Confessions of a Cocktail Marketer

A new study by Technomic reveals good news for mobile food vehicles, as 91 percent of consumers polled who are familiar with food trucks say they view the trend as having staying power and not a passing fad. Only 7 percent of consumers who use mobile food vehicles (MFV) say they expect their frequency of visits to food trucks to decrease over the next year.

Technomic Director Kevin Higar says the movement could be far from reaching its apex. “The key for long-term success is getting the non-user to come on board,” says Higar. “One in five individuals is not aware of or has not seen a food truck, and one-third of individuals who are aware of them still haven’t purchased from one.

Once consumers gain exposure, explains Higar, they seem to have very positive impressions of the experience. But according to Technomic’s research, 70 percent of non-users are still hesitant to purchase food from mobile vehicles, which is probably the biggest current growth challenge.

To help restaurant operators and suppliers understand the trends shaping the food truck movement, Technomic has published the Food Trucks Innovation Report.

Report findings include:

• Although social media is an integral part of food truck marketing and patronage, 61 percent of consumers find out about mobile food trucks by “just happening upon them.” Of the consumers who do follow food trucks on social media, 84 percent do so at least once a week.

• Three quarters of consumers who have come across MFVs located together in a central location make combined food and/or beverage purchases from two or more operators during any given meal occasion. Because of the highly specialized nature of food truck menus, they lend themselves well to this type of multi-concept purchase.

• Quick-service restaurants seem to be impacted by mobile food vehicle success more than other traditional restaurants, with 54 percent of respondents saying if they had not bought from a food truck, a quick-service restaurant would have been their most likely destination.

Want to get more buzz for your food truck? Get your free business profile on CraveLocal, and stay in front of all your mobile customers-daily.

When considering how to market your restaurant or bar, take into consideration that no man (or venue) is an island. Creating relationships with other local restaurants and businesses can build a sense of community, and help create brand associations that consumers will appreciate.

Bottom line: you ain’t the only guy on the block. Learn to play nice.

This photo was taken at Zest Bakery, in San Carlos, CA. Zest makes all kinds of gluten free wonderfulness. We support local businesses on CraveLocal.

Fact: It only takes 20 people to bring an online community to a significant level of activity and connectivity.

What this means: If you’re waiting till the perfect moment to get your brand social, get off your rocker.

An army of brand champions await their orders.

Empower them.

There’s a lot of information out there on how to use Google+, particularly for brands and businesses to promote themselves.

To date, Google+ is not allowing brands (only individual users) the ability to create a profile. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t use Google Plus to your advantage.

Yes, this means one more social network you’re going to have to publish to, monitor, and keep up with, especially if you’re a new venue or emerging spirit brand.

However, the good news is, Google IS a search engine (can you spell MONOPOLY here?), which means that playing nice with the popular (bully) kids will likely get you better exposure than sticking your head in the sand and ignoring it.

Check out this article from BlueGlass for some high level tips on how to use Google+ for your brand or business.

Speaking of which…are you on Twitter yet?

*This is a repost from an earlier Tumblr that crashed.

Last week, MailChimp announced that they were giving away free coffee. What started as a surprise gimmick in their home town…giving away a free french press to anyone wearing one of their coveted t-shirts…was going national for a day. This, just in time for their anniversary, August 20th.

Why is this smart marketing? Because it creates exclusivity (not everyone has a shirt, but do you think they’re clamoring for them on Twitter? Heck, yes!), makes you feel special/important, gives you access to something you want/need (caffeine), and you save money.

They’re also pretty cool shirts, which certainly helps.

How can your brand benefit from this type of a marketing campaign? Would a targeted, geographic based contest or giveaway of some ‘wearable’ object, followed up with a surprise ‘freebie’ help…or hurt…your customer engagement?

How could you integrate this with social media?

This is ‘gamification’, people, at it’s finest. Kudos (or bananas) to Mailchimp for their marketing smarts.