FS003- Dear Food Truck Owner, Why Aren’t You Asking Me For My Email Address?

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In this third episode of FoodTruckr School, I don’t have a guest on the show with us this time around, however I pose a very important question to all food truck owners out there:

Why aren’t you asking your customers for their email addresses?

The only logical answer here is that you just don’t know how important it is, which is why I’m here to tell you.

Yes, I know you have a Twitter account and a Facebook account, and those things are important (and I share a couple of extremely useful tips for getting the most out of your time on those social media platforms too), but your customer’s email address is the most important asset for most businesses, and it’s no exception for those in the food truck business either.

Why?

Because think about it – when you email someone, you’re contacting them directly. The only thing your message is competing with is other messages in one’s inbox, and we all know how we often can’t leave any emails unanswered. For some of us, it’s the first thing we check when we wake up in the morning – or we have notifications on our mobile devices that let us know the moment a new email comes out way.

With social media, you’re competing with tons of noise and  when you update a status or share a tweet, you’re only sending your message to a fraction of your overall following – and I talk about why that’s the case during this episode too.

More Specifically, in this episode you’ll learn about:

  • Why it’s a huge mistake not to collect your customer’s email addresses.
  • The psychology of email and why it’s the the #1 form of communication online.
  • Specific examples of what you can email your customers – things you probably didn’t think of.
  • Why only relying on social media is playing a very dangerous game.
  • Specific tools you can use to take your social media efforts to the next level.
  • What you can do right now to get started now with your email marketing campaign.
  • Plus so much more…
You May Also Like...  FS001- Tips, Strategies and More with Mike Swaleh from Tikka Tikka Taco and The Great Food Truck Race

Links and resources mentioned in this episode:

Right-click here to download the MP3 file

Thanks for Listening!

Thank you again, for listening to this episode of FoodTruckr School. Truly, we hope you don’t just listen, but you also take action and actually think about your brand, what it means and how you might be able to improve it. Please let us know what you think about this episode in the comment section below!

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About the Author

Pat Flynn is the founder and CEO of FoodTruckr. He’s a regular ol’ Joe and happy family man who happens to be a successful online entrepreneur. When he’s not building companies, engaging fans, or (most likely) chasing his kids around the house wearing something ridiculous, he’s tracking down a buffalo chicken grilled cheese sandwich from the Urban Eats truck in San Diego. Twitter is his favorite hangout—say hi to Pat @PatFlynn.

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  • merge team December 9, 2013, 4:06 pm

    Pat,

    First off, big fans here! We think one of the main reasons Food Truckrs don’t ask for email addresses is because they don’t have a platform that makes it easy.

    Using a paper list seems a little cheap and there’s no immediate incentive to writing your name and email down. Also, providing a couple reasons to join the list is key, such as: getting a weekly truck schedule delivered to your inbox or being the first to receive special offers.

    We are working on providing a solution which you can find more info here: http://www.mobilebymerge.com/mobilecoupons. Our team would LOVE any feedback on what you think is working and what we can possibly improve on. Thanks! look forward to the next episode.

  • foodtruckr December 12, 2013, 4:23 pm

    Thanks Merge Team! Glad you’re enjoying the site. 🙂

    You make a great point here– that for many food trucks, a lack of organized systems can lead to huge missed opportunities. Your mobile coupon solution is a really good way for food trucks to enter a new marketing avenue that caters to fan interests, and it gives those fans an immediate reason to return for more.

    As for your site, I like how you’ve laid out what you offer and how it helps food trucks. I’d like to see a little more information on some of the statistics you’ve mentioned, though… for instance, near the top, you say that “mobile coupons are 10x more effective than traditional print offers.” Where does this info come from? Similarly, a bit further down the page, there’s a heading: “35 Million and Counting. Mobile Offers are here!” It’s a little unclear what 35 million refers to.

    I bring these points up because the field you’re working in is clearly one that offers HUGE opportunities for food trucks, and an explanation of the data that backs up these stats lends you credibility and helps truck owners see how mobile coupons can help their businesses.

    Hope that helps! And please keep me posted on any new developments you come up with — I’m excited to see what you’re up to!

    All the best,
    Nicole at FoodTruckr HQ

  • We Shoot Buildings December 18, 2013, 1:42 am

    link /3 isnt working just so you know, cheers Grant

  • merge team December 20, 2013, 6:08 pm

    Nicole,

    Great suggestions! We have updated that page. Business Insider did a study on the rise of mobile coupons and provide some pretty jaw dropping stats. Those were just a couple mentioned in the report.

    You are absolutely right about the HUGE opportunities these digital offers provide. Since they are web based, which we host, you don’t have to rely on investing in an app and having everyone download it to view your offer. We want to give “food truckrs” the control to post what they want, when they want. We look forward to adding on to these mobile offers with the feedback we receive from our clients.

    We’re working hard on providing the best solution with this new technology and this site really helps in our developing stages. So, thanks for providing awesome articles and episodes. We will keep you guys updated for sure!

    Christopher at mobile by merge

  • foodtruckr December 22, 2013, 12:27 pm

    Hey Christopher,

    Fantastic! Glad the suggestions helped. I do really like that your app is web-based so that fans don’t have to download a separate app for every truck they like to visit. From a customer perspective, this is definitely the most user-friendly way to go.

    If there are any questions or topics you’d like to see us cover as you work on developing your product, please just let us know. We’re always happy to get feedback from FoodTruckrs and the companies that support them. 🙂

    Best,
    Nicole