Stephanie Harren, who is a local handmade soap artisan and runs Chosen Weeds Farms in Bridge City, TX, asked me a question recently:
“I’ve been trying to come up with some Facebook live videos and YouTube videos. Most of my videos don’t really have anything to do with the soaps. I don’t want to come across as salesy. Would videos highlighting just my product be ok?”
Hey Stephanie–
Thanks so much for the question! You have so many interesting things going on at your farm that it might be tough to decide what to showcase (or not) on Facebook Live videos. Your Facebook Lives should focus on and showcase what you want to sell, which in this case would be your handcrafted soaps made with goat’s milk.
Personally, I don’t care for long videos, so my advice would be to keep your videos between 5-10 minutes, if possible. That might mean breaking down a topic into multiple smaller bites rather than creating an hour-long video.
Here are my ideas for FB Lives for you:
1. Showcase every step of your soap making process, from milking the goats to adding the fragrance and other things to your soaps to curing the bars to cutting the bars to packaging them.
2. Share some how-to info on how you create the cool looks of some of your bars, like the marbling effect you do.
3. Give some info about how/why you choose the other ingredients in your soaps.
4. Interview some people who have purchased your soap about why they love it and how using it has affected their skin
5. Answer some FAQs about your soapmaking. Here are a couple of sample lists https://oilandash.com/oil-and-ash-faq/ and https://www.zoliavera.com/pages/faq
6. Announce a contest to take nominations for your newest soap scent and offer a very cool prize to the winning entry,
7. Do you have different soaps for different purposes (regular bathing vs exfoliation vs baby vs dog washing soap)? Showcase how to best use each type of soap for maximum results.
8. How does a customer pick the right soap for him/her? Create a quick video outlining that process.
9. Kick off a special offering, like a Soap of the Month club where people can subscribe and get a different soap and some other stuff from your farm on a monthly basis. Perhaps you can send them samples of trial soaps you’re trying out and they can be your review board.
10. Show off the luffa that you grow and how you harvest that, along with how to use it with your soaps.
11. Individually showcase the other products you make and create videos on how they are produced, FAQS about them, etc.
12. Talk a bit about your personal story that led you to the soapmaking biz. Did you have a health issue that required you to look for handmade soaps, or was it a lifestyle choice, dream career, or something else?
13. Take a look at the video channels of other soap making companies and see the topics of their videos. I found a list of those here https://blog.feedspot.com/soap_making_youtube_channels/ Note: Look up the channel names individually on YouTube. If you click on the links on that page, you get trapped in Feedspot. Here’s a second list that I found: https://www.lovinsoap.com/2017/01/20-soap-makers-youtube-dont-want-miss/
14. Hold a special event, like a Spa Party where you demonstrate your soaps, and take videos there. This event could be held at your farm or you could offer to do a house party, similar to a Pampered Chef party. Here’s a great how-to article on holding a Spa in a Box Party and Make Your Own Spa Products Party. These would be a great way to market your products and really get to know your customers.
15. When you visit Farmer’s Markets or other kinds of outdoor crafts/food events, do a couple of FB lives to invite people to participate and/or show off your booth or any specials you’re running at the event.
16. Interview people in complementary businesses, like flower growers or bath bomb makers, and showcase them on your FB page. Make it a reciprocal arrangement so that they do the same for you via a FB live on their page.
17. If you have stores that are wholesale purchasers of your soaps, invite the owner to a FB live and/or showcase their store. Give the store owner the idea to showcase the makers of their artisan products on their own FB page so that they’ll feature you on their page.
If you’d like more info about Stephanie’s soaps, visit her website and check out her soaps here and her FB page.
