By Alex S Strasburg Rail Road: The Reinvention Of The 800-Pound Gorilla In The Room
- Tower After Hours
Join Our Newsletter List
We can’t believe that we’re already nearing November and the end of Season 2 of Tower After Hours. In this episode, we sit down with one of our clients, Eric Conner from Strasburg Rail Road! So if you’re a train person or a history buff — this episode is for you. We don’t want to spoil anything so let’s jump right in.
Growing Brand Awareness And Making A Name For Strasburg Rail Road
If you’re a Lancaster County native or have been in the area for a while, you’ve likely heard of Strasburg Rail Road. Since Eric has been with the Rail Road for 11 seasons, we wanted to pick his brain to learn more about how he has increased brand awareness and made Strasburg Rail Road a significant tourist attraction.
Because Strasburg Rail Road is such a big attraction, over-familiarization can actually be a challenge for Eric and his team. If you visited the Rail Road 15-20 years ago, the train ride itself hasn’t changed, so it’s hard to get people to want to come back.
{3:56} In the last 5 years, Eric’s made it a priority to change this perspective and create new experiences to attract a new clientele. So although they are rich with history and are well-known in the community, they’re also looking to rebrand in a sense to bring in more people.
At Tower, we’ve emphasized the historic aspect of the Rail Road and that classic train ride but also want to show people there’s more to do at the Rail Road. They host a wide range of events, from Christmas rides and Day Out with Thomas, to Murder Mystery experiences, Wine & Cheese trains, and Whiskey on the Rails.
Finding What Works For You
In a previous episode, Mitch Nugent from Prima Theatre pointed out that his marketing isn’t always sexy, but it’s what works well for them and his targeted audience. We wanted to ask Eric the same question because he has the unique challenge of advertising to and reaching multiple audiences who are interested in visiting the Rail Road.
{6:57} Eric mentioned that tracking the ROI of their advertising was important. So they started to move away from those traditional mediums and they focused on social media, Google, Spotify ads, and even geofencing.
The diversification of marketing for Strasburg Rail Road helps our team at Tower capture users at all levels of the customer journey. Lily mentions that she always has a general brand awareness ad running on social media, supplements that campaign with specific events, and retargets ads to reach users who have shown interest in that special event.
Making History Fun & Relatable
{12:15} The Rail Road just hosted its first Civil War Day, and it was a great success! (We even received confirmation that they plan to host the experience annually!) But we wanted to know how the Rail Road comes up with these new events.
With plans to “rebrand” the Rail Road, these historic experiences are a key part of this process. But they also want to make sure the roots of the railroad are incorporated, but they also want to make the experiences fun.
Because of these pillars, Strasburg created the entertainment team in 2020. Many of the early shows offered included over-the-top performances with stunts and pyrotechnics, which Eric candidly shared seemed to stray a little from the origin of the Railroad. With some new direction, you’ll see the actors and the shows embracing history and storytelling.
One of Eric’s favorite out-of-the-box experiences is the Escape Room. Originally, this was a moving escape room but it wasn’t receiving a great amount of interest. They turned it into a fixed caboose and now it sells out every year.
Partnering With Other Organizations
{20:00} As we’ve learned from a lot of our guests, Lancaster wouldn’t be where it is without collaboration and great partnerships. The Strasburg Rail Road Company is no different, so we asked to learn more about how these partnerships are formed and how Eric works with different members throughout the community.
Fun fact: Strasburg Rail Road is one of the top three attractions in Lancaster County. In Eric’s words, he knows that often makes them the 800-pound gorilla in the room.
Even though Strasburg Rail Road is a large attraction, it’s a fair balance between Eric reaching out to companies and companies reaching out to him for a collaboration.
When we asked Eric about dream partnerships or companies to work with, we mentioned how cool it would be to partner with Airbnb and be able to stay in one of the trains for a night. And he proceeded to give us an exclusive “you heard it here first” that they have plans to transform the President’s Car into a suite for just that reason!
Check Out The Full Episode: Strasburg Rail Road: Historic Tracks, Modern Magic
Marisa Reasons You Should Listen To Your Audience And Always Ask “Why Not?”
- Tower After Hours
Lily Embark On A Flavorful Journey Through Lancaster’s History With Unique Lancaster Experiences
- Tower After Hours