Food trucks have become the testing ground of how social media can be used as a powerful marketing tool for small to medium enterprises or even multinational conglomerates.  That now even non-food companies have used these ‘billboard on wheels’ for experiential marketing campaigns (See our previous post on Using Food Trucks for Promotional Events and Experiential Marketing Campaigns).   The old word-of-mouth is now going at the speed of ‘like’ and a recommendation can be now backed up with a picture, video, or a thousand more similar testimonials.  Aside from giving away discounts and freebies for likes, checking in, and shares, here are a few food truck social media campaigns done in the past that you may tweak or adapt for your own business.

1.    Listen to customer feedback and input – whether it may be a contest to come up with a new flavor or item for the menu, encouraging customers  to give their 50 cents worth makes them feel that they are important to you.

2.    Pay it forward – share other businesses updates, like their posts, and tag them on yours.

3.    Hidden menu item – have a ‘secret’ menu item that can only be seen on your social media page.

4.    Give back to the community – tie up your promo to a good cause, such as a local feeding program for instance.

5.    Go healthy – use a calorie counter app for the items you have on your menu.

6.    Take advance orders via social media.

7.    Merchandising – remember that your truck is a brand. Put your logo on t-shirts, mugs, caps, etc.  Sell these items but also give these away as prizes.  The free advertising you get around town would be worth it.

8.    Tie-ups – think of other businesses outside of the food industry you can build a campaign around.  You may get twice the exposure for half the price, since two companies are doing the promo and you get to share both the expense and rewards.