Food truck owners wear many hats. Most fill the roles of CEO, CMO, CFO and Executive Chef. Inevitability, some of the tasks required to be completed in those areas will not fall into the owner’s comfort zone. Because of that we have consistently provided information and article to help those who may need a little help. Today we’ll touch on marketing and a very basic concept within the realm of online marketing, the “call to action”.

Understanding A Call To Action

So what is a “call to action” and what does it mean in relation to your food truck? You may recognize calls to action on websites you visit, for instance a giant button that you instinctively click to take you the desired next level of interest on that site. In regards to your own website, it may be a “Catering Reservation” button that you use as a call to action without even knowing the terminology.

Wikipedia defines a call to action as:

One of the most important concepts in marketing and promotion: “Call to action” (CTA) is a single focused command used after you have established you have got something good to offer, and you want the customer to act upon it. A “Call to action” is copy used in advertising to encourage a person to complete an action as defined by the advertiser.

Examples of “Call to action” words are “Click here”, “Click to download”, “Buy Now”, “Enter Now”, “Call now!”, “Bring your coupon”

So how can a food truck owner put a call to action to work in social media? How can you invite your fans and followers to dig deeper into your website without sounding like a used car salesman?

Remember, social media is not a sales gimmick tool, but a community builder. If you’re pumping out nothing but sales pitches on Twitter and Facebook, you’re not getting the most out these tools, and may in fact be turning customers away.

4 call to action strategies for your food truck’s social media efforts:

Use shortened URLs for links

Our first call to action isn’t shout do this, but it more of a branding extension. Not do shortened urls save valuable twitter real estate, it makes for easy reading in your tweet. Even more important; it’s retweetable. There are several URL shorteners out there such as Bit.ly and TinyURL.

Link to photos

You want to tweet about your award-winning menu items, but let folks know that they’re cooked fresh daily and here’s what they look like ala minute.

You may have heard; a picture says a thousand words. Take a pic of a one of your great entrees, side dishes, or even the the sandwich board sitting outside of the truck, to put an “action shot” into your tweets and posts.

If you have a smart phone with a camera (and if you don’t…why?), you can upload on the spot, from your favorite Twitter dashboard, or Facebook.

Link to your other social media platforms

It’s possible that your followers don’t know you have a Facebook Fan Page. Tell them about it and include a link. Likewise Facebook Fans may not know you’re on Twitter. A little post with your Twitter address and message about special deals to followers will show up on all of your fans’ walls.

Have a YouTube Channel? Tweet/post about a video you just posted from a special event or cooking class you organized. Ideally you also feature your YouTube videos and Facebook ‘events’ on your website, and linking to the pages on which they live is where you want to point people with your links.

RELATED: Social Media Is The Easiest Marketing Method For Website Promotion

Trivia questions for prizes

Send out a tweet out once a week asking a trivia question relating to your menu, history, staff, etc. Let your followers know that the answer is buried somewhere on your website. For instance:

Q: What is the name of the sauce that accompanies <insert menu item here>?
A: <answer>

The likely ‘prize’ for the first correct response might be that specific menu item. Good will spreads good will, and customers will be talking about you and your contest. They and every other would-be winner would have dug through your online menu looking for the answer as well.

Ideally you’ll have other interesting items on your site to entice them to track down your truck even if they didn’t win that week. Making that effort a regular thing is highly recommended. Followers and fans will come to expect it.

RELATED: Cost Effective Marketing Solutions For Food Trucks

The Bottom Line

A call to action can be used to build your email list, increase your social media following, keep readers on your food truck website and much more. Using them properly will help your food truck grow. We hope you are able to use these suggestions to build your food truck empire.

What kind of call to action are you using to promote your food truck? Share your thoughts on this topic in the comment section, our food truck forum or social media. Facebook | Twitter