Food Truck Marketing

 

Having a food truck must be one of the greatest careers on the planet.  You on the open road with nothing but hamburger buns and the aroma of freshly made food by your side.  For some it might not sound so appetizing but a successful food truck can bring great satisfaction.  Right not there is a huge trend with food trucks and it seems to be the new cupcake (you have seen the cupcake craze right?).  One thing that is important to understand is that food truck marketing is going to be an important component regardless of the city you are in. Sure you can always just depend on people coming up to your truck because they are hungry but what about building a following? like a little small army of food truck aficionados?

The right search engine marketing campaign for your food truck brand could bring loyal eaters to you every single day and generate some serious word of mouth and social online sharing. If done right you could even see some franchise options in other cities if you are looking at the big picture.

Here are some ways you can get your food truck search engine marketing underway:

 

Start a Brand for your Truck

 

Good branding can go a very long way when it comes to how your audience perceives you.  You can have the world’s ugliest food truck but if your logo is catchy and positioned right you will always be remembered. Remember that people love brands and people love to be a part of a brand especially if it is on a smaller scale like a food truck.

Here are some great food truck brands:

 

Get a Website – Immediately!

This is not up for discussion.  I don’t care if you sell seashells down by the seashore people are going to see you and turn towards a search engine to find out who you are.  Don’t half-ass a website either; you need something up to date, modern and something that portrays your food truck’s personality. Just the other day I drove by a food truck with a very loud paint job, naturally I Googled it and found their site.

Here are some things your website should have to showcase the awesomeness of your food truck:

  • Blog posts consisting of photos taken inside the truck, specially prepared meals & dishes, your loyal customers, yourself and anything you really want but it should be frequent and with a decent camera
  • The ability to quickly post your location for that day on your site
  • Things about the food truck people might not know
  • Your menu (even if it changes that is okay)
  • Pictures of yourself
  • Pictures of your truck
  • The ability for people to sign up for a newsletter (something you can even send out daily)
  • Your website should resemble your truck 100% (meaning same colors, same tone, same feel)
  • Perhaps a loyalty program sign up? yeah! ehh?

 

 

Social Media, Social Media and More Social Media

 

I cannot stress how important social media will be for your food truck search marketing campaign.  Parking the truck and waiting for people to walk up is great but positioning a voice for your loyal fans is even better. Sending out text message alerts for those who want to know your location, constantly updating your Twitter account and Facebook page of your location and even your specials for the day is really just scratching the surface.  Social media can be a game changer for a food truck and it will be an important part of growth.  Don’t shrug it off like it is nothing because a competitor can sneak up and do exactly these steps and really spread their wings.

Here are a few social media tips for your food truck:

  • Let customers know physically on your truck that if they sign up to your social accounts they could receive special food discounts and information
  • Text messaging alerts for loyal customers who want it to their phone
  • Hold a taste contest or any other contest to get people on the streets tweeting and Facebooking
  • Set up a live video cam on your truck to show the world what is going on with your truck (make sure to let people know it is on of course)
  • Shoot lots of videos you can than tackle YouTube with
Much of this might be new or maybe old news to you if you are reading this and you own a food truck. The reality is that this stuff is really important and having an online and offline personality is really crucial with any business these days. Some of this material is just scratching the surface of what can be done to give your food truck that digital voice it is looking for.

 

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