How to Make Your Food Truck Stand Out from the Crowd

Being a food truck owner is a 24/7 endeavor and takes a lot of blood, sweat and tears. While you are trying to juggle all the daily tasks of running a business, you also constantly have your thoughts on growing your customer base and making your food truck stand out from the crowd.

The food truck industry has been becoming a dense industry and it is hard to compete with all of the other food trucks out there. How do you stand out among a sea of burger food trucks?

Here are some tips on how to make your food stand out from the crowd:

Create A Brand

The most important thing you can do for your business is to establish a strong brand that your customers will recognize instantly. Hire an artist to help you create a logo with a specific combination of colors and maybe even a catch phrase that you can have printed on your truck and on all your promotional materials.

Offer a Novel Take on a Favorite Food

Whether it is putting your sandwiches into ice cream cones to make them more portable or inventing a new flavor of ice cream, offer your customers something that can’t get anywhere else. If you love to play with spices, come up with your own special sauce that wows the taste buds.

Make Your Truck Visually Striking

When your food truck is lined up on the street next to other trucks, if people are not aware of your brand and the delicious fare you offer, what is going to make them stop and check you out? A striking truck wrap with fun graphics and vibrant colors can really make you stand out.

Think about you can make the entrance to the order window more striking. A cool chalk board with the day’s menu? Some benches or tables and chairs with an umbrella with your brand stamped on it for people to eat at? Pay attention to what your competitors are doing so you get a sense of what to do and not to do.

Even simple things like a quirky license plate or one with your name on it and custom rims in the color of your brand will be noticed by your customers.

Develop a Following on Social Media

Your social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are the perfect way to keep up with your loyal customers and to grow your fan base. Post pictures of your best dishes on Instagram and let people know where you are setting up shop each day. Make sure that you are not just posting, but also interacting with other users and responding to all comments and messages you are sent.

Take on Catering Work

A lot of food truck owners also cater events to help supplement their income, but it is also a good way to get your name out there more. This is a great way to introduce more people to your quality food and service and it can help you survive any lean times you might have on the truck. This is especially a good idea if you plan to operate your food truck in the northeast part of the country where winter weather might keep customers away.

Stay Up-to-Date on Latest Trends

Keeping your finger on the pulse on the food truck industry and adopting new trends can help you stay ahead of the competition. Don’t be afraid to re-event yourself a little if there is a particular hot trend that you think your customers will love.

One of the big trends in 2017 for the food truck industry is the emphasis on organic local food. A lot of food trucks are concentrating on getting their supplies from local organic farms. With fresher ingredients you can add extra flavor to your dishes that your customers will love. And with more and more people focused on reducing their carbon footprint and paying more attention to where their food comes from, it will help you recruit more customers if you can tell them the name of the farm where you got your ingredients from. People will trust your food more if they know exactly where it comes from.

In the coming year you will see more food trucks with their own artisan breads and those who make their own ice creams. The art involved in making food is definitely coming back to the food truck industry. It is not about mass production of the same food constantly, but the creation of edible art. No longer just hot dogs and sandwiches, you can also get also complicated cuisine as well.

Treat Your Customers Like Family

The customer is the lifeblood of any business so it is important to constantly cultivate your customer base. If you make them feel like family, they will want to keep coming back and get their friends to come too. Offer special discounts and special events for your loyal customers as a thank you. You will be amazed at how much they appreciate it.

Try all these approaches to help your food truck stand out from the crowd, but also don’t underestimate other factors in a food truck’s success like location. Where you set up shop each day can be the difference between a busy or slow day. Work on developing relationships with festival organizers and mall managers to get yourself unique spots for your food truck.

If your truck specializes in local organic dishes, then put local farmers’ markets on your weekly circuit and your fans will always know where to find you. By attending events that match your overall mission, you will help boost your overall brand.

If you are just starting out and are still on the fence about what type of food truck to have, consider becoming a Zac’s Burgers food truck owner. You will have an already established brand behind you that will help attract customers and who doesn’t love a good burger?

Find out more information about Zac’s Burgers and the opportunities they offer their food truck owners, by contacting them today.

 

Zac's Burgers is presently not selling franchises and does not have a certified franchise disclosure document.  Zac's is offering licensing opportunities, however, potential licensees must meet all federal and state requirements.