Why (and How) You Should Tweet From the Street

Consider for a moment where you find food trucks. Local fairs, fundraisers, stadiums, concerts, special occasions, and high traffic areas. Note that most are attached to some sort of event. This understanding gives you an increased awareness you can use to your advantage to reach a larger audience for your concession food trailer through live-tweeting (if you’re brand new to tweeting, click here for a beginner’s guide to Twitter).

What is live-tweeting? It’s defined as engaging on Twitter for a continuous period of time—anywhere from 20 minutes to a few hours—with a sequence of focused tweets. Events are perfect for this strategy because they’re happening in the moment and people who are participating are excited to share what they’re experiencing (those at home even enjoy following along with the action). This can benefit your business because your concession food truck’s presence alone makes you a natural part of the event. All you need to do next is to integrate your Tweets with the conversation that’s already happening.

Here’s how you can make live-tweeting work for you (Like this article? Click here to Tweet it!).

· Harness the Power of the Hashtag – One of the first things you’ll want to do is identify the hashtags associated with the event. For example, the Kentucky State Fair (which opens today) uses #kystatefair. To research what is being said about an event and by whom, you can check the main event page’s Twitter page. It’s worth taking a look at who the event is following and who is following them back; you’ll likely find others that you want to follow and re-tweet. If you’re lucky, those whom you follow will follow your page back.

· Who’s Who – If there will be speakers, entertainers, music groups or other notable attendees, find them on Twitter and follow them. You can either do a search for their names on Twitter or visit their actual web page, where they should have links to their social media profiles right on the home pages. Once you find them on Twitter, engage them in conversation by asking a question or saying hello to help drive traffic to your Twitter account.

· Timing is Everything – Use the main hashtag and start tweeting before the event to generate interest and excitement. Remember you want to build up your followers leading up to the event. Have a plan for what you will tweet during the event. You may want to write and schedule some tweets in advance (use a scheduling app such as HootSuite or TweetDeck, while still having the option to add tweets spontaneously as well. Include tweets for after the event, reinforcing the experience.

· Tweet with a Purpose – Have a goal in mind when you are tweeting. Do you want to increase followers, drive sales at your booth, get leads via a contest, or generate traffic on your website? Point your audience where you want them to go. As a concession food truck, you may want to tweet your daily route schedule to help drive customers to your location throughout the day. At the event itself, let people know where you are, what your current best-selling item is, or if you’re at a concert simply tweet that you appreciate hearing a certain song when it’s being performed.

· Make It Visual – Images are powerful motivators. Get photos and comments of those who visit your concession stand and share them on Twitter to create buzz. Make them compelling to help generate re-tweets.

· Invest in Interaction – Follow the event hashtag so you can re-tweet engaging posts and give shout-outs to your fellow Tweeters. Also, use questions to solicit feedback, like “What’s your favorite fair food?” Then respond to those who answer to encourage engagement. Follow us on Twitter here and join the Gold Medal conversation any time by using the hashtag #GMPopcorn. We’ll follow you back! You can Tweet us photos of your food truck or concession stand, ask questions, or just say hello. Of course, you’ll also be able to follow our newest blog posts and industry insights.

How have you used Twitter or other social media platforms to boost your concession awareness or sales? Tweet it to us, and remember to use #GMPopcorn!