5 Creative Ways Food Trucks Can Use Facebook to Build Community

Facebook is a fantastic tool for food truck promotion. It’s interactive and it engages followers on a local level. The fact that it costs little to nothing doesn’t hurt either!

This week’s post looks at 5 creative ways to promote your truck using Facebook…

1. Interactive promotion

The great thing about Facebook is it encourages a two-way conversation between businesses and customers. This means you can promote in a way that engages customers actively with your truck’s brand.

Some ideas for interactive promotion…

• Ask followers to “check in” on Facebook to receive a special discount
• Encourage customers to tag your truck’s page in photos and status updates for extra deals
• Ask customers to comment with their favorite menu item, then reward the first 2-3 commenters with a free meal
• Invite customers to wear a your brand’s colours or logo out to the truck for a special deal (I got this idea from The Lime Truck, which recently offered 10% off to Facebook customers who showed up wearing lime green)

2. Respond and improve

A unique challenge for mobile restaurants is forming a lasting connection with customers. Because you’re always on the move, sometimes getting useful customer feedback can be tough.

Facebook lets customers take the initiative reach out to you directly. It gives them a reliable and easy place to find you on their own time.

Take advantage of this feature to get a better feel for what your customers want.

Probably the most common types of comments you’ll get will be related to your location. Customers may ask you to stay longer in certain places, or suggest certain events that you could cater to. They might let you know there’s demand for vegetarian menu items, or bring up issues with the truck that you never even thought of.

Increase your Facebook engagement by responding to customer comments. (tweet this)

Always reply to customer questions and comments. When they ask for something specifically, let them know you’re listening. Connect with them beyond the generic “we value your feedback” reply.

3. Post content on-the-go

Food truck customers love spontaneity. When you post content from your truck, it just seems more genuine and unplanned. This unique type of restaurant’s mobile nature gives lots of room for posting new and interesting content.

Use your laptop or other mobile device to post content to your Facebook feed. Talk about something interesting happening near your truck. Post a tasty photo of your newest menu item – fresh out of the kitchen!

Use mobile posts to tempt and entertain your Facebook followers – and to bring them closer to your brand.

4. Connect with local businesses

Use Facebook to get connected with other business owners on your route.

Start by using your page to become a fan of other businesses you regularly interact with. Branch out by searching and adding local business you don’t know yet. You can do this using keywords like street and city names in Facebook search.

A simple “Like” makes your truck’s name visible to the business on the receiving end. Free exposure and networking!

When you want to connect more with a local business, tagging them in your Facebook content is as simple as adding an @ sign before writing out their page name. See the Brown Bag Lunch Truck Facebook page for plenty of examples.

Food trucks are competitive, but liking each other on Facebook can help both trucks get more customers. (tweet this)

5. Broadcast your location

The mobility of food trucks is a big part of their charm. But if your truck moves locations often, your biggest fans might find it difficult to track you down. Use Facebook to keep everyone in the loop.

The simplest technique is to mention your location in daily status updates. Consistency is key. The more regularly you announce your location, the more customers will turn to Facebook to find out where you are at any moment. Remember to be specific about when and how long you’ll be in one spot.

See how the Scratch Food truck always posts their location on Facebook?

Use Facebook to help customers find and connect with your food truck, wherever it may roam!

For more tips on optimizing your page for a local following, heads to this recent guest post by Jon Hainstock.

I’ll leave you with a few more successful food truck Facebook pages for inspiration:

• The Cinnamon Snail (New York)
• The Buttermilk Truck (Los Angeles)
• Geurrilla Street Food (St. Louis)
• Where Ya At Matt (Seattle)
• Slidin’ Thru (Las Vegas)

Have you used Facebook and social media for your food truck? Share your experiences in the comments.

Photos by uwishunu and TraveLynn Eats

2 responses to “5 Creative Ways Food Trucks Can Use Facebook to Build Community”

1. hasti says:

   April 4, 2015 at 5:09 am

   I think this restaurant is delicious dishes. تور چین–پارتیشن–پارتیشن–کرکره برقی–درب ضد سرقت

   Reply
2. michel young says:

   November 20, 2014 at 2:18 pm

   My husband and I JUST purchased a hotdog cart. All information and tips are so welcomed. This article is packed with both. With any luck we will become extremely successful!

   Reply