Step 1

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(NAME THE PROJECT)is an app works as a bike rental service that allows both byke owners to rent their bikes when they are not in use and bike riders that do not plan on owning their byke due to reasons such as cost, limited space in their places and infrequent use.

***connecting the closest bike owners and lovers + EXPLAIN MAIN POINT*****

The platform displays a range of bike options available for rent according to the user's location, who can then filter the options by price, colour, brand, year of manufacturing, gender, and size.

Both bike owners and renters need to subscribe to the platform and submit an up-to-date ID and payment method (i.e. credit card), that will be approved by the platform before they are accepted into it. Signups through social media are available but do not replace the process of documentation approval, which is done within a 24-hour span.

The price rate is defined by hours (when the customer needs to rent a bike for only an afternoon, for instance) and/or days (recommended for long summer trips), and the rates are always set by the bike owners. Each and every rent transaction charges a 15% service fee, which will secure the financial stability of the business and be used as an insurance fund in case of accidents, defects and loss of the rented items. No membership fee is available.

As a digital platform, the app is available to be downloaded and used all across Canada, although much of the marketing effort to the launch will be directed to the Great Toronto Area.

Additionally, seasonability is a key factor in the service and needs to be addressed with a highly actionable digital marketing strategy. Although the platform is available 365 days a week, inevitably it will be most sought during spring and summertime, as very few people would enjoy a cold bike ride during the winter in the Great White North.

All in all, here is a quick overview of the journey in the app, both from a bike owner and renter standpoint:

Bike owner:Signup > ID approval > Bike post info (pictures, location, color, size, etc) > Price set > Dates available (i.e Saturdays only, all days but Sundays) > Publish rent offer

Bike renter: Signup > ID approval > Payment Method > Bike Search > Payment > Pickup > Return.

According to data from Statista, the revenue of the bike sharing industry in Canada is expected to reach US$48.78 million in 2022, with a compound annual growth rate of 5.67% when considering the period of 2022-2026. Although the user penetration is estimated to be 3% currently and is expected to have a timid 0.2% increase in 2026, the rate represents a total of 3.2% or 1.3 million users across the country. The rise is fostered by political goodwill to build new bike lanes and make the citizens' lives easier. Only in Toronto, for instance, the city is expected to build 100 km of new bikeways between 2022 and 2024.

The business fits into the NAICS (North American Industry Classification System) code 532280, which comprises recreational, and consumer goods for a generally short-term rental. Some illustrative examples include exercise (physical fitness equipment rental, musical instrument rental, pleasure boats, and recreation and sports equipment rental (Statistics Canada, 2017).

It is important, however, to stance the difference between the app and other bike rental services, such as Bike Share Toronto, for instance. The major distinction is that the former business is focused on renting transactions across different bike owners spread majorly around GTA. In contrast, the latter provides rental services for the bikes owned by the company and that have specific pick-up and return locations in the city.

Although the differences, both of industries are part of the sharing economy, which has taken over a massive business share across sectors not only in Canada, but all around the world. Data from Canada West Foundation shows that the Canadian sharing economy is worth $1.3 billion, while a survey led by Environics Research found out that 9% of Canadians were working in the industry in 2017, whether for ride apps, rental services, food delivery, etc.

In fact, the increasing inflation rates in Canada have shrunk the disposable income of households across the country and consequently made them look for alternatives and substitutions, mainly for non-essential expenses, such as leisure. As a matter of reference, inflation reached an 8.1% year-over-year level in June 2022, the largest yearly chance since January 1983 (Consumer Price Index, June 2022).

From a behavioral (and yet economical) standpoint, it has become more common for Canadians to live with roommates, which is the fastest growing living arrangement in the country. Data from Statistics Canada show that 15% of young adults were living with roommates or extended family in 2021, a 4% increase in comparison with 2001 (The Star, July 2022). This fact sheds light on the fact that individuals have gradually less space in their houses or apartments and therefore need to figure out new ways to store their belongings, making the idea to rent certain items such as a bike, baggage, or lawn mower not only welcome but necessary.

