Client details anonymised under NDA. Industry, scope and outcomes are presented as engaged.
Overview
A multi-outlet F&B group with great food and an invisible social presence engaged us to turn Instagram and TikTok into what they should be for a food business: a queue-builder. The programme combined always-on content production, creator collaborations, and paid amplification tuned to outlet trade areas.
Project Snapshot
- Sector: F&B — multi-outlet group, Singapore
- Engagement: Social content engine + creator programme + launch playbooks
- Timeline: 9K to 85K+ followers across 12 months
- Combined following grew from ~9K to over 85K across platforms in 12 months — with engagement rates holding, not diluting
- Multiple videos past the million-view mark, each traceable to visible queue and reservation spikes at the featured outlet
The Challenge
The group’s social accounts posted sporadic menu photos to a few thousand followers while nearby competitors’ dishes travelled across TikTok feeds nightly. There was no content system — outlets sent photos when they remembered — no creator relationships, and no way to connect social activity to covers. New outlet launches, the moments social should own, came and went quietly.
Our Approach
- Content engine — monthly shoot days across outlets producing short-form video built for how food actually performs on TikTok and Reels: process shots, pours, pulls and reactions, not static plates.
- Creator programme — sustained collaborations with Singapore food creators matched to each outlet’s neighbourhood and price point, briefed for authenticity rather than scripted ads.
- Launch playbooks — every new outlet and menu drop treated as a campaign: teasers, creator seeding, opening-week content, and geo-targeted paid amplification.
- Community management — response protocols for comments and DMs, turning attention into reservations and defusing complaints before they became review-site problems.
The Results
- Combined following grew from ~9K to over 85K across platforms in 12 months — with engagement rates holding, not diluting
- Multiple videos past the million-view mark, each traceable to visible queue and reservation spikes at the featured outlet
- New-outlet launches now open with waiting lists; launch content regularly outperforms paid reach organically
- Social is now the group’s top self-reported discovery channel for first-time customers
Why This Worked
The group’s food was already share-worthy; what was missing was a system that turned kitchens into content at platform speed. Sporadic menu photos posted when outlets remembered cannot compete in a feed where rivals’ dishes travel nightly. The content engine fixed the supply problem: monthly shoot days across outlets producing short-form video built for how food actually performs — process shots, pours, pulls and reactions, not static plates.
The creator programme fixed the distribution problem. Sustained collaborations with Singapore food creators — matched to each outlet’s neighbourhood and price point, briefed for authenticity rather than scripts — put the group’s dishes in front of audiences algorithms already trusted. Launch playbooks then concentrated force at the moments that matter most in F&B: every new outlet and menu drop ran as a campaign with teasers, creator seeding, opening-week content and geo-targeted amplification, instead of passing quietly.
Community management closed the loop — response protocols that turned comment-section attention into reservations and defused complaints before they migrated to review platforms. Growth without dilution was the tell: engagement rates held as the following multiplied, because the audience was recruited by content quality rather than bought reach.
Key Takeaways
- F&B social is a supply-chain problem: systematic content production beats sporadic inspiration.
- Process video outperforms plated stills — movement is the genre of food content.
- Creator matching (neighbourhood, price point, authenticity) outperforms follower-count shopping.
- Launches are the moments of maximum leverage; run them as campaigns, not announcements.
- Engagement rate holding during follower growth is the health metric that matters.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you connect social metrics to covers and revenue?
Through visible correlation and tracked actions: view spikes on outlet-featured videos map to queue and reservation spikes at that outlet within days, while link actions, saves and DM enquiries provide the direct trail. The group also surveys first-time customers — social is now their top self-reported discovery channel.
What does a monthly shoot day produce?
A content bank per outlet — typically dozens of short-form clips plus stills — covering hero dishes, kitchen process, staff personality and seasonal items, scheduled across the month so feeds stay alive between shoots without daily production burden on outlet teams.
Micro-creators or big names for F&B?
Mostly the middle: neighbourhood-credible creators whose audiences actually eat where they recommend. A million-follower lifestyle account impresses; a 40K local food account fills tables. The programme mixed tiers, weighted toward the ones that convert.
How were negative comments and complaints handled?
With speed and protocol: genuine service complaints acknowledged publicly and resolved in DMs before they escalated to review platforms, trolling handled without feeding it, and staff briefed so viral attention never caught an outlet unprepared.
What did creator briefs specify?
Dish focus, outlet context and timing — with creative treatment left to the creator. Audiences detect scripted advertorial instantly; the briefs bought authenticity while protecting the campaign’s commercial goals.
How were launches amplified with paid?
Geo-targeted boosts within each outlet’s trade area during opening weeks — concentrating spend where a viewer can actually visit, rather than broad awareness buys that impress dashboards and fill no tables.
What made engagement rates hold during 9x follower growth?
Recruitment by content quality: followers arrived because the videos deserved attention, not through giveaways or bought reach — so the audience that grew was the audience that engages.
How does the group decide what content each outlet gets?
By trade-area audience rather than uniform branding: the CBD outlet’s content leans lunch-crowd speed and set menus, the neighbourhood outlets lean family occasions and weekend queues, and creator partners are matched to each area’s actual customer profile. The centralised shoot-day system produces the raw material; the distribution strategy localises it — which is why follower growth translated into covers at specific outlets rather than abstract brand reach.
