The Challenge:
Explore Minnesota Tourism sought a smarter way to activate its most valuable asset — the 1st-party data on its own website. Millions of consumers were already browsing destinations in Minnesota, expressing clear travel intent. The question was how to put that audience to work for regional DMO partners and drive real visitations across the state.
THE SOLUTION
Orange 142 deployed retargeting pixels across the Explore Minnesota website and its regional pages, building a high-intent audience pool from verified in-state interest. State co-op DMO partners then tapped into that shared pool to serve targeted ads directly to consumers who had already raised their hand for Minnesota travel — no third-party data required.
THE RESULTS
Powered entirely by Explore Minnesota's 1st party data, the program delivered:
- 0.10%+ click-through rates — exceeding industry benchmarks
- 1.2M+ impressions served per partner
- Maximum relevancy through a single, clean data source
By meeting travelers where their interest already lived, DMO partners drove meaningful engagement — and proved that the right audience always outperforms a bigger one.
Strategies Used:
