2026 marketing checklist for your street food business

As a street food vendor, staying ahead of the game in 2026 means blending creativity with smart marketing. It’s not about doing more marketing, it’s about doing the right marketing. 

Whether you’re serving gourmet burgers, dumplings, sweet treats or flavour-packed curries, these five actionable steps will help you capture more customers, increase repeat business, and grow your street food business in the new year.

1. Keep your Google profile fresh and up-to-date

Having a website is a great way to reach new customers, showcase your menu, and build credibility. But let’s be honest: running a street food business is already a full-time job. 

If you don’t have the time or resources to build and maintain a dedicated website, keeping an up-to-date Google Business Profile can be just as effective.

Here are some important stats you need to know:

• 88% of customers read Google reviews before engaging with a local business

• 58% of customers say having a Google Business Profile increases physical visits, which is critical when your business relies on footfall.

• 87% of customers engage with businesses that have 3-4 star ratings.

• Top-ranking Google businesses average 47 reviews, which signals trust and popularity.

• 57.5% of all online reviews live on Google, making it the most important review platform for local food traders.
  

Action steps for 2026:

• Claim and fully complete your Google Business Profile

• Keep your photos current. New menu, new stall setup, new season = new images.

• Actively encourage customers to leave reviews after a great experience. 

• Respond to reviews regularly. This builds trust and signals that your business is active and customer-focused.

2. Partner with social media influencers

For street food vendors, working with local influencers can be a powerful way to introduce your brand to new customers, without relying on expensive advertising. 63% of consumers say they’re more likely to make a purchase if it’s recommended by a social media influencer they trust.

Micro-influencers (1,000–10,000 followers) often have highly engaged audiences and can drive real footfall to your events. Unlike general social media posting, influencer content leverages an existing, loyal audience, increasing your chances of attracting first-time customers.

Action steps for 2026:

1. Identify local food influencers: Look for creators who post about your city or local markets. Focus on engagement, not just follower count.

2. Offer tasting experiences: Invite them to try your menu in exchange for content. 

3. Time campaigns around launches or events: Run an influencer campaign before launching new menu items or before trading at an event

   
   

3. Use Indi Local to capture & re-engage your customers

Indi Local is a business tool to help street food vendors grow and maintain a loyal customer base. While social media and word-of-mouth can bring in new faces, Indi Local helps you capture them, keep them engaged, and turn one-time visitors into repeat customers.

How it works

• Repeat visits are key to sustainable growth. Customers who follow you on Indi Local will receive notifications whenever you upload a new event to the app or every time you’re trading nearby. 

• When you upload your events to the Indi Local app, they will also appear on the discovery map, making sure your schedule, location, and offerings are always visible to people searching for food near them.

• Be part of a growing vendor ecosystem where different vendors bring in their own audiences, helping everyone benefit from increased visibility and discovery.

Action steps for 2026

1. Create a business account on Indi Local (you can start for free!): Complete your profile with relevant trading information, menu and website

2. Keep your schedule up-to-date: Keep your schedule updated to make sure customers always know where and when they can find you.

3. Display a QR code at your hatch/ setup: Once you have created a business account, you will receive a QR code linking to your Indi Local profile so customers can scan and follow you and receive your pop-up reminders, helping boost repeat visits. 

4. Use flyers in focus areas to drive local footfall

In a world obsessed with digital marketing, it’s easy to forget that traditional, offline marketing still has a place, especially for street food businesses that rely on local footfall.  Flyers may feel old-school, but when done intentionally, they can be surprisingly effective.

Here’s our own experience: 

While clearing out old flyers from a previous event, we decided to test a simple flyer drop in a local village. The flyers weren’t perfect, but the timing was spot on. Each flyer included a QR code linking directly to the app, giving people an easy next step.

The result? People were scanning the QR codes and downloading the app before we’d even finished the drop. It became one of the fastest bursts of local engagement we’d seen since launching Indi Local.

The takeaway is simple: offline marketing still works when it’s local, relevant, and linked to a clear next step.

Action steps for 2026

• Use flyers selectively around areas where you’re actually trading soon

• Add a clear incentive (free item, small discount, exclusive offer) to encourage action

• Highlight where and when you’ll be trading nearby to make it feel relevant

• Treat flyers as a support channel alongside digital marketing

5. Collaborate with local businesses for joint promotions

Partnering with other local businesses isn’t just about cross-promotion - it’s a smart way to expand your audience, increase footfall, and create memorable experiences that keep customers coming back. Local collaborations reinforce your presence within the community. Customers often trust businesses that work together -  it signals local credibility and shared quality.

Take Chouxly Scrumptious, for example - they’ve done multiple successful collaborations in Milton Keynes. Recently, they joined forces with another MK-based business, Wilson's Street Food in hosting a dedicated gluten-free street food night. The message is simple: support two small local businesses in one go. This kind of mutual support also builds visibility without a big advertising budget.

How to measure success

You can track the impact of joint promotions compared to solo events on number of covers (orders served) using this formula: 

% Increase = ((Covers Joint − Covers Solo) ÷ Covers Solo) × 100

Example:

• Solo Event Covers = 120

• Joint Event Covers = 180

180 ÷ 120 = 1.5 (50% more covers served)

Action steps for 2026

1. Identify complementary businesses: Look for local partners with similar target audiences.

2. Brainstorm mutually beneficial offers like combo deals, loyalty cross‑offers, themed events.

3. Coordinate promotion channels like flyers and social media posts 

4. Schedule joint events strategically: Align with peak trading days, holidays, or seasonal themes.

Marketing your street food business doesn’t have to be overwhelming

It’s all about mixing smart strategies with creativity and community. 

From keeping your Google profile up-to-date, partnering with influencers, and using Indi Local to engage your customers, to offline tactics like flyers and collaborative promotions, each step helps you attract new faces and turn them into loyal fans.

Wanna turn one-time visitors into regulars? 

Create a business account on Indi Local today and start sending push notifications to your followers whenever you’re popping up nearby, launching a new menu item, or running a special offer. Your updates go straight to the people who already love your food - turning one-time visitors into repeat customers without extra effort.

Let Indi Local help you stay front of mind and bring customers back, again and again.