How to Attract Customers to Your Food Truck
Today, you will learn different ways to attract customers to your food truck. Use these strategies to increase sales and grow your food truck business. Let’s get started.
1. Serve good food
Above all, you need to have a good product. Focus on making food that customers love. Use fresh ingredients and have options that will satisfy even the most health-conscious eaters.
2. Show how your food is unique
If you use fresh ingredients and special spices, be sure to write them down on your menu. You can also make recommendations and mention these qualities when customers order.
3. Differentiate yourself from the competition
When designing the menu, be sure to do some market research and see what kinds of food other trucks and restaurants offer. This can all be done online, easily.
Open Google Maps and set your location.
Search around.
Wherever you see a fork and knife icon, that’s a place to eat.
Click through to the food place’s website and look at the menu. Study everything. Take some notes using a word document or spreadsheet.
Why is this important?
It’s important because if you see a few pizza places in the area, it’s not a good idea to also sell pizza. That’s doing the same thing as everyone else. You’re directly competing with other places. That’s not a good idea unless you have a fierce passion for pizza. If so, then you have to somehow make your pizza extra special and convey these unique qualities to your customers.
4. Pick a good location
You can use Google Maps to analyze the density of food places. For example, if you see a massive cluster of food places, then you know there’s competition in that area. This is good and bad at the same time.
We have to question why there are so many food places all in one area. Maybe there’s significant demand. Think of the collective revenue of all the food places as a big pie. A small pie of a big pie is still a nice chunk of change. Therefore, being part of the cluster may not be that bad after all. This is something that you have to think about when picking a location.
In addition to the density of food places, we can use Google Maps to analyze the lack of density. This is also smart when picking a location. For example, a good place to set up shop might be in an underserved area with minimal food places. There’s little competition, so let’s feed the people in that area.
However, we also have to question why there is so little competition. Is it simply because no one knows about the neighborhood and it’s a hidden gem? If so, that’s great news. However, maybe there’s a problem with that area, and that’s why there are no other food trucks.
Overall, the whole process is a combination of research and experimentation.
5. Be creative with the design of your truck
Use bright colors.
Signs.
A nice logo.
Your goal is to make your truck stand out from other trucks as well as the nearby surroundings. You want people walking by to naturally notice your truck. This is the first step in turning bystanders into customers: awareness and acknowledgment of existence.
Hire a good graphic designer and get a nice paint job.
Consider making your truck look like the food that you’re selling. For example, if you sell burgers, make your truck actually look like a mouth-watering burger. It’s fun and people will laugh.
6. Get an awning
It will make your truck look bigger so that it’s even more noticeable. Plus, your customers will thank you. The awning will provide shade from the sun and serve as a refuge when there’s precipitation. Your customers will be able to see the menu more easily. The awning can even help maintain the freshness and temperature of the food.
7. Install a TV screen
Fast food restaurants have TV screen displays. These screens are basically continuous loops of video clips and images. They showcase the delicious food in the restaurant. Do you think you can apply this concept to your truck? Not a lot of food trucks have TV screens, so it’s a good way to stand out from the competition.
8. Light up at night
Capture people’s attention at night by becoming a light show. Think neon signs, Christmas tree lights, and more.
9. Incorporate sound
Ice cream trucks play a jingle when they’re in the neighborhood. Maybe you can apply a similar concept to your food truck. Create your own jingle and play it to announce your arrival. Or play some music. However, be aware of any local laws and regulations. Plus, be cautious when you’re in a residential neighborhood. Some people might not appreciate the noise.
10. Keep convenience in mind
Offer pickup and delivery options. This makes a huge difference to workers on lunch break. They do not want to waste any of their precious time waiting in line. So even if you have a line down the block, you will lose some potential customers who are not willing to wait that long. They will go elsewhere. Offering pickup and delivery is a way to keep these customers. They will simply call and order in advance.
Overall, you will have to be very efficient with your food truck operations (without sacrificing quality) to satisfy all customers.
11. Befriend your customers
When it’s not too busy, take some time to get to know your customers. Have a conversation. Get to know their names. Make business more personal. Get past the formal and transactional nature that business can be. Make everything more welcoming. Think of your food truck as a pillar in the neighborhood and your customers are its stakeholders.
12. Create a loyalty program
For example, when a customer orders five lunch combos, they get a sixth lunch on the house. You can also offer free beverages and discounts. Implementing a loyalty program is a good way to build a list of regular customers. That’s recurring revenue.
13. Offer free samples
Who doesn’t like free stuff?! Free is a very powerful word, especially in marketing. Create miniature versions of your dishes and let customers try out the different taste profiles.
This will increase customer satisfaction since customers will know what something will taste like before they spend money. This is especially relevant when a customer tries a dish that they’ve never tried before. For a customer, one of the risks of trying something new is the uncertainty that comes with the taste. Trying free samples is a way to mitigate this risk.
14. Establish partnerships with nearby businesses
Work together with other businesses. During checkout, you can quickly let customers know about the other place. The other business can do the same. This way, it’s a win-win situation and both businesses can benefit. Partnerships can be very successful if the two businesses complement each other.
15. Get on Instagram
Set up a profile and start taking pictures of your food.
Be sure to display basic business information like address, phone number, and hours of operation.
Use relevant hashtags and build up a following.
Create your own hashtag and encourage customers to use it. For example, customers who take good pictures can get discounts or free food. You can be intentional with your contest winners or simply select winners at random.
Experiment with organic reach as well as paid traffic once you have a marketing budget. The great thing about ads on Instagram (and Facebook) is that you can be super specific with your targeting. You can choose to only show your ads to users in specific locations and/or with specific interests.
16. Set up a website
You need an online presence to compete in today’s world. When someone searches the name of your food truck online, you want them to find your website. You can use your website to turn interested parties into paying customers. You can also let returning customers know about any exciting changes.
What do you put on your website?
For starters, your current location. This is especially relevant to food trucks since trucks may not be able to stay in one location all the time. Encourage your customers to check the website if you’re not in your usual spot.
Also, the menu. Make it easy for customers to pick out what they want. Your operations will be more efficient if customers know what they want before they talk to you.
In addition, take your customers “behind the scenes” by filming recipe videos. Not an experienced videographer? Hire one using Fiverr. They do the filming, you do the cooking. Show your customers why your food is so special.