Most of these case studies come from emails my readers send me. With their permission, I share them with the names changed. I do this so that others can learn from what worked and what didn't. Have a story of your own? Share it with me.
- 18 to 60bars sold in launch week
- 25messages before launch
- 2local shops stocking her
Fenella Brandt’s most popular post ever was a lye calculation. It got 1,900 likes, 300 comments and zero orders.
Almost every comment came from another soap maker, asking about her oil percentages.
This soap maker social media example follows Fenella, who makes cold process soap in Santa Cruz, California.
It shows how she turned her feed toward people who actually buy soap.
Over five months, first-week sales per launch went from about 18 bars to 60. She also landed two local shops that now stock her bars.
The problem
Fenella loved the soapmaking community, and her feed showed it. Recipes, lye math, mold reviews and long captions about superfat.
The makers loved it too. Gift buyers and gentle-soap seekers scrolled straight past.
Recipe cards
About half her posts were recipe cards with oil weights and percentages.
They were saved often, but by people planning their own batches.
None of those savers needed to buy a bar. They were about to make forty of their own.
When she looked at who followed her, most accounts belonged to other makers, supply shops and soap forums.
Very few looked like people shopping for a gift.
Product shots with no price
When she did post finished soap, it was a pretty bar on a slate board with no price and no way to buy.
People asked in the comments, and many never came back after her reply.
Launch days came as a surprise to her followers. She’d post once, and the batch would sit for weeks.
One risky caption
A popular bar was described as “healing for dry, cracked skin.”
A friend who works in cosmetics gently warned her that words like that can turn soap into a regulated product.
Fenella realized she’d been making claims she couldn’t support, without meaning to.
The solution
She didn’t stop sharing her love of the craft. She changed who most of her posts were written for and how each batch was shown.
Three changes made the difference.
A soap maker social media example built on one batch
Instead of random posts, she followed each new batch for about six weeks.
Pour day, the first cut, the curing rack, the scent story, the cure check and launch.
The first batch she tried this with was a rosemary and sea salt bar.
By launch night, people were messaging to ask whether they could reserve one.
Gift-buyer captions
She rewrote captions for someone buying a present. Short, sensory and practical, with the price and launch time on every launch post.
“Rosemary and sea salt, wrapped in brown paper. $9 a bar, launching Friday at 7.”
Safer words
She replaced healing language with plain descriptions. Rich lather, gentle on hands, made with olive oil and coconut milk.
Her ingredient list moved into a saved highlight, so gentle-soap seekers could check it in seconds.
The process that worked
Fenella built the new routine around three spots in her home and her week.
The spare room rack
Her curing rack lives in a cool spare room.
Every few days she filmed it from the same angle, so followers could watch the bars change.
Those short clips became her most shared posts. People sent them to friends with notes like “we need this for Mom.”
The kitchen window
All her product photos moved to a kitchen window with soft morning light.
She stopped using heavy filters, so colors in photos matched the bars that arrived.
Complaints about colors looking different simply stopped.
She also started showing bars in real places. A bar by the kitchen tap, one in a gift bag and one after a week of use.
That last photo answered a quiet worry about handmade soap going soft too fast. Several buyers mentioned it when they ordered.
The Friday market table
At her weekly market, she wrote down every question customers asked.
How long a bar lasts, whether lye is still inside, whether it’s safe for kids.
Each question became a short post. The lye one did especially well, because it calmed a fear many buyers had but rarely voiced.
She kept recipe posts, but moved them to a separate highlight for makers. That kept her main feed focused on buyers.
She also used Instagram’s story highlights for launch times and ingredients, following the steps in the Instagram Help Center.
What we learned from here
This soap maker social media example shows that an engaged audience isn’t always a buying audience. Fenella had plenty of comments.
She just had them from the wrong people.
Once her posts followed a batch and spoke to gift buyers, first-week sales per launch rose from about 18 bars to 60.
Messages before each launch went from a handful to around 25.
Two local shops, a tea room and a florist, reached out after seeing her curing clips. Both now stock her bars.
The maker community didn’t disappear either. They followed her recipe highlight and kept commenting, just not on every post.
Here’s what filled a launch night and what only filled the comments.
| Filled a launch night | Filled the comments only |
|---|---|
| Following one batch for six weeks | Recipe cards and lye math |
| Price and launch time in captions | Pretty bars with no price |
| Curing rack clips | Long posts about superfat |
| Answers to market questions | Mold reviews for other makers |
| Plain, sensory words | “Healing” and other claims |
| Natural window light | Heavy filters |
A few lessons carry over to any maker.
Know who your comments come from. A busy comment section can hide the fact that buyers aren’t there.
Show the wait, not just the result. The four weeks of curing turned out to be the part followers loved most.
Careful words protect you and your customers. Plain descriptions sold just as well as big promises, without the risk.
Fenella now plans each batch’s posts on the day she pours it, in a simple notebook kept beside the scale.
She’s also testing a small gift box for the holidays, launched the same way.
For the full six-week plan, with hooks, captions and gift dates, see this guide to soap maker social media.
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