Social Dmos: the State of Social Media and Destination Marketing

REPORT

Social DMOs: The State of Social Media and Destination Marketing

Researched by Douglas Quinby, Deepak Jain, Chetan Kapoor, Bing Liu and John DiStefano Written by Cathy Schetzina Walsh

March 2015

Social DMOs: The State of Social Media and Destination Marketing analyzes social media practices and perspectives among destination marketing organizations. The report also provides benchmarks for DMOs to evaluate their use of social media, tracks which social networks DMOs use and value, and offers insight into key goals, challenges, tools and techniques related to social media.

This content is published by Phocuswright Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Northstar Travel Media, LLC.The information herein is derived from a variety of sources. While every effort has been made to verify the information, the publisher assumes neither responsibility for inconsistencies or inaccuracies in the data nor liability for any damages of any type arising from errors or omissions. All Phocuswright publications are protected by copyright. It is illegal under U.S. federal law (17USC101 et seq.) to copy, fax or electronically distribute copyrighted material beyond the parameters of the License or outside of your organization without explicit permission.

About

Phocuswright is the travel industry research authority on how travelers, suppliers and intermediaries connect. Independent, rigorous and unbiased, Phocuswright fosters smart strategic planning, tactical decisionmaking and organizational effectiveness.

Phocuswright delivers qualitative and quantitative research on the evolving dynamics that influence travel, tourism and hospitality distribution. Our marketplace intelligence is the industry standard for segmentation, sizing, forecasting, trends, analysis and consumer travel planning behavior. Every day around the world, senior executives,marketers, strategists and research professionals from all segments of the industry value chain use Phocuswright research for competitive advantage.

To complement its primary research in North and Latin America, Europe and Asia, Phocuswright produces several highprofile conferences in the United States and Europe, and partners with conferences in China and Singapore. Industry leaders and company analysts bring this intelligence to life by debating issues, sharing ideas and defining the everevolving reality of travel commerce.

The company is headquartered in the United States with Asia Pacific operations based in India and local analysts on five continents.

Phocuswright is a wholly owned subsidiary of Northstar Travel Media, LLC.

Table of Contents

Introduction 6 Research Highlights 6 Study Background and Methodology 7 Social Participation 10 Social Value, Goals & Challenges 12 Social Tactics: Tools & Techniques 15 Monitoring & Measuring 18 Social Media Management 23 DMO Facebook Analytics 27 Endnotes 36

Figures and Charts

Fig. 1: DMOs by Size of Budget, 2013 8 Fig. 2: DMOs by Markets of Operation 9 Fig. 3: Use of Social Networks by DMOs 10 Fig. 4: DMO Participation in Regional Social Networks 11 Fig. 5: Number of Languages Used by DMOs to Monitor/Participate in Social Media by DMO Budget 12 Fig. 6: The Value DMOs Place on Individual Social Networks 13 Fig. 7: DMOs' Social Priorities 14 Fig. 8: DMOs' Top Social Challenges 15 Fig. 9: DMO Implementation of Social Applications] 16 Fig. 10: Effectiveness of Social Content, Tools and Activity for DMOs 17 Fig. 11: DMO Social Media Tactics: Engaging Locals 18 Fig. 12: Social Monitoring Frequency, by DMO Budget 19 Fig. 13: Social Media Monitoring Tools Used, by DMO Budget 20 Fig. 14: Mix of Positive and Negative Social Comments (DMOs) 21 Fig. 15: DMO Response Frequency to Negative Social Comments, by Social Network 22 Fig. 16: Metrics DMOs Consider Very or Extremely Important for Measuring Social Media Performance 23 Fig. 17: Where Social Management Lives Within DMOs 24 Fig. 18: Social Media Staffing 25 Fig. 19: Percentage of Marketing Resources Devoted to Social Media, by Size of DMO Budget 26 Fig. 20: DMO Social Media Tactics: Content Management 27 Fig. 21: DMO Facebook Profiles by Region 28 Fig. 22: Key Fan Metrics for 156 Tourism Boards Facebook Profiles 29 Fig. 23: Top 20 DMO Facebook Profiles, by Fans 30 Fig. 24: Australia.com Friday Fan Photos 31 Fig. 25: Marca Perú: Brand Identity, Storytelling and Local Ambassadors Boost Profile 32 Fig. 26: Pure Michigan Taps Trending Topics 33 Fig. 27: Key Benchmark Metrics (Averages) For the Top 156 Tourism Boards' Facebook Profiles 34 Fig. 28: Top 20 DMOs, by Facebook Page Engagement 35

Phocuswright thanks its partner Socialbakers for Social DMO's: The State of Social Media and Destination Marketing. Without their active support, this research would not have been possible.

