It is well known that word of mouth is the best form of advertising a business owner can receive. A walking talking advocate or two can do wonders for your mobile eatery’s promotion. Today we will dive into online marketing, or as we like to call it, Word of Mouse marketing.

Previously we have discussed the idea of sending your customers an email with photos of them, enjoying themselves with their friends at your truck. Why do this you may ask? First, it’s a nice thing to do, providing a little extra something that most other restaurants don’t provide.

Second, it puts your business back in their mind. Once they have received the photos they will, more than likely, want to share them with their friends. They can do this by forwarding the email, or, more likely these days, post the photo to their Facebook page and tag themselves and any of their other friends that are included in the photo.

RELATED: Offline Word Of Mouth Marketing For Your Food Truck

Word Of Mouse: Online Word Of Mouth Marketing

By using this strategy you have a free advertisement from one of your customers’ Facebook page, being seen by all their friends. The great part of this is that most of their friends will probably fall into the same demographic category. Therefore, you have just reached your perfect target audience, with a personal recommendation to visit your food truck, where they are guaranteed good food, good service and a good time.

This is a great way to reach prospective new customers. If you can do this with just 1 or 2 customers a day, think of the total number of people viewing personal recommendations for your business each and every week. This is excellent promotion and a great way to introduce your brand.

When it comes to word of mouse marketing, the potential is much higher than word of mouth. Why is this? It’s simple, it’s because the numbers are much bigger and it stays online much longer. Creating advocates and promoters for your food truck or cart is often as simple as encouraging customers to mention your establishment when talking about food.

What To Include In Your Promotions

If you have Twitter followers and Facebook fans that have enjoyed visits to your truck, they are very likely to be talking about you to their friends online. Social Media is the opportunity for your message to be relayed to tens of thousands of local potential customers.

As part of your word of mouse promotion put some great content onto your Facebook page and on your blog. Link the content to Twitter updates so as to attract more people to read about you. Give recipes, cooking advice and tips to your community. Post video of your food in preparation and presentation. Have a section for your customers to post their photos of themselves at one of the many venues you visit.

Every now and then make an offer, just for your Facebook fans. Be random, around once every 3 or 4 weeks encourage your customers to introduce someone new and enjoy a complimentary meal. The aim is to invite people to join you during your slower times, not during your busy periods.

Tapping Into Your Email Newsletter

When you send out your email newsletter (which should be regularly delivered every month) add links to your Twitter, Facebook and blog. Also have a “share this” button, so that your customers can post your newsletter to their own Social Media sites, or email their friends. Getting your messages to go “viral” is great for building your following. Do not forget to ensure you have buttons to sign up to your newsletter, offers or VIP lists.

RELATED: Creating An Effective Food Truck Newsletter

Creativity Is A Must In Word of Mouse Marketing

To create truly “viral” content for your community to share with their friends, you have to be different. No one wants to share or receive mundane stuff. So how can you make it interesting enough to be shareable?

Two things are particularly important. First it has to be unique, truly different from your competition’s offerings. It could be a similar idea but it must have a different spin on it or a twist in the tail. Second it must be fun. This could be the use of humor or simply just great enjoyment for the reader or viewer. It should make them laugh out loud (lol) or at the very least, break into a smile.

Video is the best form of shareable content. Make it entertaining, make it fun and make it short, something between 30 seconds and 2 minutes. It does not have to be a feature length film to be memorable. The advantage of video is that you can embed your website or blog URL on it, so that your food truck is associated with the content and becomes a permanent piece of your business promotion.

The Bottom Line

Now that you have a deeper insight into word of mouse marketing, it is time to get started. Do something now! Write down some ideas, talk to your food truck team and ask for their input and ideas. Get started straight away, it won’t be perfect, but that doesn’t matter, learn as your go, the important thing is to do something now and have fun.

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