The Effect of Social Media on Short Line Railroads Providing Passenger Services

Transcription

1 The Effect of Social Media on Short Line Railroads Providing Passenger Services

2 Social Media Social Media is a means of communication of information that is: Shared Searched Promoted Disputed Created Endless in Distribution An Experience engaging multiple generations as part of their daily lives A Platform encompassing business and personal communications An application supporting marketing and sales strategies, stand-alone public relations initiatives and public and government affairs. As an example, the scope of Facebook alone underlines the importance to the Short Line Rail industry: Facebook The largest online social network founded in Statistics Data Total monthly active Facebook users 1,310,000,000 Total number of mobile Facebook users 680,000,000 Increase in Facebook users % Average time spent on Facebook per visit 18 minutes

3 Social Network Users and Penetration Simply put, social media is a critical aspect of our business. Passengers are engaged in social media. We are part of the conversation, or we are not.

4 Central Issues GENERATIONAL ADOPTION A challenge and an opportunity. Passenger rail is an historic reference for adult generations. The Silent Generation ( ) traveled by rail and continue to do so, embracing rail travel as a customary way to travel and a nostalgic connection to the past. Baby Boomers ( ) traveled by rail and may continue to do so as a means of transportation and a package experience. GenX ( ) may have traveled by rail abroad, but have become accustomed to air and car travel as a quick and relatively inexpensive form of transportation. Millennials ( ) are most familiar with air and car travel; however, they have a high awareness of ecofocused modes of public transportation and are a demographic open to alternative modes of travel.

5 Central Issues APPLICATION As a discipline, social media can Reach all passenger demographics with a targeted message, strategy and campaign. Inform, entice, engage and grow a following that is a revenue driver Attain greater awareness and adoption of rail travel and booking conversion

6 Central Issues REAL-TIME COMMUNICATIONS Social media is an ideal vehicle to communicate key messages An important means to communicate changes as they occur: Schedule Changes Delays and Cancellations Crisis Communications A nimble tool to stay ahead of news and foster trust with passengers and followers

7 Central Issues CATEGORY AWARENESS Short line railroads are a narrow category in the tourism segment. Short line rail has not achieved prominence within the four dominant sectors of the travel and tourism industry that account for more than 60 percent of total output. Food Services Air Travel Accommodations Recreation and Attractions The US Department of Commerce outlook for these sectors presents challenges and opportunities - scenic passenger rail falls within the attractions sector. Accommodations: This subsector is the largest of the four and accounts for 19 percent of total travel industry sales. Accommodations benefited from international overseas traveler growth of 6 percent in Air Travel: This subsector is the second largest and accounts for 16 percent of travel industry sales. Airlines continuously seek ways to increase revenue by offering access to new markets as they work to reduce costs and fuel consumption by grounding inefficient aircraft and scaling back unprofitable routes. Food Services: This subsector accounts for 16 percent of travel industry sales. The National Restaurant Association predicts 3.5 percent growth for the restaurant industry in Recreation and Attractions: This subsector accounts for only 10 percent of total travel industry sales as attraction visitation has been in decline.

8 Opportunity PARTNER ENGAGEMENT An opportunity to engage travelers consuming any or all of the four dominant sectors of the leisure industry as a product extension: PACKAGING Cooperative marketing with accommodation partners through packaging places your railroads at the top of the purchase tier and a high-value reason to communicate with followers. DINING BY RAIL Rail dining experiences are relevant to the traveler with dining a top travel experience, tapping into the experiential interests of followers.

9 Opportunity RECREATION AND ATTRACTIONS An extraordinary means to engage customers through social media sites: Launch of the Eastern Flyer, offering three trips between Tulsa and Oklahoma City in February Custom website featured key information Press releases were distributed to key media Exclusive Facebook page was created at the end of December In only 5 days, the new page had over 500 likes.

10 Opportunity The Eastern Flyer Social media was a central element in reaching fans on all of the Premier Rail Collection Facebook pages -- visitors were invited to like the new addition to the collection. Tickets sold-out quickly and fans were asking for more rides. Posts featured passenger activity options in Oklahoma City, answered questions about the ride, highlighted the on-board dining and shared photos fans took as the equipment began to arrive in Oklahoma. Press Coverage was linked and video footage was shown. New Facebook likes are added every week even though the trains are not running. It has become a community sounding board to share news and developments.

11 Opportunity Holiday trains are another social media success for Iowa Pacific and the Premier Rail Collection. Our 2013 campaign utilized giveaways to promote our holiday trains at the beginning of the season in November. A Facebook application called Rafflecopter was utilized and each train offered a raffle to win a family four pack of tickets on each of our trains running holiday rides such as Polar Express or the Train to Christmas Town. Fans only had to like our page, share the link and encourage their friends to like our pages to be entered into the drawing. The response was overwhelming with some pages more than doubling their fans within 24 hours.

12 Opportunity Public Relations Optimization Social media provided an exponential PR extension. The April 13 th national broadcast of Pullman Rail segment on CBS Sunday Morning resulted in: Featured Video on CBS website Redirects Retweets e.g. Choose Chicago to 41,000 followers Syndication - Yahoo 350 new Pullman Facebook likes on day one 15,000 hits to Pullman website 100 Calls to Res Center $$ bookings

13 Social media is central to the successful marketing and operation of our passenger railroads. Opportunity Thank you for the opportunity to share our insights. I will be happy to answer questions you may have.