Are you making the most of Amtrak’s second annual National Train Day event on May 9, 2009? Your railroad, museum, or private railcar can piggyback onto the U.S. national event to get free local publicity and free sales leads.
Amtrak makes it easy with several free marketing tools, but you’ll have to do the legwork for your organization. Here’s what you need to get started!
If you don’t have an event scheduled on May 9, consider what you can organize on short notice. Options include behind-the-scenes tours of your facility, stationary tours of your railcar, and short train rides for the public. But I’ll assume that you already have something planned.
Check out the National Train Day website at www.NationalTrainDay.com. The site focuses on flagship events at Amtrak’s stations in Washington, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Los Angeles. You aren’t there? Not a problem! The website also lists more than 100 events in other cities around the United States–and you can submit your events to the national list, free of charge! Click “Host an Event” and fill out the online form with your info.
National Train Day is a perfect opportunity to get free local publicity and attract new customers. Schedule your event(s) on Saturday, May 9, 2009, and send press releases to local news media. Press releases are a great way to get local newspaper and TV coverage, and National Train Day gives you a newsworthy angle to get the media interested.
Amtrak provides free marketing “collateral” for you to use to promote your events. The National Train Day website has downloadable “camera-ready” advertisements, flyers, stickers, and more. Visit the website to download the free marketing materials.
Be sure to bring mailing list signup slips for visitors to join your e-mail list. They’re interested in trains and train-related events–maybe they’d like to ride on one of your excursions, or visit your railroad or museum in the future. At Washington Union Station last year, several thousand people (both railfans and casual train enthusiasts) walked through the private railcar display area. This can be a great, low-cost way to connect to future customers.
How are you going to tie your marketing into National Train Day this year?
About the Author: Heritage rail marketing expert Karl Sakas helps tourist railroads, railway museums, and private railcar owners use marketing to make more money to “keep the trains running.” Schedule a free consultation–or hire him to help your organization–at www.HeritageRail.biz.
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