Marketing
Top mobile marketing strategies for food truck operators
Social marketing is all important for the food truck operator and there's more to do than just getting a Facebook presence up and running. A mobile connection to customers is a key aspect to success.
March 22, 2021 by Richard Traylor — Writer, WebstaurantStore
The majority of the population in the United States has a smartphone, which makes mobile marketing strategies very effective at reaching a food truck's intended audience. Studies have shown foodies and food truck fans will research different food trucks online in deciding where to go out to eat — which gives food truck operators an excellent opportunity to reach interested audiences via mobile platforms.
Let's break down the most effective methods for food truck mobile marketing to help you find your customers and bring more people to your food truck.
What Is mobile marketing?
Mobile marketing is a strategy that targets customers using smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices through the channels of email, text, social media, and other apps. Many people think that mobile marketing is synonymous with social media marketing. While social media is a major part of mobile marketing, there is much more to mobile marketing than just creating a Facebook page for your food truck.
There are many different tactics food truck operators can implement to reach customers, from optimizing social media accounts to advertising on Google and other search engines. Here are some essential tactics every food truck operator include in the mobile marketing strategy.
1. Create a responsive website
When a customer is considering visiting your food truck, one of the first ways they may research your business is to Google you and look at your website. As a result, it's important for your food truck's website and menu to stand out on mobile and make a good first impression. One of the best ways to optimize your website for mobile is to use responsible web design.
Sites that use responsive web design are formatted to work on all devices and browser types, which eliminates the need for scrolling and re-sizing the page. Responsive web design improves your customers' user experience by speeding up page load times and allowing them to access the information easily without having to re-size your page themselves. Additionally, Google sees responsive web design as a good practice, and gives preference in search results to websites that have it for their mobile configuration.
There are multiple ways you can make your food truck's website mobile-friendly. If you manage your website yourself, look into tools like Webflow and Macaw that can help you create and maintain responsive websites.
2. Sign up for local business listing apps
Local restaurant listing apps, such as Yelp, TripAdvisor, and FourSquare, are essential for bringing in new business. It's especially important to sign up for these apps if you live in a tourist area or major city, as they can bring visitors to your business.
You should sign up for these apps as soon as possible so you can start accumulating reviews and customer photos. A large pool of customer reviews on apps like Yelp can help give your food truck credibility, and a favorable overall rating can help potential customers decide to visit your food truck.
3. Sign up for Google My Business
Google My Business is a free service Google provides that allows business owners to create a business page that will show up in Google search results. This page displays information like your hours of operation, location, website, menu, and Google reviews.
Because this page shows up in the search results, it may be the first interaction a potential customer has with your food truck, so you want to be sure that all of the information displayed is accurate. Additionally, having a Google My Business account will help your food truck show up in local searches, like if someone is searching for "food trucks near me," which is a great way to reach potential customers in your area and maximize your location-based mobile marketing.
4. Utilize SMS marketing
While using apps and optimizing your Google Business page can help customers find your food truck, using SMS marketing can help you engage with your customers and encourage them to return. SMS stands for "short message service," which is another phrase for texting. Text marketing is a service where customers opt in to receive marketing materials and texts from your business. Here are a few ways that food truck operators can use SMS marketing:
• Remind customers about upcoming events.
• Send notifications about reservations your customers have made or alert them when their table is ready.
• Notify them about limited time specials or new menu items.
• Reward your customers with coupons and exclusive specials to thank them for visiting your restaurant and signing up for SMS marketing.
• Update customers on the status of their delivery, such as when it's leaving the kitchen or when your driver is five minutes away.
To make SMS marketing successful, you need to get your customers to sign up. You can advertise your SMS marketing and list its benefits on your food truck's website and include a 5-digit-code that customers can text to opt in to your marketing service. Additionally, you can inform customers of the service when they stop by to order a meal. If you decide to use a text marketing in your food truck, make sure to inform all staff, so they can answer any questions that your customers might have.
There are many mobile marketing strategies your food truck can implement to help increase your customer base and brand recognition. But the most important strategy is to make sure that your food truck is well-represented on all of the major platforms, like Google, social media apps, review apps, and food ordering services.
About Richard Traylor
Richard Traylor graduated from Temple University in the winter of 2014 with a degree in Strategic Communications. After graduating, he taught English in South Korea for two years, during which he was fortunate enough to travel and see the world. In October 2016, he returned home and started to work in SEO Content at Webstaurant Store. This blog previously ran on Webstaurant Store.
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