Social media for toy shops: a practical guide for 2026

The people who pay for toys are adults, so your social media should be aimed at them. Parents want ideas by age and budget, grandparents want something that will be loved, and everyone wants to know you have it in stock before they drive over.

Instagram and Facebook reach parents and suit short videos of toys in action. A Google Business Profile helps with 'toy shop near me' and seasonal opening hours. Pinterest suits gift guides that people save before birthdays and Christmas. Platforms are for adults and teenagers too: Instagram's terms say you must be at least 13, or the minimum legal age in your country, to use it, so children younger than that should not be your audience there.

Sources: Instagram Help Centre: Terms of Use, checked 15 October 2026; Google Business Profile Help: Create & manage posts on your Business Profile, checked 15 October 2026

Three or four posts a week, with more in the run-up to Christmas, works for most shops. Make every post useful to the adult deciding what to buy.

• Monday: new arrivals, with prices and the age range on the box.
• Tuesday: a toy in action, filmed on your shop floor with adult hands.
• Wednesday: gift ideas by age, at three price points.
• Thursday: a game explained. How to play and how long it takes.
• Friday: weekend events, a demo day or a craft table.
• Monthly: a staff pick and why they love it.
• Seasonal: Christmas, birthdays and back to school, with stock and delivery dates.

In the UK, the CAP Code treats anyone under 16 as a child, and its Section 5 applies to marketing addressed to, targeted at or featuring children. Rule 5.4.2 says marketing must not include a direct appeal to children to buy a product, or to persuade their parents or other adults to buy it for them. Rule 5.4.1 says it must not actively encourage children to make a nuisance of themselves to parents or others, and rule 5.2.1 says children must not be made to feel inferior or unpopular for not buying the advertised product.

Section 5 also says child-directed marketing must not exaggerate what an ordinary child can achieve with a product (5.3.1), must not show children using dangerous equipment without direct adult supervision (5.1.3), and that promotions aimed at children must make clear where adult permission is needed, show a prominent closing date and not exaggerate the prize or the chances of winning (5.6).

• Write captions for adults: 'a great gift for ages 5 and up', not 'ask your mum for this'.
• Avoid 'everyone has one' or 'don't be the only one without it'.
• Show what the toy really does, at the size it really is.
• Show supervision when a toy involves heat, sharp tools or water.

Source: CAP Code (non-broadcast), Section 05: Children, checked 15 October 2026

If you run a website, app or online service in the US that is directed to children under 13, or you know you are collecting personal information from them, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule applies. The FTC says operators must get verifiable parental consent before collecting personal information online from children under 13, and that photos, videos and audio recordings that contain a child's image or voice count as personal information.

The FTC says a court can impose civil penalties of up to $53,088 per violation. The COPPA Rule was amended on 22 April 2025, so check the revised Rule for current requirements. For a toy shop, this matters most for colouring competitions, birthday clubs and photo uploads: collect entries and details from parents, not children.

• Ask parents, not children, to enter competitions or join a birthday club.
• Do not invite children to send photos, videos or voice messages to your accounts.
• If a child's photo arrives anyway, do not repost it.

Source: FTC: Complying with COPPA, frequently asked questions, checked 15 October 2026

Photos of children playing sell toys, but use them only with care. The NSPCC advises written consent from the parent or carer and the child, not publishing children's names alongside images, and removing location data before uploading. For most posts, adult hands and the toy itself are enough.

Stock and photograph toys you know are compliant. GOV.UK guidance on the Toys (Safety) Regulations 2011 in Great Britain says distributors must take due care that the toys they supply are compliant, and must check that the conformity marking (UKCA or CE), safety instructions and the importer's name and address are present. Warnings must be in English and preceded by the word 'Warning'. Do not crop safety warnings out of product photos.

Giveaways are popular with toy shops. The ASA says significant conditions such as how to enter, the closing date, the prizes and eligibility should be in the post itself, and winners must be chosen at random through a verifiable process or an independent person. Aim giveaways at parents, and make clear entrants must be adults.

Sources: NSPCC Learning: Photography and sharing images, checked 15 October 2026; GOV.UK: Toys (Safety) Regulations 2011, Great Britain guidance, checked 15 October 2026; ASA AdviceOnline: Promotional marketing, prize draws in social media, checked 15 October 2026

Ask every customer for a review in the same way. Google's policy says merchants must not offer incentives for reviews, discourage negative reviews or ask only happy customers. Plan the year around birthdays (every week), Easter, summer holidays and the Christmas season, which for toy shops starts weeks before December.

Disclosure: this guide is published by Zolyp, an AI social media manager. Zolyp plans a calendar around your content pillars, writes and designs each post, and schedules it to Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google Business, X, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, and Threads. You start in review-everything mode, so nothing goes live without your approval. Brand Brain holds your tone of voice and banned topics, such as direct appeals to children, so captions are written for the adults who buy. Plans start at $29/mo. Everything in this guide works just as well done by hand.

• Week 1: list new stock, events and seasonal dates.
• Week 2: film toys in action in one session, with adult hands.
• Week 3: post a gift guide by age and budget.
• Week 4: check which posts led to visits or orders, and repeat them.

Source: Maps User Generated Content Policy: Prohibited & restricted content, checked 15 October 2026