Michigan Tourism Maintains # 1 Ranking in Social Media

LANSING, Mich., Oct. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- We did it again. The October 2010 'How Social Is Your State DMO?' study ranked Michigan #1, and also marks the 6th consecutive time the state achieved the winning status. The quarterly study, conducted by Gammet Interactive, is based on the 50 official US tourism offices uses of social media including Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube and others.

"Social media marketing has allowed us to engage consumers with the Pure Michigan brand in new ways," said George Zimmermann, Vice President of Travel Michigan, a business unit of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. "And the success of our social media outreach is testament to the power and popularity of Pure Michigan."

The Pure Michigan Facebook fan base has surged this year. "We doubled followers from 50,000 to 100,000 this summer, and as of today we have more than 165,000 fans," commented Zimmermann. Based on a recent customer satisfaction survey conducted by ForeSee Results, nearly three quarters of the Pure Michigan Facebook fans learned about places and activities in Michigan they did not know about. In addition, a third of those fans were inspired to travel to or within Michigan after reading the posts.

"As part of our marketing mix to launch the new line of Pure Michigan merchandise, social media tools like Facebook and Twitter allowed us to get the message out quickly and generate interest and sales," stated Zimmerman. Fans interested in ordering Pure Michigan merchandise can log on at michigan.org, the official state travel and tourism Web site and click on the Pure Michigan Store button. Merchandise sales help support the Pure Michigan campaign.

Travel Michigan is partnering with Fluency Media for on-going strategy and implementation for the Pure Michigan social media program. Ann Arbor based Fluency Media develops integrated marketing solutions which include social media strategy and execution, email marketing, online publishing, search engine optimization, pay-per-click advertising and Web site sales flow optimization programs.

Travel Michigan, a division of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, is the State of Michigan's official agency for the promotion of tourism. Travel Michigan markets the state's tourism industry and provides valuable visitor information services. For Michigan travel news and updates, go to michigan.org.

Fluency Media develops award-winning, turnkey internet marketing programs including social media strategy and execution, email marketing, online publishing, search engine optimization, pay-per-click advertising, and Web site sales flow optimization. Fluency manages internet marketing channel execution and analysis daily, resulting in continuous and actionable market intelligence, leveraging their proprietary tracking and analytics solution which compares all online marketing touch points, costs and conversion events side by side. For more information, please visit www.fluencymedia.com or call 1.734.302.3300.

SOURCE Travel Michigan