DialMyCalls.com has compiled a list of the top 5 food truck marketing tips and tricks. Learn all about how social media marketing, SMS marketing, viral video marketing, traditional marketing, and collaboration can make your food truck a success.
1. FOOD TRUCKS
Top 5 Marketing Tips & Tricks
W W W . D I A L M Y C A L L S . C O M | 8 0 0 9 2 8 2 0 8 6
2. LIVE+EAT
F O O D T R U C K M A R K E T I N G
Presented by DialMyCalls.com
3. MOBILE MARKETING
Customers can opt-in to food truck alerts.
Create a custom keyword for mobile alerts.
Offer specials via text message broadcast.
0 1 - S M S M A R K E T I N G
KEYWORD
S P E C I A L S
Build a list of customers that want text messages.
O P T ‐ I N L I S T
4. TEXTING TIPS
F O O D T R U C K T E X T M E S S A G E S
Sign up for a mobile marketing service such as www.DialMyCalls.com to create
a text messaging campaign for your food truck after a few minutes of setup
you will be ready to start advertising that you offer mobile alerts.
Choose a custom SMS keyword for your food truck the keyword will be the
unique identifier so that your customers know who the text messages are
coming from.
Create a sign on your food truck to start gathering optins from your customers
let them know that by opting in to your text message alerts they will receive
special promotions and will know the location of your food truck before anyone
else. *An example sign would read "Text 'TIMSFOODTRUCK' to 80123 to
receive special promotions and event invites."
80123 is DialMyCalls' unique SMS Shortcode that will be used to send out text
messages through the service. Everyone that texts "[yourfoodtruckkeyword]" to
80123 will be added to a contact group within DialMyCalls. Once you have
collected optins you will be able to login to your DialMyCalls account and send
out text message alerts to all of your customers notify customers of daily
specials and upcoming events that your food truck will be attending.
5. GAIN FOLLOWERS
Loyalty is key.
Success in 140 characters or less.
Create a fan page for your loyal customers.
0 2 - S O C I A L M E D I A M A R K E T I N G
T W I T T E R
FACEBOOK
A picture is worth 1,000 words!
I N S T A G R A M
Have fun with photos that self-destruct in seconds.
SNAPCHAT
Let the world know how to create amazing food.
P I N T E R E S T
6. TWITTER TIPS
F O O D T R U C K S O N T W I T T E R
Use @[insertfoodtrucknamehere] as your Twitter account name to make it easy for
your customers to find you.
Share the location of your food truck to notify your fans where you will be serving
delicious food on that given day.
Tweet photos of daily specials and food offerings to have your customers craving
breakfast, lunch or dinner from your truck.
Tag all of your posts on Twitter with hashtags relating to your food truck as well as the
mobile cooking movement.
Promote your Food Truck by using Twitter ads create ads and target food truck
related hashtags, event coordinators and the accounts of other food trucks in your
area.
7. FACEBOOK TIPS
F O O D T R U C K S O N F A C E B O O K
Facebook can be used instead of creating an actual website for your food truck. Create a business
page that clearly depicts your truck you want your customers to be able to easily find you.
Add contact information for your food truck such as hours of operation, your phone number and
links to all of your social media accounts.
Keep your Facebook page updated with daily menus and photos from every event that you attend.
Be sure that you also create Event Pages and invite all of your fans to attend those events this will
let you track how many potential customers will show up to your food truck so you can buy enough
food to serve them all.
Facebook ads are going to be extremely important for your food truck. Utilize the new carousel ads
and make sure you target the areas that your truck serves you will be amazed at how much your
customer base grows as a result of Facebook ads.
8. INSTAGRAM TIPS
F O O D T R U C K S O N I N S T A G R A M
Create special hashtags that will engage your customers to share photos
regarding your food truck. Make sure you are also posting photos frequently
on your account. A clever hashtag could be #timsfoodtruckmenu and the
photo could be your daily menu, letting your followers know what will be
available.
Host special promotions and giveaways such as "The first 10 people to post
a photo in front of our food truck will receive a free drink or appetizer" tag
your post with #timsfoodtruckselfie.
Build a community on Instagram by creating a special hashtag such as
#timsfoodtruckfoodies make your presence known by acquiring loyal
members.
9. SNAPCHAT TIPS
F O O D T R U C K S O N S N A P C H A T
Use [insertfoodtrucknamehere] as your Snapchat account name.
Use creative videos or photos to introduce new products for your food truck
to your Snapchat audience.
You can even utilize your Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts to
advertise special announcements that will only be revealed on Snapchat at a
certain time of the day. *Since you have the ability to send content to
individual users on Snapchat, you can advertise on social media that "The
first 25 people to follow our Snapchat will receive a video at noon, revealing
our truck's location today" add excitement for your customers.
