The Most Helpful Social Media Platforms For Selling Soap

Don’t waste precious time setting up social media profiles on sites that won’t help your business. Different social media sites offer different benefits for businesses selling soap and which you choose will depend on what your goals are.

We recommend Instagram for selling soap online. It offers a visual platform perfect for showcasing your soap and even offers on-site selling. Furthermore, Instagram attracts a demographic who is more likely to buy handmade soap.

If you simply want an online presence without the hassle of setting up your own website, Facebook is your best option. A Google Business Profile may also be all you need.

There are several other well-known platforms that you may be considering for selling your soap. We will go through each of those and how well they work for selling soap. Keep in mind that it is best for small soap sellers to start with one social media site. Once you’ve built a good following; then you can branch out to others.

Before you decide which social media site to you, you need to determine how much you will be focusing on selling soap online. Light online homemade soap sellers will have different needs than medium or heavy online soap sellers. Check out our article “4 Factors Will Make Your Soap Business Social Media Shine” to help you determine how much to focus your efforts selling soap online.

We have put together a chart to help you decide what options are best for selling soap. Click the name of the social media site to learn more about it.

Platform	Recommended for:	Why
Google Business Profile	Everyone	It is easy to set up. You can do it once and leave it alone. You will rank higher on Google. Can help with selling soap online or off.
Instagram	Heavy Online Marketing	It is easy to set up. As a visual platform it is ideal for selling soap. You can sell on-site.
Facebook	Light Online Marketing	Profile is visible to anyone on the internet. Easier to set up than a website. A lot of helpful options for selling soap.
Pinterest	Everyone, but mostly Medium to Heavy Online Marketing	It is easy to set up. Maintenance is lower than other platforms. Your Pinterest profile will rank higher on search engines.
YouTube	Everyone who has video content	It is easy to set up. Maintenance is low. Video content performs well online.
Tiktok	Medium to Heavy Online Marketing	Not our first recommendation. Video content performs well, especially short form videos. The content is not the best for selling soap.
Snapchat	Heavy Online Marketing	Not our first recommendation. High maintenance. May work for selling soap to younger customers.
LinkedIn	Not Recommended	Less likely to appeal to the type of person who is likely to buy handmade soap. Is more business oriented.
Twitter	Not Recommended	Less likely to appeal to the type of person who is likely to buy handmade soap. Is not highly visual.
Reddit	Not Recommended	Less likely to appeal to the type of person who is likely to buy handmade soap. Is not highly visual.
Other Sites	May be a good choice	Smaller platforms may fit your needs and will have lower competition for selling soap.

A Google business profile has not commonly been considered a social media platform but with its current interactive features, that is changing.

If you have a business, you need to manage your Google business profile. It is possible that your soap business will show up on Google even if you haven’t set up a profile. If you don’t claim your soap business, you can’t control what shows up on your profile.

On Google Business Profile you can:

Add your business information, such as hours, location (if you have one), and phone number
Respond to reviews customers have left about your business
Answer questions potential customers are asking about your product
Set up online messaging so customers can easily contact you
Add photos of your products
Add posts with current information about sales and other events

To access the best features on Google Business Profile, you will need to verify your business. This can be as easy as entering a code sent via an email address or an automated phone call.

The process of signing up to manage your business profile is simple and straightforward. Google will ask you a series of simple questions and will build the profile for you. It is perfect for anyone, whatever your level of technological skills.

The downside to using Google Business Profile is that there is no dedicated URL pointing to your business. Customers can only find you by typing your name into Google. If they use the wrong term, they may still have trouble finding it.

While we suggest that everyone manage their Google Business profile, we also recommend setting up a page on Facebook if you want a page with a dedicated URL.

Pros	Cons
Super simple to set up Managing your profile will help boost your business in Google search results Your location can be featured on Google Maps so your customers can easily find you It is low maintenance, you only need to make changes when something big changes like your hours	No dedicated URL that you can share with your customers Options are limited You can’t turn off reviews and customers may leave bad reviews You can’t easily announce events or sales

Instagram

Instagram is one of the best social media sites for selling homemade soap if you are able to dedicate enough time to upkeep. It is a highly visual platform which attracts the type of people who are more likely to buy high end self-care products.

On Instagram you can:

Showcase your products in images or video
Link to a website, yours or a shop on a site like Etsy or Amazon where you are selling soap
Interact with customers via comments on your post or instant messages
Initiate a conversation through instant messages
Sell directly through Instagram

Because Instagram is smaller than Facebook and attracts people more likely to become your customers, it is a far better choice for serious online soap businesses. You will be more likely to stand out from the crowd. Smart use of hashtags and high quality images will help you build followers quickly.

You can also sell products directly through your Instagram account. Customers are far more likely to buy from you when they don’t have to navigate to another site to buy your products and Instagram fees are lower than many selling sites.

Pros	Cons
Easy to set up Posting is a simple walk-through process You can easily announce events and sales in multiple ways You can sell directly from the site No reviews means no bad reviews It is fairly easy to build a strong following with basic best practices Ideal audience for selling soap	Upkeep is vital and requires a lot of time You have fewer options Other than one URL, you can’t add contact information without a business account Instagram doesn’t significantly help you rank higher on search engines People not on Instagram can’t view your profile

Facebook

If you want a more mainstream social media site that you can set up and then ignore, Facebook is ideal. You can create a Facebook Business page that offers customers your business’ information and is accessible to anyone on the internet, even if they aren’t logged into Facebook.

