Whether it’s a huge festival like Coachella or a local heritage fair in a small town, it’s essential for food trucks to stand out at outdoor events. Managing a food truck business is complex, and the pressure is always on, so we’ve put together some tips to help you attract as much foot traffic as possible, no matter what event you’re at:
- Highlight your USP
- Hand out flyers before peak times
- Set up QR code menus and payments
- Add an interactive element
- Encourage repeat business
- Use personalized parchment paper
Highlight Your USP
Competition can be fierce among food trucks, especially if there’s more than one selling the same kind of food. You need to differentiate yourself from your competitors, so advertising your unique selling points (USP) is key to attracting customers away from the competition. Ask yourself, what makes you different? Is it your secret recipe? Is it your prices?
If you can’t think of anything, look at what your competitors are advertising and find a gap. For example, recyclable and biodegradable packaging might be something you both use, but highlighting it as a USP may help you stand out when others don’t think to mention it.
Hand Out Flyers Before Peak Times
You’re likely to experience slow and busy times throughout the event, so when it’s quiet, use the opportunity to distribute flyers around the event and let attendees know where you are. You can add menu items, prices, and a photo of your food truck so you can be easily found.
Make sure your flyers are biodegradable so if they are dropped as litter, you know they won’t do any harm.
Set Up QR Code Menus and Payments
Giving customers the option to scan a QR code to see your menu in advance, order, and pay ahead of time to skip the line could seriously work in your favor when competitors have long lines forming.
Add an Interactive Element
Introducing a competition or game can attract customers and encourage more people to recommend others to visit your food truck. For example, you could have a prize draw that customers who buy from you can enter or a simple challenge where participants could win an instant upgrade of food or a free drink.
Whatever you choose, make sure that it encourages participation and interaction with your brand. This will help people form a positive association with it and makes great social content.
Encourage Repeat Business
This works especially well at festivals where people stay overnight. Encourage customers to return for another meal during the event with a card or token they can present for a discount when they come back.
Whether you choose a flyer, token, card, or email, it needs to be easily transported and accessible so people can keep them on their person. This will encourage customers to plan to purchase from your food truck again when they otherwise would have gone somewhere else.
Use Personalized Parchment Paper
Wrapping or serving your food in branded parchment or greaseproof paper is a low-effort but high-impact marketing tactic. As customers leave your food truck and enjoy their meal around the outdoor event, they are advertising your brand to anyone who looks at their food and thinks, “That looks nice.” Our personalized parchment paper is recyclable and biodegradable, as well as printed with plant-based inks, so it’s suitable for vegans and friendly to the planet.
Standing out among the crowd of other food trucks at festivals and other outdoor events is crucial to your small business, so use these tips to increase awareness of your brand and encourage more customers.
Order personalized parchment paper and get it shipped to your food truck anywhere in the States for less than 1 cent a sheet!
