Pure Michigan launches its first digital tourism campaign for hunting and fishing

Pure Michigan took a two-sided approach to its fall tourism campaign this year. The usual $2.6 million fall campaign incorporated billboard, print, radio, and TV ads that targeted a broad spectrum of potential visitors; however, the state relied solely on social media to reach hunters and fishermen in a separate targeted push.

Pure Michigan has included a separate campaign promoting hunting and fishing since 2008, but this is the first time that it was done completely through digital and social  media platforms. The tourism board partnered with outdoors sports media site, OutdoorHub.com, to create a Pure Michigan landing page. The campaign also included a Facebook page, web ads, and pages on Michigan network sites.

The digital campaign was chosen to target an important consumer to Michigan tourism — hunters and fishers– and shared facts that would be irrelevant in the general campaign. Rules, regulations, and hunting locations are shared through the web ads and through an expert video series.

“We assume that the people looking at these ads are already interested in hunting and fishing so the campaign provides a higher level of information that is more targeted and detailed,” said Pure Michigan’s Michelle Begnoche.

The impact of a digital campaign is also easily measured, aiding the organization to determine whether it will be successful. Begnoche added that they would consider expanding topic-specific digital campaigns in the future if they felt it was a success.