When you’re just starting with a new food truck business, you might feel overwhelmed by the number of hats you need to wear beyond the staple chef’s hat.
From sourcing supplies and dealing with clients to marketing your business and deciding whether to use platforms like Truckster to maximize your customer base, it’s easy to get bogged down.
Take a step back and breathe.
Branding is something you might be tempted to skip, but that would be reckless. In an increasingly crowded marketplace, you should differentiate your food truck from the competition in every way you can.
Before we give you a brief snapshot with five actionable branding tips, it all starts with a mission statement.
What Is a Mission Statement and Why Do You Need One?
Don’t worry. We’re not talking about marketing jargon here. It is quite the opposite.
A mission statement should be a clear, concise declaration showing what you’re all about and how you will achieve your goal.
Once you’ve got your mission statement locked down, you can think about your overall branding strategy more clearly. Beyond helping you get started, a mission statement also serves as a useful ongoing reference point so you can make sure you stay true to your values and goals.
Don’t get caught up on this for weeks on end but do give it some thought. Put a simple mission statement in place.
5 Branding Tips for Your New Food Truck
We’ll cut straight down to the meat and bones now. We’ll look at how you can get your branding right in these five areas:
1. Define and Articulate Your Brand Clearly
2. Create One Branding Message and Keep It Simple
3. Be Consistent and Personal with Your Brand Voice
4. Your Food Truck Is Your Primary Branding Tool
5. Go Large or Go Home
1) Define and Articulate Your Brand Clearly
Don’t overthink it here. You don’t need to conjure up a brand from thin air.
Think about these three areas:
• Your menu
• Your values
• Your personality
You do not need to reinvent the wheel here, but you do need to stand out from the competition. If you think of the very finest brands, few of them are outlandish in concept. From the upscale Hermes offering simple but luxe clothes at eye-popping prices to the global marketplace eBay, branding is strong, but the core offering is straightforward.
Take the time to think about what defines you and your food truck. That way, when you register with platforms like Truckster, your brand will be catchy enough to differentiate itself without needing to be gimmicky.
2) Create One Branding Message and Keep It Simple
The simple approach we kick off with should remain in place with your branding message.
Think of Nike’s fabled slogan “Just Do It” or smart home firm WYZE’s goal of “Making great technology accessible to everyone.” The best branding messages nail company colors firmly to the mast. There’s no ambiguity, and your food truck should follow these same principles.
You could do far worse than to keep in mind at all times the Navy’s KISS motto: “Keep it simple, stupid.” This sage advice was coined back in 1960, but it is more relevant than ever in today’s marketplace. Simplicity sells. Make it easy on yourself, and your branding strategy will be easier to roll out.
3) Be Consistent and Personal with Your Brand Voice
Whatever marketing channels you use, keep your brand voice consistent.
It’s senseless being playful on Twitter, serious on Facebook, and neutral on Instagram.
Stay in character and let your personality-driven brand stay personal.
4) Your Food Truck Is Your Primary Branding Tool
Never underestimate the importance of your truck as a branding tool.
Don’t hold back on the design work and make sure your food truck creates an immediate and striking impression.
Keep your logo large, clean, and uncluttered. Include all your social media hashtags and handles. Make it easy for customers to contact you.
Your truck is a 24/7 branding tool. Make it count.
5) Go Large or Go Home
Even if you have no huge ambitions for expansion and you’re happy with the trade you pick up directly and from platforms like Truckster, you should still be bold with your branding.
Think like a large company and go all-in on your branding efforts. The results might just surprise you.