While Ceningan Divers occupies most of our time, we have taken on a smaller, faster project alongside it: Mexicombi, a Mexican food truck here in Bali. The client needs a brand, social media and a website, without a large budget and without months of revisions.
The project has proven particularly instructive. A food truck presents one of the most straightforward marketing problems there is: the food is either good or it is not, and people can either find the truck today or they cannot.
Why launch the food truck on Instagram before the website?
Almost everyone starting a business says the same thing first: "we need a website." We shared that instinct, having built websites professionally since the Raincity years in Vancouver.
For a food truck, however, that order is wrong. No one sits at a desk to research tacos. People are walking around, hungry, phone in hand, and they check Instagram or Facebook to see what is nearby and what looks appealing. Instagram still uses a simple chronological feed: a post published at lunchtime is seen by followers at lunchtime. For a business that moves, this is extremely valuable.
The Instagram account therefore comes first. It can be operational within a day. It requires no approved copy, domain, hosting or designed menu page; it requires good photos and someone to post them.
The website follows, with a narrower role than most people expect: the menu, the story and contact information. It provides a place for details that do not fit in a caption, and a destination for the single link Instagram allows in a profile bio. It will be hosted at mexicombi.com, and it does not need to be large.
We would give the same advice to any mobile or seasonal business: the food trucks that began appearing on Vancouver streets a few years ago, a beach stand, or a vendor at a weekend market. Social media first, then a simple website.
Social media should not be the only channel, however, since the business does not own it. Facebook has already demonstrated this to every business with a page, when the reach of page posts declined and businesses suddenly had to pay to be seen by their own fans. Instagram, now owned by Facebook, is unlikely to keep its simple feed indefinitely. We recommend maintaining the website, building an email list where possible and treating social accounts as rented space.
What makes food photos effective?
Photos of the actual food, with real people in them. This is the most important element of the project.
Food photography fails in two ways. The first is the dark, blurry phone photo taken at night under fluorescent lighting. The second is the over-styled image that resembles a magazine advertisement and bears little resemblance to what is handed through the window. Both cost customers: the first because the food looks unappealing, the second because customers feel misled when the actual dish arrives.
The effective approach is straightforward:
- Shoot in daylight. Open shade works well in Bali; harsh midday sun on a white plate does not.
- Show the food as customers actually receive it: the same plate, the same wrapping, the same portion.
- Include people in the photos: hands holding a taco, a line at the window, someone laughing with a drink.
- Post frequently. A food truck feed showing three perfect photos from six weeks ago suggests the business is closed.
Including people matters more than most owners realize. A photo of food shows what is for sale. A photo of people eating it shows that the place is active and welcoming. That impression accounts for much of what a new customer decides in the fraction of a second spent looking at a post.
Phone cameras are now sufficient. A photographer is not needed for daily posts; what is needed is someone who remembers to take the photo before the food is eaten.
Why is the truck's location central to the marketing plan?
A food truck's success depends on one question: where is the truck today?
When someone enjoyed the food last week and wants it again, the only obstacle to a sale is knowing where the truck is. Every post, profile and page should answer that question quickly: the bio, the latest post and its caption, the location tag on the photo, and a clear line on the website stating where to find the truck on which days.
This may seem too simple to matter, yet it is what most small mobile businesses get wrong. The information is buried in an old post, the hours on Google date from the previous season, and the Facebook page and Instagram give conflicting details. Customers do not search further; they eat elsewhere.
Which tools are currently available?
The tools are simple: Instagram's location tag on every post; the bio, updated whenever the routine changes; and the Facebook page, since many people still check it first, with hours that match. A Google My Business listing is also worth claiming. Google merged the former Places pages into it last year, and it is what appears when someone searches on a map. Finally, a short weekly schedule on the website, kept current by a designated person.
Choose one source that is always accurate, and make every other channel point to it. That accounts for most of the work. Many owners can manage their own social media once it has been properly set up. The setup is where most errors occur; afterwards, it becomes a matter of habit.
Why does a small, fast launch work?
This project confirms the value of a modest launch. Not everything needs to be built before opening. People need to know the business exists, see what it sells and be able to find it. Everything else can be added once revenue is coming in and the business knows what customers are asking for.
We have seen larger projects with larger budgets spend months refining a website that no one visited because the business had not yet opened. A food truck cannot afford that approach, and it benefits from avoiding it.
Several of these lessons apply directly to the dive centre as well. Most small businesses would benefit from approaching their launch more like a food truck.