10. PINTEREST TIPS
F O O D T R U C K S O N P I N T E R E S T
Use your food truck name followed by "recipes" as your Pinterest
account name so you can easily be found online.
Promote your food truck by offering recipes of your most popular
food items on a Pinterest board. Make sure you have a detailed
list as well as a high quality photo of the end result. Ask your
customers to post photos on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter of
dishes they have created using your recipes this is a great way
to promote your food truck on multiple social media platforms at
once. *Use special hashtags for your food truck to keep track of
posts across social media.
11. GET CREATIVE.
Capture your audience with engaging videos.
Tweet video messages to your followers.
Add videos to Facebook to engage fans.
0 3 - V I R A L V I D E O M A R K E T I N G
T W I T T E R
FACEBOOK
Broadcast live video from your food truck.
P E R I S C O P E
Let your creative juices flow with short video clips.
V I N E
Produce quality videos showcasing your truck.
Y O U T U B E
12. VIDEO TIPS
F O O D T R U C K V I R A L V I D E O S
YouTube, Facebook and Twitter all offer the capability of posting fulllength videos make sure you get
creative with your content and test out which of the three video platforms receive the most views. For some,
YouTube is the way to go but for others you will find that your videos receive more views on Facebook and
Twitter. Create a unique video introducing your food truck and post it to all three platforms to see which one
receives the most traction set up targeted video ads too! Make sure you use hashtags on Facebook and
Twitter creativity is key!
Periscope has taken the internet by storm and has allowed anyone to broadcast live video from anywhere
in the world. Food trucks can utilize Periscope to shoot a live feed as they get all of the food ready for that
day's service, travel to an upcoming event or share instructional videos on how to prepare their most
popular food items. Be sure to link your Twitter account with Periscope so that when you go live it will not
only broadcast to your followers on Periscope but also your Twitter followers.
Vine is all about extremely short video clips that customers can replay over and over again without getting
bored. Utilize vine to create short, engaging videos that showcase just exactly what your food truck is all
about. If you have fun creating the video, your customers will have fun watching it be sure to share your
vine across all of your other social media platforms!
13. KEEP IT SIMPLE.
Use proven traditional marketing techniques.
Tweet video messages to your followers.
Add videos to Facebook to engage fans.
0 4 - T R A D I T I O N A L M A R K E T I N G
W O R D O F M O U T H
R A D I O
Broadcast live video from your food truck.
P R I N T M E D I A
Produce quality videos showcasing your truck.
T E L E V I S I O N
14. MARKETING TIPS
F O O D T R U C K T R A D I T I O N A L M A R K E T I N G
Word of mouth is going to be the cheapest form of marketing as it is 100% free. As a food truck owner you
will want to focus on serving amazing food and make sure that all of your customers leave your food truck
satisfied. Happy customers will turn into more business for you as they will most certainly tell all their
friends and family about the amazing experience they had at your food truck.
Contact local newspapers and magazines to see if they will come out and do a review of your food truck
and request information regarding ad space in their publications. Print fliers and post them around town to
help promote events that your food truck will be attending be sure to include a special discount for those
that see the fliers. Make sure that you also have business cards and menus easily accessible for when
customers visit your food truck.
Radio stations are still around despite all of the streaming music sources on the internet and each station
has extremely loyal listeners. Team up with local radio stations to promote your food truck and you can
even give them vouchers for a free meal at your truck to give away on air.
Television spots can be extremely beneficial for your food truck to tap into a localized audience. Promoting
your individual food truck on TV may not be worth the money, time and effort but advertising that your food
truck will be attending a large local event will surely pay off in the long run. Gain exposure with all locals by
creating a unique 30second commercial that showcases why your food truck is the best.
15. TEAM UP.
Join local businesses to promote your truck.
Cater corporate events with your food truck.
Join other food trucks in hosting events.
0 5 - C O L L A B O R A T I O N
C A T E R I N G
E V E N T S
Collaborate with local bars to offer food.
B A R S C E N E
16. COLLABORATE
F O O D T R U C K C O L L A B O R A T I O N
Cater to local businesses by offering to bring your food truck to corporate parks,
offering tenants of the office building a delicious lunch. Get in touch with the owners of
office buildings to ask for permission to park your food truck on the premise on a
certain day once a week/month. You can also try and go the private catering route with
a growing trend food trucks at weddings!
Craft breweries are popping up all over the United States and while they serve
amazing beer, few of them offer food to go along with your beverages. Contact local
bars and craft breweries to team up with them they serve the booze inside while you
are outside offering delicious meals from your food truck.
Food truck events are becoming increasingly popular as the demand for mobile
meals is on the rise. Reach out to event planners in your area and join other local food
trucks to put on special festivals that offer customers a variety of food trucks to choose
from. While you may want to focus strictly on promoting your individual food truck,
attending events with other trucks in your area will help you all gain exposure you can
even learn useful information by talking to all of the food truck owners to find out their
unique success stories.