Toast

CHALLENGE

In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic—before vaccines, before clear answers—Toast, a restaurant-focused payments and technology platform, faced a harsh reality: its entire customer base was in crisis. Restaurants were shutting down, staff were being furloughed, and uncertainty loomed across the industry. Toast needed to urgently pivot both its product messaging and social media presence to support its community—not just as a vendor, but as a true partner.

The goal was twofold:

• Strengthen their social presence on Facebook and Instagram to build community and drive traffic to Toast’s website.
• Shift messaging from closures and survival to resilience, reopening, and long-term innovation.

STRATEGY

Zozimus partnered with Toast to develop a social media strategy rooted in empathy, data, and action.

Using insights from Toast’s audience segmentation, we developed a content approach that aligned with evolving industry needs. We prioritized product-forward storytelling—helping restaurants discover how Toast’s tools could assist them in reopening, pivoting to takeout, and staying connected with their customers.

Key pillars of the strategy included:

• Platform-Specific Optimization: Tailoring content to how each audience engaged on Facebook vs. Instagram
• Traffic-Driven Content: Structuring content to drive users to actionable resources and product pages
• Tone Shift: Moving from crisis language to a forward-looking, empowering voice

CREATIVE

To bring the strategy to life, we implemented a mix of content development and platform consultation:

• Content Testing & Optimization: We identified and market-tested ideal content types—such as short-form video, infographics, and testimonials—to determine what resonated most with Toast’s audience across platforms.
• Template Creation & Brand Consistency: We provided Toast’s internal teams with custom-designed social templates, ensuring all posts remained visually aligned with the brand.
• Video Emphasis: Recognizing performance trends, we leaned into video content as a key format over a 6-month content cycle to boost engagement and shareability.