Competition

Below follows a table with key players within the bike share industry in Toronto. Some of them are originally bike shops that evolved to offer rentals, but all of them service the region with both positive and negative aspects, which must be taken into consideration for the launch of the newbusiness of bike rental through an app.

Player	Service Fee	Features & Benefits	Weaknesses	Overall reviews
Bike Share Toronto	$7 (Day pass) or $15 (3-day pass). 30min pass available.	City-run program, offers memberships (annual). Discounts for PRESTO card holders.	very concentrated around downtown and unaccessible in the west/east ends	dock system malfunctions, overcharge of additional, unclear fees, misleading pricing.
Bateman's Bicycle Company	$45 (day) - $250 (week).	city and road/mountain bikes, range of styles, hosts cycling clubs.	limited to store inventory, only 2 locations	excellent customer service, staff knowledgeable.
Curbside Cycle	$35 (day) - $150 (week)	free shipping and financing available for buyers (but not for renters)	specialized niche bike store (Brompton, Cargo, etc). Only 1 location.	excellent customer service, 4,75 in Google Reviews.
Wheel Excitement	$15 (hour) - $40 (day)	Oppus, Yuba, Minnelli models	Concentrated in Waterfront, needs improvement in social media content	free helmets with rental, but security deposits and card authorizations add bureaucracy onto rentals.
Oxygen Bike Co.	$39 (day) - $150 (week).	city, fat, family and road bikes	only 1 location by the Lakeshore, closed on Sundays (!).	premium brands, lowest price guarantee and lifetime tune-up program for buyers.

Who is the ideal target customer for your product? (What are their geographic, demographic, psychographic, behavioural characteristics?) What motivates this people? What is the customer pain-point that your product solves?

Size of the target market Common attitudes, beliefs, behaviours of this group of people Trends affecting these people

Step 2

(CREATE) Design your Digital Marketing Strategy and select the right tactics.

Discuss strategy for web design and development/UX, content marketing approach, online advertising approach, search advertising approach, social media approach. Make sure you use your understanding of the target customer to justify your choices. Find and use specific, real data points from reliable secondary sources to support your recommendations.

This section must answer the following questions:

Components of "Create" section:	Recommended secondary research topics:
What is your approach to designing the webpage and/or application for your product/service? Describe how you will address the following UX principles in your web design: Findability Accessibility Desirability Usability Credibility Usefulness	Does your ideal target audience prefer to interact with a website or a mobile app? What are their expectations? What web design features are important to them?
Describe your approach to Content Marketing. Which Personas can your target audience be split into? What is your Brand Idea/Brand Essence statement? What Content Pillars fit these personas, while logically connecting to your Brand Idea/Essence? Which specific content formats/tactics will you use? (e.g. video, podcasts, blog posts, social media posts, etc.)	What topics and content formats are most commonly sought out by your target audience?
Describe your approach to Online Advertising. Which targeting options will you use? How will you apply them? (E.g. if using Contextual targeting, which contexts will you target?) Why did you make these choices? Geo-targeting Day and time Contextual targeting Behavioral targeting Which online ad formats will you use? Why? Banners Interstitials Popups and Pop-unders Floating ads and full take-over Wallpapers Map ads	What typical online behaviours of the target market lead you to conclude that certain ad formats, times of day, and contexts would be the best choices for your campaign?
Describe your approach to Search Advertising. What is your Search Advertising strategy? Which keywords/key phrases will you big on? How much will you bid? What is your expected reach? What targeting approach will you use for your search ads? What ad formats/extensions will you use?	Use Google Adwords to research the best keywords/phrases for your industry and product type. Don't forget to narrow your targeting in Google Adwords to get the correct reach numbers and suggested bid.
Describe your approach to Social Media. Which Social Media channels will you use? Will you use them for content dissemination, advertising, or both? How? Which business challenges do you aim to solve with Social Media, and how do you plan to Communication and engagement Customer service/support Reputation management Building awareness Sales and lead generation Who will you target via Social Media? Why? How? Marketing to content creators (influencers/bloggers) Marketing to content disseminators Marketing to content consumers	What typical social media behaviours of your target audience have led you to make these choices?

