Business turns to food trucks and followers

Businesses these days go to where their customers are - whether it's with their food trucks or on social media.

A couple of years ago I would often take the time to get online and visit some of my favourite style blogs and read about the latest restaurants and fashion trends.

But that was then. Now these websites are hardly ever updated and some have been abandoned. Where did the bloggers all go? The writers did not abandon blogging altogether, but evolved with the markets and took blogging to another level. They are now heavily active on the social media front, mostly on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, and their posts are in real time. Now I do not have to wait till the next day to find out about the latest and newest trends, but can know instantly as bloggers report live from an event.

These bloggers seem to have more followers on social media than they did through their websites, with some reaching as many as 1 or 2 million.

The food and beverage industry has followed suit. Food trucks have become popular at events and parties. Some customers opt for having a food truck parked at an event, rather than the traditional option of waiters making their way among the party guests with a tray of canapés over their shoulders. Food trucks are considered cool and hip.

I visited Mushrif Central Park after it reopened in Abu Dhabi two weeks ago. There were two food trucks parked there, with customers lined up to get their orders. It was sunny, and the weather was not exactly pleasant for people to stand in the heat and queue in line for a hot meal, but they did. What is great about food trucks is that owners could take them anywhere, to any popular event, and be there with the crowd. It is also more cost-effective than paying rent for a number of restaurant spaces around town. It is a good marketing technique to raise awareness about a brand.

If those bloggers and food truck owners have anything in common, it is that they go with the flow and evolve with the market. They do not wait for customers to come to them; they go to where they are. They are available at their local events and alter their businesses to fit their customers’ needs.

“No one goes to websites any more. You should have a business page on Facebook and more updated posts on Instagram,” advised a friend when I was setting up my community talks page. She had a point. We are on Instagram and Twitter because that is where most of our attendees are, and that is how they found out about our latest events.

How could you adapt these case studies to your business? It does not matter what your business is, you can always go to where your customers are. And social media is one channel to help you do this.

If you have a website or a physical product to promote, the way you talk about it and distribute it to your clients through social media has to be configured in certain way. The National provides a good example of how it goes to where its readers are. Not only is it available on Twitter, as most media outlets are, but it is also active on Instagram. It has reconfigured how to deliver a story by using strong graphics instead of quoting the article, which would be more applicable to Facebook and Twitter.

We live in a fast-paced world, and more specifically in a country that changes and develops quickly, and where marketing techniques are evolving all the time. As an entrepreneur, you have to make your online posts, products, and the way you offer services, easy, timely and on the go, just like your clients.

In a social media and food truck world, you have to make your business stand out, whether it’s a restaurant, a publication or an event. Competitions, interesting graphics, and working with social influencers to raise awareness about your brand are all good ways to achieve this.

As a starter, tune in to what your target audience is into right now, how are they influenced, where are they going, and where are they getting their news from. That is where you should be.

Manar Al Hinai is an award-winning Emirati writer and communications consultant based in Abu Dhabi. Twitter: @manar_alhinai