Food Trucks & Social Media: Six Tips & the Locals Who Use Them

Abridged from ImpactNews.com

Urban food trucks do not operate like traditional restaurants, and they cannot market like them, either.

Many food trucks move from place to place. They may offer niche foods or specialized cuisine that does not neatly fit into a simple category. Some food truck owners operate in cities with unclear or labyrinthine laws working against them.

In recent years, social media and increased interconnectivity have allowed these small businesses to greatly increase their exposure and build loyal fanbases.

Representatives from three nationally known food trucks—James DiSabatino (Roxy’s Grilled Cheese Truck), Stephanie Morgan (Seabirds Truck) and Daniel Shemtob (The Lime Truck)—weighed in on the best practices for using social media during “Food Trucks Share Social Media Tips” on March 11 during South by Southwest Interactive.

They were interviewed by Bob Madden, general manager and vice president of online brands at Food Network.

Here are six take-aways from the panel. While the advice may not be particularly ground-breaking to the savvy social media user, the strategies pay large dividends when applied to the food truck industry.

These strategies are being used by food trucks here in Austin as well.

1. Cover the basics

Panel members agreed that first and foremost, food trucks must use social media to explain who they are, what they are serving and where they are.

2. Be transparent

DiSabatino said he plainly and honestly chronicled his food truck’s early successes and failures, and that caught people’s attention.

“The idea is to let people see inside your business, and that gains trust,” he said.

3. Put your own personality into it

“We might write something like, ‘By the Beard of Zeus, we will be here by 2 p.m..’ Just funny stuff,” Shemtob said.

Morgan said Seabirds employees refer to themselves as birds.

4. Converse early and often

The panelists all agreed that social media should be used to converse and connect, not just broadcast information.

5. Social media is one tool among many

At the end of the day, social media is what you make of it. It can alert new customers to your business. It can engage and excite existing fans. It can get people involved in a growing brand.

6. Be careful what you post

Morgan said to follow the bar rule: no politics or religion when posting on the business’s channels.

Read the complete article on ImpactNews.com.