In her SocialMedia.org Member Meeting case study presentation, Amtrak's Senior Officer of Social Media, Alexandra Kogan, talks about working with influencers as part of their robust social content strategy. Alexandra shares key takeaways from a few of their campaigns on Instagram that leveraged influencers to help tell their brand story.

1. Amtrak
Alexandra Kogan
All aboard the storytelling express:
Amtrak’s approach to engaging content
Learn more about Member Meetings
socialmedia.org/meetings
SOCIALMEDIA.ORG
CASE STUDIES
Member Meeting 37
Chicago
10-28-2015

2. 1
ALL ABOARD THE STORYTELLING EXPRESS:
AMTRAK’S APPROACH TO ENGAGING CONTENT

3. 2
INFLUENCER PARTNERSHIPS: AMY MERRICK
• Instagram influencer with
engaged audience of 100k+
• Train lover!
• Representative of a millennial
looking for experiential travel
and self discovery
• Experience working with
brands but maintained
authentic, original voice
• Personalized the brand for
and paved the way for
replicative experiences

4. 3
AMY MERRICK
TAKEAWAYS
• Small partnerships can have a big impact
• One curated influencer can do more than
10 generic ones
• Showcasing your product in a different
light can generate new interest in old
things

5. 4
INFLUENCER PARTNERSHIPS: WARREN G
TAKEAWAYS
• Don’t be afraid to go a little left of your brand
• Blog and Spotify: Align platforms with your
influencers and their wheelhouse
• Driving traffic from Twitter to the blog with
exclusivity

6. 5
KEY TAKEAWAYS
• Align with an influencer predisposed
to your product, service or industry
• Encourage transparency and
candidness
• Agree on contracts and social
reciprocity before launch
• Link your influencers’ experience with
how your customers can replicate it
• Guide your influencer towards
highlighting your key value
propositions
• Set benchmarks with ROI,
engagements, impressions, etc.

7. 6
INFLUENCER PARTNERSHIPS: PASSION PASSPORT
• Unique group of millennial
travelers with artistic skill sets
• Engaged with one another in
building community
• Interested in transportation
advocacy
• High social following among a
number of platforms
• Integrated on-board
experiences with off-board
experiences
• Showcased Amtrak as an
incubator for thought
leadership and one-on-
one/group bonding experiences

8. 7
INFLUENCER PARTNERSHIPS: PASSION PASSPORT

9. 8
INFLUENCER PARTNERSHIPS: PASSION PASSPORT

10. 9
INFLUENCER PARTNERSHIPS: PASSION PASSPORT

11. 10
INFLUENCER PARTNERSHIPS: PASSION PASSPORT

12. 11
INFLUENCER: PASSION PASSPORT RESULTS
RESULTS:
• 1.5M engagements
• 75M impressions
• Thousands of images
• Word of mouth promotion
TAKEAWAYS
• Agree on contract specifics;
don’t anticipate influencers will
understand red tape of major brands
• Pick influencers that align with your brand
• Don’t underestimate the time to curate
an experience: leverage internal and agency resources

13. 12
AMTRAK RESIDENCY

14. 13
AMTRAK RESIDENCY: HOW IT ALL BEGAN
“I wish Amtrak had
residencies for writers.”
Alexander Chee

15. 14
AMTRAK RESIDENCY: A HIGH RISK WITH A HIGH REWARD
“Train time is found time.”
Bill Wilingham, Amtrak Residency Writer

16. 15
AMTRAK RESIDENCY: RESULTS
RESULTS
• 16,000+ entries
• Impressions by residents: 10,000,000
• Total impressions: 100,000 of millions
• Earned media value: $25M
TAKEAWAYS
• Encourage transparency and have the
organizational tolerance for risk-taking
• Turn participants into brand ambassadors
• Facilitate the cycle between social and
traditional media

17. 16
KEY TAKEAWAYS
• Social listening and your
customers can be your best
source of ‘trainspiration’
• Anticipate criticism and plan
accordingly
• Use exposure to highlight
other initiatives or start a
conversation
• Turn participants into brand
ambassadors
• Partner with other relevant
brands for a halo effect
(Random House)
• Maximize initiative’s content
across platforms

18. 17
QUESTIONS?
Julia Quinn, Director
of Public Relations:
@juliaquinn
Alicia Lee, Senior
Communications
Specialist:
@missanlee
Alex Kogan, Senior
Communications
Specialist: @alexkogs

19. Learn more about past and
upcoming Member Meetings
socialmedia.org/meetings
Learn more about Member Meetings
socialmedia.org/meetings
SOCIALMEDIA.ORG
CASE STUDIES
Member Meeting 37
Chicago
10-28-2015