SHEBOYGAN, Wis. — With Memorial Day just around the corner, communities across Wisconsin are making their pitch to recruit new visitors for the busy summer season.

As cities around the state look to bring in new visitors, social media is playing a big role in making it happen. While generating buzz through traditional media sources and printed visitor guides are still common and necessary routes, social media is having an increasing influence in where people choose to travel.

Visit Sheboygan has taken notice. The tourism organization employs two in-house “influencers” who create social media content aimed at bringing visitors to the area.

Rachel Stankevich is one of Visit Sheboygan’s influencers. Her official job title is Visit Sheboygan’s marketing manager. Stankevich creates video content both for the Visit Sheboygan social media platforms and Rachel’s Route, where she documents her own Sheboygan-related adventures.

“I have had a few videos where people have driven up from Milwaukee for the day or even some of the restaurants and businesses have said, ‘People saw your TikTok,’” said Stankevich. “I didn’t think it would have that type of impact.”

Stankevich said her job is about much more than creating videos. It takes careful planning to determine what to post and what will gain the most digital traction.

“Each platform caters to a different audience: Instagram, Facebook. You have to cater and change the way that you present stuff,” said Stankevich.

Shelly Harms oversees marketing and public relations for Visit Sheboygan. Harms said the role of social media continues to grow in tourism marketing, as younger travelers look to social media when deciding where to travel.

Harms said social media posts have a way of showcasing Sheboygan to a wider audience. In addition, she said Visit Sheboygan understands that many young adults travel quite differently than their parents or grandparents.

“They travel differently. They are going to places where they can engage with your local community, to be out in the community, to be out on the water and do all the things we really showcase in Sheboygan. That is that next generation of travel,” said Harms.

Harms said Sheboygan’s tourism motto, “The Malibu of the Midwest,” a reference to its Lake Michigan surfing, has been a big focus of their social media marketing efforts.