It’s a sad fact in today’s mobile food industry that unless you are one of your cities major food truck icons or a truck that a customer has visited 5 or more times, most people just won’t remember your food truck business name. The reason I put these food truck branding tips together comes from an observation I made from a recent trip to a local food truck.
Three people were standing in line with me at a food truck, one was on the phone. He looked at his friend and asked “what’s the name of this truck?”…and the friend’s blank stare showed that he didn’t know. Worse, if they had tried to figure out what the name of the truck was while in line, they would have been even more confused.
The name of the truck was unreadable. It was broken up because the sign company placed the name over the service window panel so when it was open, nobody is able to read it. The food truck’s name wasn’t on the sign board and the staff didn’t have uniforms. This was a sure sign of lost future business.
Before you go spending any money on expensive promotions for your food truck business, make sure that you’ve covered everything, including the BIG things like the wrap of your truck to all of the small, personal promotional items inside your truck. You could double your business if every customer comes back at least once.
10 Food Truck Branding Tips
- Place the name of your food truck on all sides of the vehicle (including the roof) – make sure that the name is legible if different doors or hatches are open.
- The name on awning (if you have one) and on the service window – if it’s just on the awning people walking by may not see it.
- The name on other company vehicles if you tow your kitchen around – be sure you include your website so it’s easy to find you later.
- Business name and contact details on fliers.
- Business cards at the service window for people to keep.
- Catering or take away menus, even if it’s just a sample.
- Auto-response to inquiry emails. It automatically bounces back saying something like:
“Thanks for your inquiry – we will be in touch with you shortly. Don’t forget our weekly schedule and all of our menus are online at wvw.ourfoodtruck.com.” - Business name on staff uniforms.
- Prominent website address – as big as every other mention of your food truck name. If your website url is not logical such as oftw.com instead of OurFoodTruckWebsite.com, fix this – register the easier name as well as the original and have them both directed to your main website. If you spell the web name with some capitals (like the example), it’s easier to remember and won’t affect search behavior.
- Get your food truck up to number one when consumers run a Google search. Too many food trucks still haven’t attempted this.
More information: Boost Your Food Truck’s Menu Search Ranking
BONUS: 3 personalized customer contact tips to help reinforce these food truck branding tips
- Hand written “thank you” on the tickets.
- Personal acknowledgement: “Thank you Ms. Smith” – when handing back their credit card or when my delivering their order.
- Real customers on your website. Think happy staff and happy customers, plus short bios of each of your staff members.
The Bottom Line
Branding for your food truck means branding in all touch points with customers. We hope these tips help vendors expand their reach and strengthen their brands.
Do you have any cost saving food truck branding tips for name reinforcement? If so, please feel free to share them in the comment section, our food truck forum or social media. Facebook | Twitter