September Program Recap

October 20, 2018

From Cuisine to Clapbacks: The College Town Marketing Gurus Take Us Behind the Scenes
Thursday, September 20, 2018 | 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Township

Top Takeaways

Check your ego at the door with your ideas
Know your audience and tailor your efforts to them
Choose which feedback you accept
Leverage your audiences to tell your story
“Know your Super Bowl” (know when your peak times are)

Recap

If you’ve been in Tallahassee longer than 2 seconds, there’s a chance you’ve been to Madison Social, Township, Centrale, SoDOUGH Baking Co., Magda’s and/or Happy Motoring. Known for their delicious dishes, outrageous drinks, and sizzling social media, Matt Thompson and Eric Pounders are the brains behind the operation and have re-defined how social media and the restaurant biz go together.

A packed audience of PR pros and students at Township enjoyed a behind-the-scenes look at the brand’s incredibly effective, and entertaining, social media marketing strategy that’s been taking Tallahassee by storm.

The For The Table team has to think outside the box so that the experience a customer gets at one of their establishments is unique. This means that not every idea will be a winner, but it’s important to be open to all ideas. They use their audience’s social content when appropriate, which also helps them steer their marketing plan in the right direction.

Matt and Eric said they treat messages via social media channels like texts; almost all must be responded to immediately. However, they have found that sometimes when they get a negative review, the restaurant is just not the experience for them, and that’s OK. Certainly, if there is something wrong, they will address it, but they don’t respond to every negative review or change to suit everyone’s taste.

One of the challenges they shared was having to find ways to keep customers coming year-round when the majority of them are only here during the FSU school year. The team has to be creative and extremely engaging on social media. Some months, they generate more than 800 pieces of content for their channels, which means lots of planning for when they may be busiest, like FSU home game weekends.
Twitter: @ForTheTable
Podcast: https://forthetable.libsyn.com/

For photos of the event, check out our Facebook page.