CREATE Design Approach

An ergonomic design of the mobile application is a must for eco-travelers who are always on the go or want (quickly-efficiently) to have a sway around the city or the owners who want the optimum utilization of their resource (bicycle). Seeing that our target segment for the service are teens, young adults and middle aged people, who are willing to commute, regularly or occasionally through an efficient mode of transport, it is quite evident that the accessibility should be provided on the go where a mobile application is important . The ease of use , quickly finding info about the available bikes nearby. Lastly, credibility is a key factor as there are currently few major competitors which provide the similar service, so keeping up and performing better would be an edge ( responsive, quick options availability, detailed information). UX Principles

SinceAPPNAMEis a new service, focus should ardently on keeping it user-friendly among all the varied platforms and devices. These principles will serve as the foundation for all concepts:

Findability - By using Google Ads, we may add terms related to our product to the search results to improve findability.

Accessibility - We will make every attempt to make the APPNAME layout consumer-friendly for the intended audience. We'll be able to offer our users quality service, and having a concise and simple design will enhance everyone's experience in general.

Desirability -By giving consumers a sense of involvement as they select the ideal options from the content on the various platforms we plan to create, APPNAME hopes to provide them with a high-quality experience.

Usability -We ensure that our service and its accessibility platform is going to be easy to use , quick availability of options and will be running throughout Canada ( Initially, Toronto and other densely populated cities).

Credibility - APPNAME -enables users to have access to the different kinds of bike they want to enjoy the commute or explore the city or want to enjoy the outskirts ride on cruiser bikes or some adventure on Hybrid , which allows the user to be reliable having a variety of options.

Usefulness:This service is quite useful for the individuals, who want to travel throughout any city, without being stuck in traffic , and also helping users to keep in shape and at the same time a reliable and cost friendly mode of transport.

Content Marketing Approach:

Personas:

Content Pillar 1: Daily Commuters/Tourists: City Bikes

Content Pillar 2: Young Adults or Students

The content should be informational, practical, and engaging given the channels that are now available. For daily commuters, articles or blogs related to pocket friendly quick travel through city streets or exploring around the city for tourists (cost-friendly way) will definitely catch the eye. This content could be valuable for the travelers who don't want to be jammed in traffic.

Whereas, on the other hand, social media posts, blogs or articles relevant to making small earnings with bikes, or the ones who are willing to stay fit and may use eco-friendly mode to travel can easily catch attention. It is pertinent to a large group of bikers, both homegrown and foreign. Through the content Increasing the visibility of local bike rental search phrases on search engine results pages will be the goal.

Brand Essence:

"QuickBikes On the Go"

The word QuickBikes reflects easily accessible bikes while being on the move. This articulates the bikes accessibility on the move or the purpose of it.

Content Format:

In order to boost the target customer engagement, blogs, short videos are quite useful to catch attention while the travelers may be finding the best solution to commute by saving time as well. Also podcasts can work well in case of tourists moving to a different place ( while moving). Social media references could also be used to target where the content is a fast read or quick watch video.

Search Advertising

Google Ad Words	Volume	Bid	Results
public bike rental	110000	1.21	95.9M
Bike Rental Vancouver	4400	0.84	7.4M
Bike Rentals	4400	0.92	112M
Rental bikes	3600	0.92	764M
Rent a Bike	3200	0.71	72M
bike rental near me	2900	0.71	175M
Bike rental toronto	2900	0.6	7.5M
Toronto bike rental	2400	0.6	1.4M
canmore bike rentals	1,600	0.27	188K
toronto rental bikes	2,400	0.71	3.5M

The amount of keyword research is quite substantial. It appeals to a sizable market of conscious people.

