RyleeMcGilbery

I'm a marketing generalist — social, marketing and events, usually all three at once.

For twenty months I was the marketing department at the Bandera County Convention & Visitors Bureau. Not part of it; it. Four people worked there, and marketing was my job: social, the weekly newsletter, event and print collateral, paid media, and hosting the press and creators who came through town.

When I arrived the accounts had an audience but no conversation. The Facebook page had 34,000 followers and, according to Meta's own dashboard, zero engaged followers. Instagram had logged no interactions at all for ten months. The bureau was posting once a week — just the weekly calendar, nothing anyone would react to. A schedule isn't content.

So I made things worth responding to, and put them everywhere: Reels and carousels, a newsletter that grew from 1,200 to over 3,000 subscribers, event flyers, and ads built to spec for Texas Highways, True West, Texas Parks & Wildlife and Travel Texas.

Engagement ended up growing about three times faster than the audience did. That's the part I care about. I'd rather have a hundred followers who show up than a hundred thousand who scroll past.