CrowdRiff’s new AI-powered content planner is built to help destination marketers plan smarter, save time, and discover fresh ideas. We chatted with Sarah Smith, Marketing Specialist at Visit San Marcos and a longtime CrowdRiff customer, to hear how CrowdRiff AI has become her daily go-to tool.
In this Q&A, Sarah shares how CrowdRiff AI helps her save time planning and organizing content, manage her calendar, spark fun ideas, keep tabs on recurring events, and support how they highlight local partners.
“CrowdRiff AI has saved me time and brought back the fun of social planning. It’s become my little digital social media assistant.”
Please tell us about yourself.
My name is Sarah Smith and I’m the Marketing Specialist for Visit San Marcos. I’ve been in my position for nine years, and it’s been such a joy to really grow with the position as our marketing world has evolved.
My day-to-day looks a little different depending on the day, but I can always count on a large portion of it spent copywriting, organizing, and keeping my finger on what’s going on in the social media sphere. We’re a small team, so I get to challenge myself with different things all the time!
How long have you been working with CrowdRiff?
We onboarded CrowdRiff right after I joined, so it’s been my work companion from the start. I’m always impressed with what the CrowdRiff team comes up with, it has grown and shifted a lot over the past nine years.
Personally, my favorite tools to work with are the Galleries, Creators (a game changer!), and, of course, CrowdRiff AI!
Before using CrowdRiff AI, how were you planning content?
It was just me and my blank calendar against the world haha! I used my iPad to write out the important dates for the month ahead, laid out when things needed to be posted by, and then filled in the open dates with seasonal filler or general attraction posts.
It got to be a little monotonous. I tend to be heads down and so sometimes I’d need to be reminded to include new creative content. I had a plan, but that plan really needed some shaking up.
What drew you to try CrowdRiff AI initially?
Honestly, I’ve had such wonderful experiences with the CrowdRiff team that when CrowdRiff AI was announced at SEE I thought, “I gotta be a part of this.”
I was a little skeptical because, like I’ve said, we are such a small team. I was worried that it wouldn’t be utilized since it’s pretty much just me on the platform. I’ve been pleasantly wrong about that.
I like that I can plan out my month with the ideas already rattling around in my head, but it also gives me the shake-up I need. I love that it recommends entirely new ideas and reminds me of past content coming back around. All those little “I should do…” thoughts I try to keep in mind are just automated now. It’s really freeing!
Was it easy to get started?
It was very easy to get onboarded! I thought we’d have to do a big data dump, but all the heavy lifting felt automated. It was so nice to log on and see all our website listings already pulled in and ready to go. I felt like I could hit the ground running from the get-go.
Has CrowdRiff AI changed your day-to-day workflow?
Absolutely! It’s really simplified my planning process all around. I keep a CrowdRiff AI tab open at all times and can easily move things around to suit me. Seeing those colorful suggestions waiting for me almost feels like a game. I check in thinking,“oh boy, what did CrowdRiff AI cook up while I wasn’t looking?”
Which features do you find most helpful?
The content ideas are super helpful and give me a solid foundation for planning. We’ve been keeping our owned assets organized and up-to-date behind the scenes in our CrowdRiff DAM and Media Hub, so having everything right at my fingertips makes content planning so much easier.
I love that I can spend just a little time organizing and then zero brain power on the post. Captions, content, mentions, and links are all done for me and ready to go. It’s become my little digital social media assistant!
Does CrowdRiff AI help you save time?
It saves me time on the boring stuff so I can focus on the creative side. I spend less time planning and organizing since I don’t have to search for last year’s themes or add big events—they’re all there. That means I can spend more time digging into the new ideas CrowdRiff AI gives me, which are fun to explore.
Can you share an example of something you planned entirely in CrowdRiff AI?
Almost everything I’ve been churning out this summer has been planned entirely in CrowdRiff AI. From getting the idea on the calendar and using the generated captions to pulling the content from Creators, almost everything has been a product of CrowdRiff AI in some capacity.
Has CrowdRiff AI helped highlight your local partners in new ways?
I feel like it’s helped me evenly distribute our partner promotions. When I have empty days on the calendar, CrowdRiff AI offers ideas that highlight partners in a different way. I also love adding partner mentions so I can easily quantify the attention they’re getting.
One of my favorite suggestions so far was a blog and social post about indoor art galleries and art experiences as a way to beat the heat. I’d done that for other attractions, but never thought to feature our local galleries that way. It was a new, exciting idea that CrowdRiff AI fleshed out for me. I finessed the details, found some assets, and we were off!
Our latest CrowdRiff AI-inspired piece of content that’s doing really well is A Book Lover’s Guide to San Marcos. It’s been a hit, and it started with a recommendation from CrowdRiff AI that I expanded upon.
Has CrowdRiff AI helped you collaborate with your team?
I have big plans for it to help us in the future. While we’re a small team now, I know we won’t always be, and I’m excited to have the flexibility for others to log in and see what I’ve got on deck. There’s a sense of security there that I wasn’t expecting.
Bottom line, what’s been the biggest impact of CrowdRiff AI for you?
It’s saved me a lot of time and brought back the fun I used to have strategizing our social approach. It’s almost turned social strategy into a game, and I feel like I’m winning at it!
There’s always room to do more with CrowdRiff AI, and I’m excited to keep diving in.
What would you say to another DMO considering CrowdRiff AI?
It’s certainly worked for us! The platform is fantastic and always getting better. While CrowdRiff AI on its own is pretty great and worth trying, you really can’t beat the customer service that comes with it being a CrowdRiff product. Y’all are so good at guiding us and tailoring things to work best for DMOs. I’m always impressed and inspired.
Thank you Sarah! We appreciate you sharing your experience with us 🩵
Book a call to learn how CrowdRiff AI can help your team save time, stay organized, and get more creative with content planning.
