How well do you really know your handmade soap customer? To market handmade soap successfully, you need to have a crystal-clear picture to whom you are marketing. Unfortunately, you cannot blindly make soap that sells without regard to your customer and expect your business to be a success.
You may already have a clear picture of what your typical customer wants in the way of soap. If so, you have done your research and have adjusted your marketing efforts to successfully reach your buyer. Congratulations! Many soap marketers fail to take this step and end up being less than successful as a result.
If you have yet to do this type of survey, the best way to start is to do some light market research at your next craft show or home soap party. To do this, you will need a notebook to record your observations.
For each customer that makes a purchase of your soap, you will want to record certain information, including: approximate age (guess on this one, don't ask!), whether your soap is being given as a gift (this is easy to ask as you ring them up), as well as any observations about their appearance (did they dress casually, artsy, professionally etc). These observations should be recorded in your notebook after your customer leaves. It is also a good idea to ask your customer if they found the type of soap they were looking for. If not, record what items they wanted in the way of soaps and toiletries that you did not have.
Continue to do this at every scheduled show until you have at least fifty or so entries. Now, it is time to go back and look at trends. Did the customers who purchase from you fit into a certain age range? Were they primarily buying your soap as gifts? Were they looking for particular types of soaps and creams? These observations will be very helpful to you when you write your promotional materials and help you to determine what future types of soap to add to your collection.
For example, if you find the majority of your buyers are giving your handmade soap as gifts, it would be a smart marketing move to advertise free gift wrapping and a gift card with every purchase. Gift buyers love the convenience of this.
If your customers fall into a particular age range, such as baby-boomers, maybe you'd like to appeal to their sense of nostalgia when you decorate your booth and have baby boomer music softly playing in the background. This creates a mood conducive to buying.
The information you get from these surveys can be invaluable in determining how you market your soap line as well as the direction in which you take your soap production. Try it and see if it helps you better define your customer and your soap business.