Introduction

Facebook has more than 1.3 billion monthly active users worldwide; over 500 million tweets are sent via Twitter each day; and new social networks continue to gain traction. Social media is no longer a buzzword, but a firmly established global communication and marketing phenomenon.

Over the past several years, destination marketing organizations (DMOs) have dedicated significant resources to building a presence on social media. For many DMOs, the path to becoming "social" has been one of trial and error, and this new and rapidly changing channel poses an array of challenges. From keeping up with emerging social networks and building followers to driving engagement and measuring success, devising and executing a social media strategy is a complex undertaking.

Social DMOs: The State of Social Media and Destination Marketing explores how DMOs are using social media and provides a benchmark for DMOs to evaluate their own social media practices. The report tracks which social networks DMOs use and value, and provides insight into key goals, challenges, tools and techniques related to social media. In addition, the research examines how DMOs manage their social media programs and how they monitor and measure performance. Finally, in partnership with Socialbakers, Social DMOs provides analytics across 156 tourism board profiles and highlights DMOs that have been especially successful with social media (based on audience size and engagement).

Research Highlights

Nearly every DMO is a social DMO

■ At least nine in 10 DMOs use Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Facebook usage is ubiquitous at 98%. ■ A majority of DMOs also participate in rich mediabased social networks Pinterest (78%) and Instagram (70%). ■ DMOs are less likely to be active in emerging social networks like Vine and WhatsApp, or regional social networks such as Sina Weibo or Qzone in China.

Engagement and branding are top social media priorities

■ Customer engagement is the top social media objective among DMOs nine in 10 cite the goal as very or extremely important. ■ DMOs also prioritize brand marketing, general customer service and building brand loyalty. ■ Sales and lead generation are less important; just one quarter of DMOs rate driving direct bookings as a top objective.

ROI remains DMOs' biggest social media challenge

■ Measuring ROI on organic social activity and measuring the impact of brand marketing are among DMOs' biggest social media challenges more than half struggle to gauge performance. ■ Still, DMOs use a range of metrics to measure success. A majority consider page referrals (70%) and engagement metrics such as responses to posts/tweets (67%), clicks on posts/tweets (64%) and number of likes (59%) to be very or extremely important for measuring social performance. ■ Keeping up with new social platforms (48%) and monitoring social media activity (31%) are other common challenges.

Meet the new brand advocates: locals

■ Most DMOs (six in 10) encourage local residents to post to social streams. ■ Destination marketers are also engaging local residents by running contests (55%), creating relevant advertising (41%), and encouraging locals to respond to questions from outoftown visitors (32%).

"Always on" is the new norm

■ The majority of DMOs monitor social media activity at least several times a day. This is true for six in 10 small DMOs (<$1 million total budget) and three quarters of large DMOs (>$10 million total budget). ■ DMOs of all sizes rely primarily on free or lowcost thirdparty apps (e.g., TweetDeck or Hootsuite) to monitor social media.

Facebook shakes things up

■ Once a largely organic platform, Facebook is now primarily a paytoplay advertising medium. ■ While DMOs continue to accrue fans on Facebook, engagement is declining. The average number of fans per DMO Facebook profile across the 156 DMOs studied grew from 216,000 in September 2013 to 273,000 in February 2014, but the average number of likes, comments and shares per post declined.

Study Background and Methodology

Social DMOs: The State of Social Media and Destination Marketing analyzes social media practices and perspectives among destination marketing organizations. This report was created as an additional output of Phocuswright's The State of Social Media in Travel, a larger research project that studied the global social travel landscape. The project incorporated two major research components.

Consumer survey: Phocuswright conducted a global survey on how travel companies use and manage social media including their strategies, activities and successes. The survey was fielded via Phocuswright's own database, as well as through the following six partners: European Cities Marketing, European Travel Commission, Hotel News Now, Miles Marketing Destinations, Pacific Asia Travel Association and TripAdvisor.

