Word-of-mouth marketing used to be about one happy customer recommending a business to a friend. In the age of social media, a single happy customer can reach thousands of other potential customers, so how can you increase your chances of that happening?

It’s not enough to just have a Facebook page for your food truck, you have to know how to use it. 40 percent of Facebook users who become fans of a page do so to take advantage of a discount or promotion, so offer a healthy discount on a popular menu item to get people to your service window.

Contests are another way to win new fans and engage your followers. As a food truck owner, ask fans to submit photos of the last meal they ordered from your truck with a review, with the winner receiving a gift card toward their next visit. If you run a contest, be sure to review Facebook rules and host your promotion through a third-party app.

A recent development on Facebook lets you select which of your fans see your status updates, so take advantage of this feature to send out targeted messages to fans based upon their age, location and interests, among other things.

A passive Facebook presence won’t get you very far, but a little effort can make your Food Truck’s Facebook page a popular destination, and in turn generate sales.