Using Internal Marketing To Build Your Food Truck Brand

When you think of marketing, you more than likely think of marketing to your customers. How can you convince more people to show up at your food truck? But another market is just as important for your food truck. Your employees are the very people who can make your food truck brand come to life for your customers. Yet in our experience we’ve found that most food truck often ignore internal marketing.

Why is internal marketing so important? Because it’s the best way to help employees make a powerful emotional connection to your food truck brand and menu. Without this connection, employees are likely to undermine the expectations set by your external marketing efforts. When staff members care about and believe in your food truck brand, they’re more likely to work harder and their loyalty to the you and your food truck will increase.

Unfortunately, in most mobile food businesses, internal marketing is done poorly, if at all. While vendors recognize the need to keep people informed about the truck’s direction, few understand the need to convince employees of the brand’s power.

We have found that by applying many of the principles of external marketing to internal communications, food truck vendors can guide employees to a better understanding of, and even a passion for, their brand vision. Applying these principles enables employees to become part of the vision during their day-to-day activities. And when employees feel they are part of the vision, customers are much more likely to experience your food truck in a way that’s consistent with what you’ve promised.

How To Properly Use Internal Marketing In Your Food Truck

Choose Your Moment. Remember that most people have limited tolerance for change. But at certain times when your food truck is experiencing a challenge, employees are seeking direction and are relatively receptive to these initiatives. Don’t be afraid to use an internal marketing campaign to help your employees understand the change. If you don’t do this, your food truck could face negative energy which could lead to an unproductive workforce.
Internal and External Marketing Must Be Linked. Employees need to hear the same messages that you send out internally and externally. When employees are told one thing by ownership but see a different message is being sent to the public, it can be very confusing.
Create An Emotional Connection For Employees. The goal of an internal branding campaign is very similar to that of an external campaign. Because of this, they both need to create an emotional connection to your food truck. In the case of employees, you also want the connection to inform the way they approach their jobs, even if they don’t interact with customers.

Be Cautious With Internal Marketing

When it comes to delivering the message, it can be tempting to send out a memo or email. No matter how large your food truck empire…don’t do this! There is no substitute for personal contact from the management. Failure to communicate at a personal level can undermine the most any internal marketing campaign.

Within the daily pressure to develop new menu items and cut costs out of operations, internal marketing is easily overlooked. Because of this it is important to remember that if your employees do not care about your food truck, they could help contribute to its demise. And it’s up to you to give them a reason to care.

Do you use internal marketing in your food truck? Share your thoughts on this topic in the comment section below or on social media. Facebook | Twitter