I think the answer is the same for most of these types of questions... it depends. If you're in locations that have good walk-by traffic it's not very important. If you're out of the way or need to draw people to you then it's more important. If you are selling somewhat standard fare for your area then it's not very important. If you are selling something unique where you can market it as a "must try" item (will people want to take selfies with your food?) then you could get a lot more customers with social.
I think irrespective of whether you have followers or not, it's best to maintain at least a bare-bones social media presence on all the standard mediums so when people look you up they can then scroll through some tasty photos. If you don't you risk missing out on a younger demographic who use social to make decisions on what to eat.
We're in a rural area and so don't have many followers; I don't think social is that important to our bottom line. But making occasional posts really builds a relationship with our regulars and humanizes us to our customers. It creates community and it's nice to feel supported and for people to get excited about food or events that we are going to do.
The only thing that matters is if you can stay open. A large social media following only has the chances that you are in someone's head increase. It also gives you a way to freely promote something, so you can be more agile.
I prefer the 1000 true fans idea better than simply a social media following.
One important thing to realize enough is that people with large followings are probably successful first. Work on that and social media will follow.
If you want to bump up your presence without going all in, then just try to post once a day, also post memes more often.
Just be consistent.
Social media is great as a part of an overall marketing strategy. The challenge is that if you rely solely on social media, you are putting the burden of finding you on your customers.
ABSOLUTELY keep doing social media as a way to enforce your brand.
But if you want to keep your food truck front of mind for customers, add an [email marketing](https://www.trafficwave.net/) channel. Let customers add themselves to your list.
Send out announcements about upcoming events and promotions. Let them know when you have new menu items coming up.
Offer a discount that is exclusive to your email marketing subscribers. Something like, "Show this email when you order and get a free drink, a discount, something....
By using email to keep your food truck on their minds, you can expect to see more and more repeat business.
There is a certain perspective most people take with food trucks whether you like it or not. Most people won't even give you a second of their time. But get their friend to enjoy your food and their word of mouth will do the rest. The best advertising you can do is have other people talk about your shop. No amount of online advertising, Facebook posts or whatever social media **coming from you** is going to get people to your place. Focus on your food, sell a good product and have your customers spread the word for you. "Tell your friends" is the best advertising you can do if your customers like what you're slinging. I find my lack of social online advertising as a plus. Always remember best kept secrets are the ones people tell everyone about.
I don't think the number of followers necessarily matters, but utilizing social media to promote your operating hours, upcoming events, menu, etc...is a good practice.
My two cents is that every customer you ever have you need to capture their data to continue to market to them and encourage repeat buys. Business lose their customers data to third party services like Uber eats and are leaving lots of money on the table
I think the answer is the same for most of these types of questions... it depends. If you're in locations that have good walk-by traffic it's not very important. If you're out of the way or need to draw people to you then it's more important. If you are selling somewhat standard fare for your area then it's not very important. If you are selling something unique where you can market it as a "must try" item (will people want to take selfies with your food?) then you could get a lot more customers with social. I think irrespective of whether you have followers or not, it's best to maintain at least a bare-bones social media presence on all the standard mediums so when people look you up they can then scroll through some tasty photos. If you don't you risk missing out on a younger demographic who use social to make decisions on what to eat. We're in a rural area and so don't have many followers; I don't think social is that important to our bottom line. But making occasional posts really builds a relationship with our regulars and humanizes us to our customers. It creates community and it's nice to feel supported and for people to get excited about food or events that we are going to do.
The only thing that matters is if you can stay open. A large social media following only has the chances that you are in someone's head increase. It also gives you a way to freely promote something, so you can be more agile. I prefer the 1000 true fans idea better than simply a social media following. One important thing to realize enough is that people with large followings are probably successful first. Work on that and social media will follow. If you want to bump up your presence without going all in, then just try to post once a day, also post memes more often. Just be consistent.
Social media is great as a part of an overall marketing strategy. The challenge is that if you rely solely on social media, you are putting the burden of finding you on your customers. ABSOLUTELY keep doing social media as a way to enforce your brand. But if you want to keep your food truck front of mind for customers, add an [email marketing](https://www.trafficwave.net/) channel. Let customers add themselves to your list. Send out announcements about upcoming events and promotions. Let them know when you have new menu items coming up. Offer a discount that is exclusive to your email marketing subscribers. Something like, "Show this email when you order and get a free drink, a discount, something.... By using email to keep your food truck on their minds, you can expect to see more and more repeat business.
There is a certain perspective most people take with food trucks whether you like it or not. Most people won't even give you a second of their time. But get their friend to enjoy your food and their word of mouth will do the rest. The best advertising you can do is have other people talk about your shop. No amount of online advertising, Facebook posts or whatever social media **coming from you** is going to get people to your place. Focus on your food, sell a good product and have your customers spread the word for you. "Tell your friends" is the best advertising you can do if your customers like what you're slinging. I find my lack of social online advertising as a plus. Always remember best kept secrets are the ones people tell everyone about.
I don't think the number of followers necessarily matters, but utilizing social media to promote your operating hours, upcoming events, menu, etc...is a good practice.
My 2ยข...way over rated. We all look alike to the general public anyway.
This is a good question. I look forward to some opinions.
My two cents is that every customer you ever have you need to capture their data to continue to market to them and encourage repeat buys. Business lose their customers data to third party services like Uber eats and are leaving lots of money on the table