On Facebook you can:

Create a page accessible to anyone on the internet
Include vital information about your business
Turn on or off customer reviews
Hold conversations on customer reviews
Share additional information outside of basic business information
Answer questions potential customers have about your products
Submit photos, videos, and a variety of other content that everyone can view

Facebook offers far more options for interacting with customers than Google does but with those options comes a far more complicated process for signing up. Only people who have an individual profile can set up business pages on Facebook so you have to start with that. The business page alone can take several hours to set up due to the large number of options available.

Facebook is not the best option for medium to heavy online sellers because it can be easy to get lost in the crowd. Selling soap on Facebook is less likely to succeed than on other sites. Facebook has twice as many followers as Instagram and they are less likely to be potential customers for high end self-care products.

Pros	Cons
Your Facebook profile is more likely to rank high on search engines than a website You can easily announce special events and sales You have a lot of options to explore, particularly in the ways you interact with customers Customers can message you online (if they are on Facebook themselves)	Setting up a Facebook profile can be bewildering and time-consuming Facebook business pages don’t always rank well within Facebook You can’t initiate a conversation on Facebook’s messenger Facebook isn’t a great environment for selling soap

Pinterest is our first recommendation for medium online marketing. It would also be a good choice for heavy online marketing.

On Pinterest you can:

Create content that continues to perform well over time
Create a profile that is accessible to anyone on the internet
Add business information to your profile
Include product information on pins selling soap
Interact with customers through comments on your pins
Message people through the on-site messenger
Submit photos and videos anyone can view

The main perk of using Pinterest for marketing is that it is less labor intensive than Instagram. Interacting on Pinterest will boost how often your pins are seen but your impressions will be less affected by neglect than your posts on Instagram.

Another helpful aspect of Pinterest is that its content tends to rank high on search engines. Your pins are far more likely to show up on the first page of Google than any other type of social media post.

Pros	Cons
Easy set up One of the best social media sites for ranking high on search engines You can interact with customers on the messenger and through comments Anyone can view your content and profile, even people not signed up for Pinterest Lower maintenance than other major social media sites Pinterest encourages clicking on post links	Time sensitive events, like sales, don’t fit well with Pinterest’s model Some ongoing interaction on the site is necessary to keep your pins visible

Youtube

Because Youtube is so easy to set up, we recommend it to everyone who has at least one video to share with others. Video content performs far better than images or text.

On Youtube you can:

Host videos for free
Share your videos on other social media sites easily
Add business information to your profile

For video hosting, Youtube is superb. You can host videos of just about any length for free. These videos are easy to share on other social media sites, a website, and just about anywhere online.

Pros	Cons
Easy set up You don’t need to keep interacting for your video to rank high You can add a lot of information in video descriptions, including multiple links You can just leave a video there and forget about it and it can still rank high Anyone can view your content and profile	Business information isn’t easy to find It is a lot harder to actually interact and gain followers on Youtube compared to other social media You can’t easily announce time sensitive events No messenger service

Tiktok

Tiktok isn’t the best website for soap sellers but if your target customers are younger, it may work for you. One advantage Tiktok offers is a smaller following than other social media sites, which can help you stand out more easily.

On Tiktok you can:

Post short videos
Interact with customers through comments and the messenger
Create a profile and content visible to everyone on the internet
Add business information to your profile

Pros	Cons
Easy set up Anyone can view your content and profile Videos can be shared to other platforms Short-form video content performs well	Profile information is limited Tiktok’s audience is less likely to attract people wanting to buy homemade soap

hand holding transparent ball filled with online icons decide which platform to use

Snapchat, Linkedin, Twitter, Reddit

You may see some success on these platforms if you have a following on them already that is open to buying homemade soap. However, they are far from ideal for marketing soap and we don’t recommend using them for your soap business.

Linkedin, Twitter, and Reddit attract people interested in politics and business, not aesthetically pleasing self care products. Snapchat’s model in particular makes it difficult to gain followers and necessary to continue creating content.

You may want to experiment with one of these platforms after you’ve gained a following on one or more of the platforms above. As a primary platform, you are likely to be disappointed and Mary find that it uses time and resources better used elsewhere.

Other sites

There may be other social media sites that fit your needs as well. Don’t dismiss a site because it isn’t one of the major social media sites listed above. A niche forum with a smaller number of people may be the best place to build up a following of dedicated customers.

If you are already a member of a smaller forum, consider whether the members there would be potential customers. A few questions can help you determine if that platform would be a good fit for your marketing:

What is the theme of the site? Does it compliment the type of soap you sell?
What type of people visit the site? Are they the type who would buy premium self care products?
Is the site open to allowing members to market their products? Is it possible to pay for ad space on the site?

If you are seeking local customers, you might find success at a platform that targets your geographic area. Your soap might also fit in a forum for specialized soaps, such as vegan soap or soaps that support a special cause. If there are specialized online sites that fit your target market, check them out to see if you can market your products there.

Soapy Social Content Makes Your Social Media Surprisingly Easy

You don’t have to do all this alone. Don’t forget that Soapy Social Content can guide you through the process of setting up and maintaining a social media profile. We can create a social media plan for your business, set up your social media profile for you, maintain your social media for you, and of course provide online social media content for your soap business. Reach out to us today for help with your soapy social media.

The Most Helpful Social Media Platforms For Soap Makers