distribution, media relations or postage. Just modest |
| an overlying headline naming the cable car lines. Three | | | | design and printing costs.o Putting This Approach To |
| small photos illustrating how the cable car system | | | | Work for Your Organization |
| works were placed under the main photo, along with | | | | I encourage you to get busy now -- before you forget |
| the attribution "San Francisco Cable Car Collectors' | | | | about this technique -- to figure out how to put it to |
| Series." So there's a series of cards, which serves as | | | | use in your nonprofit. Here are some ideas:o Raffle |
| an incentive to ride the cable cars to collect them all. | | | | tickets.o Special event invitations or tickets.o Entrance |
| I noticed a detachable stub and, when turning the ticket | | | | or performance tickets (this is a natural for cultural |
| over, saw that the flip side was designed to serve as | | | | organizations). |
| a postcard. | | | | Remember, the card should look like a postcard you'd |
| So, after my ticket stub was torn off, I read the | | | | like to send to a friend or family member. The |
| educational content which enriched my ride. Later, I | | | | photograph should engage the sender and the recipient |
| jotted down a few highlights from our trip, stamped the | | | | so that they read the text blurb you include on the |
| card and sent it off to my Dad, who loved it and | | | | card and want to find out more. |
| propped it up on his kitchen counter.o The Four-Way | | | | Don't forget to include your web address in the blurb. |
| Impact | | | | It's the quickest way to drive audiences to more |
| I obviously responded very positively to the piece, as | | | | information on your organization. |
| did my Dad. He didn't want to give up the card when I | | | | |