Food trucks deliver excitement to the dining areas! It offers appealing menus and sumptuous flavours with an integrated fun factor that comes with this novel dining experience. With the revenue of $3 billion and approximately millions of distinct establishments, they craft an industry that has presently outpaced the traditional restaurant sector, appealing to those who are always looking for something exciting and safe at the same time.
In this highly competitive market, the food truck operators face severe challenges to maintain momentum to expect customers to keep coming to them. Hence, they consistently need to add new things and new strategies to enhance their evolving profiles. Apart from displaying a creative menu, it is crucial to draft creative food truck marketing ideas that work as the secret ingredient to make your food truck stand out from the crowd.
Demographics
Before you craft food truck promotion ideas, you should check out the food truck consumer demographics. It will help know who all get drawn to it. According to the IBIS World report, 43.4% of food truck customers are 25 to 44 years old. And 19.7% of customers are below the age of 25.
So, a significant takeaway here is that most of your targeted audience is regular social media users. Hence, you should develop a robust online presence to allure people to your food truck.
What are the main modes of marketing a food truck?
You have two ways to market your food truck, online and offline. While online methods appeal to the maximum number of a food truck targeted audience, offline methods are no less. Check out offline and online food truck promotion ideas to get all eyes on your business.
Set up a strong brand
Your brand sets you apart from the rest of the food trucks. Hence, make sure you create a distinctive look and theme for your business as a part of your truck marketing plan.
Some of the ways to create a good food truck brand are:
- Logo: Select a logo that is simple to remember and interpret.
- Font: Get a little creative with your font to aid the mood of your business. However, always ensure it is legible.
- Graphics: Use eye-catching graphics to allure customers. Decorate your truck to make it work as your business advertisement.
- Text: Add words to your truck. If you offer BBQ, Chinese, Italian, you can create unique themes and moods through your choice of words.
Develop a website
Your food truck website can help people easily locate you and place convenient orders. It should have all the relevant information about your work. Display your digital menu and new innovative food truck menu ideas on the website. It works as an introduction for your food truck.
Develop a social media presence
Social media is a fantastic way to interact with your community. You can also set up events, send invites, and promote your business effortlessly. Allow people to know where you will place your truck on specific days. A robust social media presence is essential for all types of businesses. It works as an inexpensive and simple way to cut out the competition and set your business apart.
Social media marketing for food trucks is similar to regular restaurant marketing. All you need to do is be consistent and active. Post frequently, share pictures of tasty food and give attractive discounts to people who follow you. Try to engage users by hosting competitions and giveaways.
Encourage people to review you and keep your schedule, menu and everything else updated!
Try location-based promotion for your food truck
A distinctive feature of a food truck is that it is always on the move; hence you can benefit from location-based promotion to enhance your sales. For instance, if you have moved to a music fest, you can choose geofencing marketing to develop ads targeting mobile users of that area.
Just develop innovative ads to draw their attention to your food truck. Add some great offers, say, "Click a photo with your friend at our truck and get whooping 10% off".
Go for food delivery and catering
Food catering and delivery are a significant part of any food business. Do not just wait for your customers to reach out to you. You can visit them first. Set your website for your business.
After setting up the catering business and delivery services, promote the details everywhere, on social media platforms, using offline methods, physical trucks, and get orders for you.
You can also spread word of mouth. Any customer who visits your food truck shares the information; you can deliver it at their place.
Influencer marketing
You can use influential people for marketing your food truck. They can be famous chefs, renowned food bloggers, or hosts of cooking shows. You can get their recommendations, testimonial messages, or videos and pay them for the arrangement.
Start a blog
Many people use the internet to look for new restaurants, read reviews, order online, and book seats. A blog enhances your reputation and SEO ranking and helps to promote your business, food, and cuisine. You can also get more attention by seeking posts of guest authors. They can be renowned food bloggers or chefs.
Video marketing
Video marketing is one of the best food truck marketing ideas. 82% of the internet traffic is video-based. Shoot appealing videos of your food truck from your smartphone and post them on social networking channels for free.
Work in collaboration with other food trucks
Though other food trucks are your competitors, everyone has unique stuff to sell. Share your food truck menu ideas with them and collaborate to gain success in business. This sort of marketing is recommended for large-scale block parties that need several food types. Set up a rapport with your fellow food truck chefs plan a comprehensive menu accordingly.
- Keep one another's flyers and pamphlets in hand
- Offer a free discount coupon to their clients
Print Ads
It may involve dropping off your menu in your localities and advertising in the local magazines. The act involves designing, printing, and distribution.
Print ads help promote to mature audience and develop awareness about your food truck in their target areas. Add a coupon code in the flyers or magazines that can be redeemed at the truck.
While print ads reach only a specific set of audiences, they can be fully targeted depending on the audience you want to market your business to.
Tasting sessions
You can host tasting sessions for a few clients, food bloggers, and new customers. Sharing your new Restaurant Menu Design or chef's special is a great way to get offline and online attention through reviews, word-of-mouth promotion, and recommendations.
Plan on selling merchandise
After developing a solid fan base, you can offer merchandise with your logo to spread the word about your food truck. The selection of the merchandise is entirely up to you. For example, if you have a BBQ truck, you can sell cast iron trivets. And of course, mugs, t-shirts, stickers, and key chains may appear too obvious, but they are cost-effective and useful in daily lives.
What's a good marketing budget for a food truck?
There is no one-size-fits-all style in food truck marketing. You need to experiment and find out what works for you.
Your marketing budget depends on two things:
- Channel
- Action
According to the National Restaurant Association, the average restaurant promotion budget is around three per cent of the aggregate income. And, if you are using 3% of your monthly earnings on marketing, 40% should be for digital marketing.
Below here are some steps to draft an effective food truck management plan budget:
- Choose different marketing strategies from the above mentioned ideas, depending on your food truck business plan
- Assign money for every line.
- Add the total amount of the budget. You can calculate offline and online activities separately.
- Compare the planned expenditure with actual expenditure every month.
- Rectify the course and add newer marketing elements to the mix.
How do I create a food truck marketing plan?
- SWOT and Effective Research
Perform a SWOT analysis of your business. Know its strength that you can display to your customers. Determine the weaknesses and seek help for them. Study your competitor's marketing strategy to build yours.
- Develop your customer personalities
Assess the customers you plan to serve. Customer reach is an integral part of marketing. It will help you select the right marketing ideas. Research briefly about your target customers.
Measure the frequency they buy from your food truck. Use your restaurant POS system data to develop this calculation. Meet them offline and online, no matter how techy your potential customers are.
- Pick the right marketing ideas
The best food truck marketing ideas have been shared with you. Pick any to experiment and find out which one serves your purpose well. Know the best marketing platforms for your targeted customers and make the best use of them.
- Prepare a budget
It is essential to optimize your marketing expenditure. Because of different advertising alternatives, some businessmen may go overboard. Hence, monitor your budget consistently.
So, now you know how to develop a food truck marketing plan and the marketing strategies that you can follow. Develop a strong marketing formula for assured business success. Take small steps and learn from what other food trucks did to make their business thrive. There are unique opportunities to strengthen your presence from a strategic logo to a well-chosen location.
