Michigan's freshwater coastline and 11,000+ inland lakes make the state a haven for beach lovers. From white sandy beaches to rocky and rugged coastline, Michigan has it all. Pure Michigan identified an opportunity to promote diversity of beaches and some of the lesser-known hidden gems. In 2014, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and Michigan Department of Natural Resources partnered with Pure Michigan to do just that. Pure Michigan strategized to host a fan photography contest through their Instagram account of more than 100,000 fans in order to keep current fans engaged while introducing Michigan's variety of beaches to new audiences through remarkable fan photography. The goal for the Pure Michigan Instagram Beach Challenge was to showcase the beauty of the state's beaches to both new and existing audiences and ultimately attract out of state tourism. The contest ran from June 21, 2014 – July 1, 2014, with the winner announced on July 7th via press release and social media channels. Each of 10 daily challenge winners received a Personal Sun Care Kit from the Pure Michigan store. The grand prize winner received an "Ultimate Pure Michigan Beach Day" package which included a beach towel, fire pit, tackle box, cooler and sun care kit, among other prizes.
Since 2010, Pure Michigan has ranked as a top social media presence among tourism agencies through the use of visual and engaging content, fan interaction and brand loyalty. Fans of Pure Michigan share their love of Michigan through photos that showcase the state's beauty across multiple channels on a daily basis. The Pure Michigan Instagram Beach Challenge asked fans to submit photos based on the day's "theme" on Instagram. Examples were dog-friendly beaches, clearest waters and best beach to catch a sunrise or sunset, among others. The goal of the daily themes was to highlight the beauty and diversity of a beach vacation in Michigan. The photos were a visual testimonial that the beaches in Michigan are great for everyone - families, couples and group trips. These daily themes were aimed to target key audiences, such as dog lovers and water sport enthusiasts, to promote a broad range of photos and participants. In the course of 10 days, the contest yielded significantly strong engagement and growth metrics including: 2,030 new fans acquired on Instagram, 1,933 entries submitted, 9,334 visits to the hashtag gallery on Michigan.org, and 326 sign-ups for the official Pure Michigan travel newsletter. Notably, Pure Michigan's Instagram account following grew by more than eight percent in just 10 days resulting from the contest. The hashtag #BeachChallenge was used more than 2,000 times throughout the duration of the contest. The use of the #PureMichigan hashtag increased dramatically before, during and after the contest was both announced and ended. Prior to the contest, the #PureMichigan hashtag was used 794,143 times and as of the end of June, there were nearly 100,000 more uses of the hashtag (870,480 photos tagged with the #PureMichigan hashtag as of June 30, 2014)
Some noted the contest as a great opportunity to be featured by Pure Michigan, sharing that they were excited to participate and looked forward to similar promotions.
