south dakota department of tourism
SOUTH DAKOTA DEPARTMENT OF TOURISM MY GREAT PLACE
SITUATION Each year, tourism in South Dakota peaks in the summer months. It is the goal of the South Dakota Department of Tourism to drive more visitors to the state year-over-year during this time and so they tasked our social media team to support this with a creative campaign. The mission was to inspire target market audiences to travel to South Dakota during the summer peak season. Our team sought to achieve this by driving social media engagement, website referrals, and awareness of custom South Dakota itineraries options leading into peak season through an integrated social and digital media approach. The campaign, titled “My Great Place”, took place from April to June, in the shoulder season prior to summer in order to drive short-term travel. The goal of My Great Place was to have not only new travelers experience the beauty of South Dakota, but also to have locals share what their Great Places of the state are.
ACTION Through a partnership with Inside Out Media, our team executed an influencer travel program and iExplore network program (which involved banner ads, feature content stories, Twitter chat, and social media amplification). We built a web page for the campaign and hosted a sweepstakes for one lucky winner to receive a trip to South Dakota based on the itinerary that inspired them the most. This was supplemented with email outreach to the existing subscribers, as well as new people who signed up during the campaign. The campaign was heavily promoted via South Dakota owned social media channels: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Youtube. Additionally each of the four influencers sent on trips covered their journey on their channels and blog. Our headlining statement for the campaign was: “We’re sending four travelers out into South Dakota with one goal: find their great place. They all have itineraries, but none of them know what great surprises are around every corner. Follow the adventures of a foodie, a family, an outdoorsman and a guy with a lot on his bucket list as they explore our great state.” #MyGreatPlace
RESULTS The My Great Place campaign surpassed each of the goals set and drove more than 14,000 sweepstakes entries, 12,000 leads generated, and 170,000 social media engagements. Additionally, during the campaign TravelSouthDakota.com hit an all-time record for website visits with 19,000 in a single day. Not only did the four traveling influencers provide outstanding feedback, the local community enjoyed celebrating their state and posting about their pride. The campaign also garnered unexpected press mentions in two local publications: the Argus Leader and Keloland Television. With over 27.7 million total impressions generated by the campaign, our efforts drove record-setting traffic to South Dakota’s website and social media channels.
27,708,381 Total Campaign Impressions
14,000
Social Media Engagements
Total Sweepstakes Entries
1,620,039
11,870
Facebook
12,295,089 4,500,000
169,177
TravelSmart eNewsletter Sign-Ups
Twitter
Instagram
6,670,000 667,000
Twitter Chat
Pinterest
#MyGreatPlace Mentions (Twitter & Instagram)
2,182
Total Engagements
Total Number of new photo assets delivered
170,000
244
SITUATION Each year, tourism in South Dakota peaks in the summer months. It is the goal of the South Dakota Department of Tourism to drive more visitors to the state year-over-year during this time and so they tasked our social media team to support this with a creative campaign. The mission was to inspire target market audiences to travel to South Dakota during the summer peak season. Our team sought to achieve this by driving social media engagement, website referrals, and awareness of custom South Dakota itineraries options leading into peak season through an integrated social and digital media approach. The campaign, titled “My Great Place”, took place from April to June, in the shoulder season prior to summer in order to drive short-term travel. The goal of My Great Place was to have not only new travelers experience the beauty of South Dakota, but also to have locals share what their Great Places of the state are.
ACTION Through a partnership with Inside Out Media, our team executed an influencer travel program and iExplore network program (which involved banner ads, feature content stories, Twitter chat, and social media amplification). We built a web page for the campaign and hosted a sweepstakes for one lucky winner to receive a trip to South Dakota based on the itinerary that inspired them the most. This was supplemented with email outreach to the existing subscribers, as well as new people who signed up during the campaign. The campaign was heavily promoted via South Dakota owned social media channels: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Youtube. Additionally each of the four influencers sent on trips covered their journey on their channels and blog. Our headlining statement for the campaign was: “We’re sending four travelers out into South Dakota with one goal: find their great place. They all have itineraries, but none of them know what great surprises are around every corner. Follow the adventures of a foodie, a family, an outdoorsman and a guy with a lot on his bucket list as they explore our great state.” #MyGreatPlace
RESULTS The My Great Place campaign surpassed each of the goals set and drove more than 14,000 sweepstakes entries, 12,000 leads generated, and 170,000 social media engagements. Additionally, during the campaign TravelSouthDakota.com hit an all-time record for website visits with 19,000 in a single day. Not only did the four traveling influencers provide outstanding feedback, the local community enjoyed celebrating their state and posting about their pride. The campaign also garnered unexpected press mentions in two local publications: the Argus Leader and Keloland Television. With over 27.7 million total impressions generated by the campaign, our efforts drove record-setting traffic to South Dakota’s website and social media channels.
27,708,381 Total Campaign Impressions
14,000
Social Media Engagements
Total Sweepstakes Entries
1,620,039
11,870
12,295,089 4,500,000
169,177
TravelSmart eNewsletter Sign-Ups
6,670,000 667,000
Twitter Chat
#MyGreatPlace Mentions (Twitter & Instagram)
2,182
Total Engagements
Total Number of new photo assets delivered
170,000
244
