How Amtrak keeps its social media strategy on track for Gen Z

When Southwest Airlines announced they were charging for bags, Amtrak posted on X, “Guess we’re the only ones doing free baggage now.”

The post, followed by more info on Amtrak’s baggage policy, is an example of what Amtrak senior manager of social media Nicolle Lopez calls its infotainment strategy, designed to educate and entertain at the same time.

Gen Z’s appetite for raw content

“The minute [you] feel something is a little bit too polished, a little bit too scripted, or the minute you feel like it’s an ad, your thumb just [swipes] immediately,” said Lopez.

Amtrak avoids instant swipes with attention-grabbing, “alt” content geared toward a younger, digitally native audience for Instagram, TikTok, and X. For example, Amtrak posted an image on Instagram in January that read, “I wake up, I choo choo.”

Source: Amtrak on Instagram

Amtrak says this more trivial content drives users toward educational content. “After watching or engaging with our content, you walk away learning something a little bit more about Amtrak, a little bit more about train travel,” Lopez said.

Amtrak avoids appearing out of touch with these posts by thoroughly researching trends. “I think a lot of people tend to go for speed, which makes sense. It pays off,” said Lopez. Amtrak works slower. For example, the brand did extensive anime research before posting its own art earlier this year.

The brand also avoids jumping on bandwagons by inventing its own trends. When the brand posted “trains” on X in 2022, dozens of brands followed, with Marriott Bonvoy posting “hotels” and Intuit Mailchimp posting “emails.”

Maintaining legacy identity

While meme-able content is good for younger consumers, Amtrak still needs to stay relevant with older consumers who have long supported the brand. Amtrak tends to cater its approach to platforms based on demographics. Facebook skews older. TikTok, younger.

“If we want to talk about a new sales promotion, it might look like seven different messages across each platform,” but the overarching storyline will remain the same, Lopez said.

But making educational content entertaining is important regardless of age group or platform. “Just because we’re a legacy [brand] doesn’t mean people automatically know things about us,” Lopez said.

Tracking success

Amtrak treats social media as an awareness-driving platform. KPIs include reach, impressions, engagement, and comments. Negative comments mocking the brand for seeming out of place or outdated are considered a negative KPI, according to Lopez.

Shares are increasingly important to the social team. “If we can get into that group chat, that to us means the world,” Lopez said. “We are officially part of the consideration.”

How Amtrak gets social media right:

• Focusing on awareness and affinity via “infotainment”
• Using different messaging on each social media platform
• Researching communities and peer-reviewing ideas
• Starting trends instead of jumping on them

This was originally featured in the EMARKETER Daily newsletter. For more marketing insights, statistics, and trends, subscribe here.