There is hardly any business that is not prone to competition including the food truck business. Competition is what makes entrepreneurs and business owners to be creative with their marketing and sales strategies.
Trust me, if you are not creative as a business owner, you will struggle to beat your competitors in their game. Competition is what brings out the best from every entrepreneur and business owner.
If you own a food truck business, and you are planning to participate in a food festival or event, you might find this article very helpful.
The essence of this article is to help you beat your competitors to their game and gain a fair share of the available market in the food festival or event you want to participate in.
10 ideas That Will Make Your Food Truck Stand Out in a Food Festival or Event
Trust me, a good number of people who are attending food festivals and events will be looking forward to trying something new.
If your food truck has unique and interesting menu items on your list, you will definitely attract people who are looking for creative meals. In essence, make sure your food truck offers signature dishes or creative twists on traditional favorites.
For example, if you are targeting the Mexican community, you might want to have Sopes, Tortas, Elote, and Gorditas as part of your menu items.
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Make Sure Your Food Truck is Branded with an Eye-Catching Theme
People are generally attracted to bright colors and unique designs especially when they are outdoors. You may want to consult with branding and promotion experts to advise you on how to go about branding your food truck so as to capture the attention of people whenever you are out there at a food festival or event.
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Offer Quick Service Option
It is a known fact that the average person wants to be attended to as fast as possible. No one wants to waste time when they visit any shop or restaurant. So what you need to do in this regard is to make sure your process is fast, smooth, and efficient when attending to customers.
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Make Sure You Hire Only the Right Employees
Apart from the fact that your cook or chef must know how to prepare mouthwatering and delicious meals, everyone on your team must deploy top-notch customer service at all times; they must always be happy and willing to serve customers.
Trust me, if you have employees that are friendly and enthusiastic, you will be amazed at how they can easily create a positive customer experience and encourage return visits.
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Engage in Interactive Presentation
Usually, the average person is curious, hence they would like to know how their favorite meal is prepared. For that reason, you should make sure you consider live cooking demonstrations, engaging with customers, or providing a unique visual element in food preparation.
Trust me, when attendees of food festivals and events know that your food truck will be offering live cooking and food presentations, they will make sure they are always around your food truck. That no doubt will make sure food trucks stand out in the crowd.
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Offer Special Promotions
The average person out there is looking for ways to maximize their money. So, you should ensure to offer festival-exclusive deals, discounts, or combo meals to entice attendees. For example, you can do a buy one get one free promo or even give customers the opportunity to taste some food for free.
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Leverage Social Media Engagement
In this dispensation of social media, your plan of making your food truck stand out will not be complete if you do not leverage social media.
You must utilize social media to create a buzz before and during the event. You should share mouthwatering photos and location updates of your food truck.
Just make sure you encourage your customers to take a picture of themselves whenever they are around your food truck, use the right hashtags, tag you, and post the pictures on their social media handles. You may want to engage influencers to help you make the pictures go viral.
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Offer Free Food (Meal) Samples
During food festivals and events, there are always people who are out there to try out different meals for free. In order to attract such people to your food truck, you may want to offer free food samples for them to taste before making their decision to buy from you.
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Make Sure Your Decor and Ambiance are Unique
Apart from branding your food truck with a unique design and theme, you should make sure you decorate your food truck or serving area to create a visually appealing and inviting space. Give your customers the ambiance that will encourage them to want to stay longer in your food truck stand.
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Partner with Key Stakeholders That Will Help You Attract Customers
You need to partner with key stakeholders in and around the location where the food festival or event will be taking place. You can partner with local breweries, wineries, or other vendors to cross-promote and draw in each other’s customers.
Please note that you can reach an agreement with them on the percentage they stand to get when any customer comes through their referrals.