Toast’s Most Successful App Launch Happened Because They Listened To Customers

Kelly Esten, Chief Marketing Officer at Toast, has a customer-centric marketing approach. She believes in the importance of understanding and engaging with customers to ensure that marketing efforts are not only impactful, but also authentic.

Watch now to learn about her marketing journey, the importance of mentors, and the launch of the popular Toast Now app.

#entrepreneur #restaurantinfluencers #startup #toast #toastnow #marketing

Chapters:
[01:51] - First Day at Toast
[07:43] - Toast’s Competitive Advantage
[15:21] - Mentorship and Sponsorship
[18:54] - Approach to Posting on Social Media
[28:07] - Successful Launch of Toast Now


SPONSORS:

RESTAURANT INFLUENCERS IS PRESENTED BY TOAST —
Restaurant Influencers is brought to you by Toast, the powerful restaurant point of sale and management system that helps restaurants improve operations, increase sales and create a better guest experience.

• Toast All-In-1 Restaurant POS: https://bit.ly/3vpeVsc

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OVATION WAS VOTED THE #1 GUEST FEEDBACK PLATFORM FOR RESTAURANTS —
Visit https://ovationup.com/shawn to learn how Ovation’s Guest Feedback Platform actually drives revenue with actionable insights.

• Ovation Guest Feedback Platform: https://ovationup.com/shawn

Episode Links:

Toast Online: https://pos.toasttab.com/

Kelly Esten LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellysennatt/

Watch Toast’s Family Style series:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9aOArcA5Ia6KBNpggZJqQmrtw_lNkGqe

Toast Unboxing Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anYf9oavvW8

New Toast Headquarters: https://careers.toasttab.com/blogs/life-at-toast/toast-s-new-boston-breadquarters

Toast Leadership Team: https://pos.toasttab.com/leadership

Toast CEO Aman Narang on Restaurant Influencers: https://www.entrepreneur.com/starting-a-business/how-toast-transformed-the-way-restaurants-do-business/474003

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Takeaways:
Customer-Centric Marketing - Kelly Esten says Toast places priority on understanding and engaging with customers by actively listening to their feedback and allowing them to share their own stories. The effort ensures marketing is authentic, impactful, and resonates more effectively — creating a B2C feeling in a B2B environment.

Mentorships Are Invaluable - Kelly Esten reflects on the invaluable mentorship she received from former Toast CMO Kevin Hamilton and Toast CEO/Co-Founder Aman Narang, who helped her grow in her career. She emphasizes that her role as a leader at Toast involves setting up her team for success and helping them advance their own careers, as this fosters inspiration and great work.

Successful Launch of Toast Now - The Toast Now app launch has been exceptionally successful, largely due to its development in collaboration with Toast customers. This deep involvement led to a product that resonated strongly with restaurants, resulting in widespread daily use and making it one of Toast's most significant launches.


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ABOUT KELLY ESTEN —

Kelly Esten is the Chief Marketing Officer at Toast, and joined the company in 2017. Before becoming the CMO, she served as Senior Vice President and General Manager of Enterprise. She also held various Toast marketing leadership roles across product marketing, pricing, market insights and partnerships. Before Toast, she spent the previous six years at EnerNOC building Product Marketing from the ground up, leading Enterprise Sales, and building the go-to-market for their Energy Intelligence Software platform. She began her career at UBS in sales, finance, and strategy roles. She has an MBA from the Tuck School at Dartmouth and a B.A. in Environmental Science from Dartmouth College.


ABOUT RESTAURANT INFLUENCERS —

Restaurant Influencers is a weekly video podcast series presented by Entrepreneur Media and Cali BBQ Media. Every week host and restaurant owner Shawn Walchef (@shawnpwalchef) talks with business leaders like Rob Dyrdek, Emeril Lagasse, Mayim Bialik, Jon Taffer, Robert Irvine, Aman Narang, and more, about their secrets to Smartphone Storytelling, marketing, branding, and how to show up where customers are engaging online.

Published by Entrepreneur Media - https://entreprenuer.com
Produced by Cali BBQ Media - https://betheshow.media