Phocuswright received 580 qualified responses, reflecting a diverse cross section of travel industry segments, geographies and organizational roles. The largest share of responses (29%) came from DMOs, a subgroup of 168. The survey findings in this report are based on those responses.

DMO respondents represent a range of budgets and geographies. The majority (59%) have budgets under US$5 million (see Figure 1). North America is the most common market of operation (78%), followed by Western Europe (37%) (see Figure 2).

Figure 1

Figure 2

Facebook analytics with Socialbakers: Phocuswright partnered with social media analytics company Socialbakers to study the activities of travel brands on Facebook. The research provided a comparative analysis of activity on 639 travel brand profile pages from September 2013 to February 2014, including 156 DMO profiles. Phocuswright collected data using Socialbakers Analytics, a tool that enables brands to measure and benchmark the performance of social media campaigns.

Socialbakers Metrics Definitions

Fan: A Facebook user who likes a particular profile/page in order to get updates from that page's administrator through status updates, link posts, and event invitations.

Engagement rate: The number of likes, comments and shares per post divided by the total number of page fans. The engagement rate of a page is calculated by averaging the engagement rate of all posts during a selected time period.

Average engagement rate: Engagement rate averaged over a sixmonth period.

Response rate: The percentage of user posts during a selected time range that received responses versus the percentage that did not.

Average response rate: Response rate averaged over a sixmonth period.

Posts: Facebook updates such as photos, links, albums, status changes, videos or events made by the page administrator.

User posts: Posts by Facebook users on a company's timeline/profile. Brands may or may not allow users to post on their pages.

Social Participation

In a single decade, social networking once the province of the young and techsavvy has become a mainstream global phenomenon that cuts across age groups and geographic markets. And while a handful of behemoths dominate the social network landscape, new players and types of social networks are gaining traction.

Social participation among destination marketers is high: Nearly every DMO participates in at least one social network. The "big three" social networks Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are used by at least nine in 10 DMOs. Facebook usage is ubiquitous at 98% (see Figure 3).

Figure 3

Most DMOs also participate in Pinterest, Instagram, LinkedIn and Google+. Visual networks like Pinterest (78%) and Instagram (70%) are more popular among DMOs than other types of travel organizations, as DMOs can use them to highlight interesting or picturesque attractions in the destination.

All other social networks are used by only a minority of DMOs. For example, Foursquare, a location checkin network, generated buzz among destination marketers as a method for encouraging visitors to explore their destinations, but fewer than three in 10 DMOs use it. Although only 14% of DMOs currently use Vine, a network for creating and sharing short, looping videos, its popularity is growing rapidly: An additional 18% of DMOs plan to use it in the next 12 months.

Of the social networks studied, DMOs are least likely to use mobile messaging tool WhatsApp (4%), but the network may gain ground in the coming years given the popularity of mobile messaging among younger travelers. Travel agents, for example, use WhatsApp to communicate with customers, and destination marketers could potentially use it to respond to traveler questions, particularly while travelers are in the destination.

While DMOs have kept pace with adoption of top social networks, they are less likely to participate in regional social networks,

which play a significant role in some markets. In China, for example, where social networking is pervasive among travelers, the most popular social networks include Sina Weibo, Weixin and Qzone all regional networks that, for many DMOs, are not on the radar. Just 12% of DMOs use Sina Weibo, and usage is even lower for other regional networks popular in Eastern Europe and Asia (see Figure 4).

Figure 4

While most small DMOs monitor and post social content in just one language, larger DMOs tend to be active in multiple markets, and therefore handle content in multiple languages. Among large DMOs, two thirds post content in three or more languages (see Figure 5). Many monitor (32%) and publish (43%) social content in more than five languages.

Figure 5

Social Value, Goals & Challenges

During the past several years, DMOs have experimented with the various roles social media might play in their organizations. Destination marketers have launched campaigns on multiple networks with a range of goals, and the most successful among them have evaluated and adjusted their social media strategies accordingly.

When asked to assess the value of individual social networks, DMOs were most likely to rate Facebook, Twitter and YouTube as extremely or very important sentiments consistent with their adoption of these platforms (see Figure 6). Visual platforms Instagram and Pinterest are also valuable to many DMOs.

Figure 6

Social media's footprint in the destination marketing sphere is continuing to grow. DMOs anticipate that social networks will be more important in 20142015 than they were in 20122013. Instagram's value is expected to rise the most.

