THE UTILIZATION OF SOCIAL MEDIA AS A MARKETING TOOL IN FOOD TRUCK BUSINESS

Abstract

The food truck industry in Malaysia shows continuous growth since it was first introduced a few years ago. However, the increasing number of food truck businesses in Klang Valley flags a question on how the owners strategize their businesses to stand up from the competitors. The limitation surrounds this business environment forces food truck owners to be creative in marketing their products to ensure the sustainability of the business; and one of the strategies is by using the social media. This qualitative phenomenological study aimed to identify the strategies used by food truck owners in using social media account as a marketing tool to promote their business. The data collected from semi-structured interviews with a group of food truck owners around Klang Valley area, explaining the way they use social media. Input from social media observation also equipped as supporting data. Results show the strategies used are live update, usage of tagging (hashtags) and wall maintenance. New strategies are also discovered which are paid advertisements, scripted copywriting, mobile application and video production. This study provides an understanding on how food truck owners use social media as a marketing tool and will benefit the current and future food truck owners.