Can you imagine yourself travelling half way across town and then having to stand in line for a taco or a few dumplings at a mobile food stand? I sure can’t! But for many people in the big cities of the US this is daily practice. Here, the once despised of ‘roach coaches’, selling low quality food, were turned into artfully spray-painted food trucks providing affordable, creative, high quality meals. But what made this such a success that people actively ‘hunt down’ their favourite truck for lunch or a snack? The answer is social media.
It all started around 2008 when two befriended L.A. chefs executed their idea for the Kogi BBQ food truck. Initially they had a hard time selling their Korean-Mexican fusion cuisine, but soon found out that social media was the perfect tool for reaching the general public. Making use of Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and popular blogging platforms they quickly gained a following of young and plugged-in urban people who spread the word. Within months Kogi attracted hundreds of followers, making the truck a successful community in itself. Nowadays Kogi has a Twitter following of nearly 135.000 people and expanded their L.A. business to five trucks in total.
This success together with the economic recession, which made a food truck much more financially feasible than opening a restaurant, fueled a completely new ‘food movement’. Making skilled chefs and entrepreneurs start high quality food trucks, creating customer engagement and word of mouth for their mobile business through social media. Turning what seemed to be a fad into a multi-million dollar industry.
Even though it’s a booming industry, business can be tough. Next to a colourful truck and a catchy name, you really need to distinguish yourself in order to be successful. Because they operate a mobile business, every food truck owner is very active on social media. Using Twitter for quick updates on location, wait times, special offers or when they’ve sold out of certain items; Instagram for posting pictures of dishes and ‘life on the road’; popular blogging platforms to share their passion and Facebook to interact.
Also, many owners connect to local ‘foodie’ bloggers, the field’s opinion leaders, about their business, additions to the menu or special events. When these influential people spread a positive message on their already popular networks, this might make a specific food truck more popular. But the best online strategy that distinguishes success from the mass, according to successful food truck owners, is listening to your customers and engaging on what’s important to them. This online conversation can be about anything the audience cares about; new music or artists, favourite bands, trends, interesting links or simply the food.
Nevertheless popular vendors say that the emphasis on social media being their success is perhaps somewhat overrated. Of course it’s very important to their business, but it doesn’t do the cooking. Or as the creative director of Kogi BBQ states: “Food is my business. Culture is my department. And social media is just the bridge that allows for me to let those two worlds talk to one another.” Personally I couldn’t agree more. How about you?
References
Brindley, D. (2015, July) How One Korean Taco Truck Launched an $800 Million Industry. A Los Angeles chef took a crazy idea and sparked a food movement on wheels [online article]. Accessed at: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2015/07/food-trucks/brindley-text
Mariah, M. (2014, august 12th). Food Trucks And Social Media – What Your Business Can Learn From The Masters [blog]. Accessed at: http://www.standardmarketing.com/2014/08/food-trucks-social-media-business-can-learn-masters/
Myrick, R. (2012). The Complete History of American Food Trucks [online article]. Accessed at: http://mobile-cuisine.com/business/history-of-american-food-trucks/
Sniderman, Z. (2011, June 16th). How Social Media Is Fueling the Food Truck Phenomenon [online article]. Accessed at: http://mashable.com/2011/06/16/food-trucks-social-media/