DMOs are active on social media for a range of reasons, but the two most significant are customer engagement and branding. Roughly nine in 10 DMOs indicate that engaging with customers via social media and brand marketing are very or extremely important objectives (see Figure 7). DMOs also use social media to build customer loyalty (72%) and provide general customer service (70%). These priorities are consistent with destination marketers' core mission: to promote their destinations, and, by engaging travelers, to create strong brands. Social media enables DMOs to glean insights from customers and provide intrip assistance, but these objectives are sometimes secondary. Although nearly half of DMOs promote special deals and offers via social media, driving direct bookings is usually a lower priority: Just one quarter of DMOs cite bookings as a top objective. This finding is not surprising, given that the primary role of many DMOs is to generate leads for travel suppliers within their destinations.

Figure 7

While their investment in social media has grown, DMOs struggle with evaluating the success of their initiatives in this arena. More than half of DMOs view measuring ROI on organic social activity and measuring the impact of brand marketing as major challenges (see Figure 8). Nearly half find it difficult to keep up with new social platforms, and three in 10 say that monitoring social media activity and managing multiple social networks pose significant difficulty.

Figure 8

Social Tactics: Tools & Techniques

A DMO's social media strategy often includes multiple organizational goals, and a broad range of tools and techniques is available to help achieve them. Sorting out the winning tactics from the duds, however, can be timeconsuming and costly. Thus it would seem useful if not essential for DMOs to understand which approaches other destination marketers are using and which are most effective.

While participation in the top social networks is high among DMOs, social applications are less popular. The ability to log in to the destination website with a Facebook ID and password is the most popular type of social application; more than one quarter of DMOs use this procedure. A smaller share report using a Facebook booking engine/widget (16%), Twitter login (13%), personalization via Facebook plugins (15%) or a Facebook app (9%) (see Figure 9). Travel companies (of all types) that have implemented a Facebook login or booking widget report that only a small minority of travelers opt to use these tools. For example, among travel companies that offer a Facebook login, just 19% see more than one in four travelers use it.

Figure 9

"Content is king" has been a mantra for many destination marketers over the past few years, but not all content has the same power: Some types are significantly more effective at generating social engagement than others. Posting rich media and engaging with travelers work best, while advertising, thirdparty articles, and deals usually have a lower impact (see Figure 10). DMOs are most likely to rate posting photos as very or extremely effective (90%), followed by responding to comments (68%), holding contests (60%), and posting videos (58%). However, even the lowestrated activities do make an impression: Nearly four in 10 DMOs, for example, indicate that posting promotions and deals is very or extremely effective.

Figure 10

Social media has inspired a massive outpouring of creative content among travelers. Ready access to photo and video cameras and social networks make it easy for individuals to share their experiences. Many DMOs have leveraged this ability to share to connect with the people who know their destination best: locals. Six in 10 DMOs encourage local residents to post to their social media streams, and 55% run contests to engage with locals (see Figure 11). DMOs are also finding creative ways to give travelers an insider's view of the destination by, for example, asking local experts to contribute social media content (37%) and asking residents to respond to visitor questions (32%). For some DMOs, contributions from locals and travelers comprise the majority of the content on the DMO's social media profile (e.g., Facebook fan favorite Pure Michigan, featured in the DMO Facebook Analytics section below).

Figure 11

Monitoring & Measuring

For destination marketers, measuring performance and monitoring activity are among the biggest challenges in managing social media programs. Still, even among smaller DMOs, monitoring social activity at least several times per day is the norm nearly six in 10 small DMOs do so (see Figure 12). Bigger DMOs are even more likely to keep close tabs on social activity: 72% of midsize and 75% of large DMOs monitor multiple times per day.

Figure 12

DMOs of all sizes rely on lowcost apps to monitor social media, including tools like TweetDeck and Hootsuite. Inhouse tools are the next mostcommon monitoring method, with more costly methods most likely to be used by midsize and large DMOs. Just 13% of small DMOs and 16% of midsize DMOs use more robust, paid thirdparty solutions (e.g., Radian6, SAS, IBM). By comparison, 32% of large DMOs use these tools (see Figure 13). Large DMOs are also most likely (21%) to rely on social management firms (e.g., TrustYou, Brand Karma).