Step 3

(ENGAGE) Develop a promotional schedule for how you will drive traffic and build customer relationships.

This is a 12-month calendar for when each of the elements you described in the CREATE section will be implemented. Make sure this section closely aligns with CREATE section. Include a summary to explain the choices you made, particularly choices around timing and always-on tactics vs. intermittent marketing efforts.

This section must answer the following questions:

Components of "Engage" section:	Recommended secondary research topics:
When will your product launch? Why did you choose that time of year?	Seasonality of the industry, if any
When will your marketing campaign start? Before, on, or after product launch date? Why did you make this choice?	How involved is your target audience in making this type of purchase decision? Would this decision be planned (requiring lots of research and time), or unplanned (requiring only a short burst of awareness about the product)?
How long will your marketing campaign last? Why?
Will any of the marketing campaign components be implemented as always-on? Which ones? Why did you make this choice?	Seasonality of the industry or of consumption of particular media types
Will any of the marketing campaign components be implemented as short bursts/pushes? Which ones? During which times of the year? Why did you make this choice?

This section must also include a promotional calendar, using the below template example. Your 12-month calendar doesn't need to start with January. Begin your calendar with the product launch date, or with the date of the earliest marketing tactic, if you are planning to implement any marketing before the product launch date.

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Tactic 1

Tactic 2

Tactic 3

...

...

Step 4

(OPTIMIZE): State the digital objectives, specific metrics to track, data collection approach, data analysis approach and how you will optimize the plan.

Ensure that you list the specific metrics that are the goals of your plan, how you intend to collect the data, how you plan to analyze it, and how you will use these findings to optimize your plan. Make sure that you include metrics to measure the effectiveness of each of the marketing tactics you listed in the CREATE/ENGAGE sections. You should have one overall objective (e.g. # of new customers, market share, or a $ sales goal), and several metrics that relate to each of the marketing tactics. (E.g. If your plan includes a website, will you track site visits/time on site/bounce rate, etc.? If your plan includes social media, what engagement metrics will you track?)

This section must answer the following questions:

Components of "Optimize" section:

What is the numerical objective(s) of your plan? (# of new customers, market share, a $ sales goal, or other)

Which metrics will you need to track to check whether the plan is successful?

(These should be metrics specific to each of the tactics described in your CREATE/ENGAGE sections. How will you check that each of the tactics is being successful?)

How do you intend to collect the data?

How do you propose to analyze this data?

What will you do to optimize the plan if certain parts of it are less successful than others, according to your analysis?

Bibliography

North American Industry Classification System, 2017. 532280 - All other consumer goods rental. Retrieved fromhttps://www23.statcan.gc.ca/imdb/p3VD.pl?Function=getVD&TVD=1181553&CVD=1182718&CPV=532280&CST=01012017&CLV=5&MLV=5

15 Astounding Sharing Economy Statistics for 2021.https://reviewlution.ca/resources/sharing-economy-statistics/#:~:text=Is%20the%20sharing%20economy%20good,estimated%20to%20be%2086.5%20million.

Consumer Price Index, Statistics Canada (June 2022). retrieved fromhttps://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/220720/dq220720a-eng.htm

Roomates household the fastest growing living arrangement in Canada, census shows. The Toronto Star July 14, 2022. Retrieved fromhttps://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2022/07/13/roommate-households-the-fastest-growing-living-arrangement-in-canada-census-shows.html

Bike-sharing Canada (August 2022) Retrieved fromhttps://www.statista.com/outlook/mmo/shared-mobility/shared-rides/bike-sharing/canada

Daily Hive, Laura Hanrahan. (Dec 7, 2021). Toronto looking to build 100 km of brand new bike lanes across the city. Retrieved fromhttps://dailyhive.com/toronto/toronto-add-100-km-new-bike-lanes

April 27, 2019. The top 10 bike rental options in Toronto. BlogTO. Retrieved fromhttps://www.blogto.com/sports_play/2014/06/the_top_10_bike_rental_options_in_toronto/