roamCouldn’t attend ROAM Mobile Food Conference in Las Vegas this year? In this exclusive interview we speak to Kristen Vanstrom, the Director of Content Management over at SlickText.com to discuss her experience presenting at ROAM Mobile Food Conference in Las Vegas earlier this month. Kristen even shares some of her biggest pieces of advice on marketing for food trucks at the event. 

 

Tell us a little about your background and how you are involved in the industry.

Wow, my background is pretty expansive. Long story short, I’m pretty much obsessed with digital marketing. I currently work as the Director of Content Management over at SlickText.com, a top text marketing provider. I’m super passionate about bridging the gap between new school innovation and old school marketing techniques. Over the past year, Slick Text has partnered with hundreds of food trucks nationwide, in an effort to simplify their current marketing solutions. Here’s the deal. Marketing doesn’t have to be this overwhelming, overarching catalyst that eventually causes business owners to go postal. At Slick Text, I work with my team to create marketing content that speaks to the busy business owner on a budget. Why am I going to the Roam Mobile Food Conference? To make connections with these business owners, and hopefully make their lives a heck of a lot easier.

What will your presentation be about? What will food truck entrepreneurs learn?

In my presentation, I will touch on text message marketing and branding for food trucks. I want all truckers to understand the importance of giving your business “personality.” Especially when it comes to food trucks, you have the opportunity to build personalized relationships with your loyal customers. Tell YOUR story. Don’t be someone you’re not. Don’t be stuffy, overly professional, or too focused on the almighty dollar. When you build relationships, your brand loyalty will skyrocket. Ultimately, this helps you, the business owner, to build a permanent community around your brand. When it comes to text message marketing, it’s pretty much a no brainer. After using proper branding to drum up an awesome food truck tribe, you can then reach out to these loyal customers via text message marketing. Reward them with special offers. Send out updated location information. Do whatever it takes to stay connected, and keep all interested diners in the loop.

Why is building a text marketing list so important for food truck owners?

Well, let’s start with this. 99% of all text messages are opened within five minutes or less. With that kind of open rate, it’s more than important; it’s actually undeniable. At Slick Text, we pride ourselves on innovation, education, and automation. For food truckers, we boast our “set it and forget it” mentality. We have a loaded feature list that, for the most part, is pretty self sustaining. For example, truckers can reward loyal diners with an automated birthday treat. They can fire out

Do you have any examples of food trucks that have used this strategy successfully in the past? What were their results?

Yes! At Slick Text, we’re all about that case study life *laughs*. We recently spun up a nice presentation on one of our top food truck customers, What the Fork. In the first 30 days of using our service, they, collected 925 qualified subscribers. This text message marketing case study for food trucks proves the extreme effectiveness of our service. Currently, their list sits just under 5,000 subscribers. Imagine having that kind of engagement! What the Fork can touch base with qualified customers via text at the click of a button.

SMS Marketing Case Study

 

Aside from your own presentation, what are some of the other speakers and topics you’re looking forward to attending?

I’m really looking forward to hearing more from Chef Willy Fontanez Jr. from La Gumbo Ya Ya. I’ve read a bit about his story, and am inspired by his cause related campaigning. I love hearing more about how small business owners are giving back to their local community.

Want to start your own food business?

Hey! 👋I’m Brett Lindenberg, the founder of Food Truck Empire.

We interview successful founders and share the stories behind their food trucks, restaurants, food and beverage brands. By sharing these stories, I want to help others get started.

If you liked this story, sign up for our newsletter that includes our food business startup kit and most popular interviews sent straight to your inbox.

Know someone interesting that should be interviewed on the website? Tell us about them here.