Figure 13

Fortunately, the news for those DMOs vigilantly monitoring their social media outlets is often good. The vast majority of social media comments that mention a destination are positive (72%). Just 7% are negative, and the remainder are neutral (see Figure 14). Many DMOs take the time to post responses to negative comments (see Figure 15), and travelers are most likely to hear back from a DMO when they post a gripe on Facebook. Fortythree percent of DMOs say they always respond to negative Facebook comments a higher percentage than for complaints posted on Twitter (35%) or TripAdvisor (19%). This dynamic is not surprising, given the prominence of a negative comment on a marketing organization's Facebook page.

Figure 14

Figure 15

Measuring ROI is difficult for DMOs. As investment in social media has grown, so has the pressure to justify the use of resources. To understand which metrics DMOs find most valuable, Phocuswright asked respondents to rate the importance of individual metrics. Page referrals ranked highest 70% of DMOs rate them very or extremely important followed by several metrics for engagement (see Figure 16). These metrics include number of responses to posts/tweets; clicks on posts/tweets that feature a link; number of Facebook fans/friends/page likes; number of followers; and number of likes. DMOs are less likely to focus on net promoter scores or metrics for customer service responsiveness.

Figure 16

Social Media Management

Looking at which employees or departments handle social media within a DMO can often provide insight into social media's role in bigpicture organizational goals, including goals related to marketing, sales, public relations and customer service. At many DMOs, several of these departments may handle social media, reflecting destination marketers' multifaceted social aims. For most DMOs (70%), the marketing department plays a role in overseeing social media activity (see Figure 17). At nearly half, PR/media relations manages social media. Most often, social media falls under the purview of employees who must juggle multiple other responsibilities; only 30% of DMOs employ a dedicated social media team.

Figure 17

Social media staffing practices vary considerably across DMOs. In general, large DMOs often have more employees working on their social media programs and are more likely to hire dedicated staff (see Figure 18). For many DMOs (of all sizes), however, managing social media is a parttime responsibility just one of numerous duties handled by, for example, marketing or PR employees. Even small DMOs generally have a handful of employees (23) who spend time monitoring social media.

Figure 18

DMOs currently devote significant portions of their marketing resources to social media. These investments the cost of staff, technology and advertising account for 23% of marketing resources across all DMOs (see Figure 19). Small DMOs devote a larger share of their marketing budgets to social media than large DMOs do. While small and midsize DMOs put a quarter of their marketing resources toward social media, large DMOs only invest 16%.

Figure 19

Most DMOs use internal resources to manage the creation and distribution of social content. Nearly eight in 10 have dedicated staff who manage content creation and distribution, while 17% use an outside agency (see Figure 20). Less than one third of DMOs hire external videographers, photographers or writers to create this content. More than half maintain a social media plan and posting schedule, and four in 10 have a dedicated social media budget. The remainder presumably take a more casual approach.

Figure 20

DMO Facebook Analytics

While many DMOs participate in multiple social networks, one network stands out: Facebook. Facebook is often the first social network DMOs join, and it is a pillar of many DMOs' social media strategies. In addition to studying general DMO practices and perspectives on social media, Phocuswright partnered with Socialbakers to take a closer look at DMO performance specifically on Facebook.

Until relatively recently, DMOs could reach a significant number of potential tourists on Facebook solely by building a fan base and inspiring fans to engage via organic posts. However, a brand's organic content now reaches only a tiny share of its fans. Changes to the algorithm Facebook uses to control what content users see in their News Feed have transformed the social network from an organic publishing platform to a paid publishing platform. In other words, it is now necessary to purchase paid advertising to ensure that a brand post reaches a large share of your own Facebook fans.

This shift is forcing DMOs to evolve their Facebook strategies to leverage paid advertising and drive direct Facebook engagement by posting messaging on other platforms and channels e.g., by including text on the DMO website that encourages travelers to post content on the Facebook page. Despite these changes, building an audience, creating impactful content, and fostering engagement are still crucial elements of maintaining an effective Facebook presence. The analysis below highlights two groups of the most successful DMOs on Facebook: the top 20 in terms of fan base, and the top 20 in terms of engagement.

The 156 DMO profiles studied represent a diverse cross section of global destinations (see Figure 21). DMOs in Latin America account for the largest share (29%), followed by those in North America (25%), the Middle East and Africa (17%), Asia Pacific (15%) and Europe (14%).

Figure 21

In total (across all 156 profiles), number of fans increased 26% from September 2013 to February 2014, when it reached more than 42 million, an average of 273,000 fans per profile (see Figure 22). However, the number of fans varies dramatically by DMO.

Figure 22

Within the top 20 profiles, number of fans in February 2014 ranged from nearly 5.5 million for the most popular profile (Australia.com) to less than 568,000 for the 20th (Visit Orlando). The top 20 profiles by number of fans include 11 countries, six states and three cities (see Figure 23). While large DMOs have more resources to grow their fan bases, many of the strategies they credit for building fans can be employed by destination marketers of all sizes. The examples below illustrate the ways successful social DMOs are engaging locals and using techniques like storytelling and leveraging trending topics to increase fans/followers and drive engagement.

Figure 23

Australia.com: Australia.com, which had over 6.3 million Facebook fans in January 2015, has been extremely successful at leveraging usercontributed rich media. Since 2010, Australia.com has invited fans to submit their own photos for inclusion in the destination's weekly Friday Fan Photos album (see Figure 24). That effort generated an even greater response when Tourism Australia became one of the first DMOs to expand its focus to locals as well as travelers. The enthusiastic response from Australians has greatly helped build the brand's fan base. As discussed above, while engaging locals was uncommon just a few years ago, six in 10 DMOs now encourage local residents to post to their social streams.

Figure 24

Marca Peru: PromPeru, Peru's national tourism board, raised the destination's profile by developing a strong national brand: Marca Peru (see Figure 25). Storytelling played a key role in the country's branding. The campaign launch featured a documentary filmed in the small U.S. town of Peru, Nebraska. The Webby Awardwinning film, in which Peruvian celebrity ambassadors including musicians, chefs and athletes celebrate their nation's culture in the town, was aimed at rallying Peruvians around the brand. In a video created for a subsequent campaign, set in the year 2032, a middleaged man watches a video message he recorded 20 years earlier for his future self while joyfully exploring Peru. A strong brand identity, compelling storytelling, and the engagement of local brand ambassadors helped Marca Peru build a large social media following.

Figure 25

Pure Michigan: Michigan Economic Development Corporation's Pure Michigan campaign transformed the state's previously weak brand into a social media favorite. MEDC succeeded by prioritizing fans' content above its own: 80% of the content on Pure Michigan's social channels is usergenerated, which encourages fans to serve as brand ambassadors.1 The DMO also taps trending topics in real time to drive engagement. For example, on Jan. 23, 2015, when National Pie Day was a hot topic on social media, Pure Michigan highlighted the state's bakers and asked fans to weigh in on their favorite bakeries. In 2011, the DMO scored a viral success by joining a spirited public debate about which state looks more like a mitten: Michigan or Wisconsin.2

Figure 26

While number of fans indicates the size of a DMO's community, engagement provides insight into the quality and interest level of the fan base. Engagement metrics are important tools for gauging the impact of individual campaigns and posts. Although the organic impact of Facebook posts is waning, DMOs posted an average of 40 times on their Facebook pages in February 2014, compared to 23 times in September 2013 (see Figure 27). Over the same period, average likes, comments and shares per post declined, likely due to changes in Facebook's News Feed algorithm and the shrinking number of travelers who actually see the posts. Likes per post averaged 985 in February 2014 versus 1,217 in September 2013, and shares per post declined to 133 from 182 over the same time period. User posts (i.e., content posted by visitors to a profile page), however, increased, and DMOs responded to a larger share of those posts.

Figure 27

Engagement rates are another helpful benchmark for DMOs. As with fan numbers, engagement varies significantly by organization. For the top 20 tourism boards by Facebook page engagement, the rate ranges from 16% (see Figure 28). While engagement rates enable comparison between DMOs of varying sizes, brands with large fan bases have more difficulty engaging their audiences, so their engagement rates are often lower.3 Only two of the top 20 DMOs by number of fans are also in the top 20 for engagement: Australia.com and Hawaii.

Figure 28

Endnotes

1. Chad Wiebesick, "Pure Michigan: Changing the Conversation Using Social Media," presentation at Social Mitten conference (Sept. 25, 2014).

2. "From Our Community: Why is Michigan the Real Mitten State?" Pure Michigan blog (Dec. 8, 2011).

3. "Finding the Right Engagement Rate for Your Facebook Page," Socialbakers blog (Aug. 20, 2013).