Oooh… there’s a whiff of excitement in the air and it smells like cinnamon and mulled wine! People are officially using the C word… which can mean only one thing. How the jeepers did Christmas creep round so quickly?
The Christmas holidays are just around the corner, and those festive fairs and Christmas markets don’t just mark the end of another year. Second only to the six week summer slog, the Christmas holidays can be a bit of a panic season for doulas, particularly those of you working around children!
Are you already feeling those panic twinges about managing your Christmas marketing? Wondering how to keep your doula offerings visible while you’re taking care of kids, working on a leaner schedule, and relishing in a big plate of turkey, stuffing and sprouts?
Perhaps the odd Cadbury’s Roses or two… three… four!
Well don’t worry! The Nurturing Birth team is on the case and we’re here to share four secrets to keeping your marketing efforts on point so you can slay that festive guilt, and focus on more pressing things, like your next cocktail choice, thinking up creative ideas for Elf on the Shelf or which present to open first!
You see the secret to staying visible, active and sustaining your marketing efforts throughout the Christmas holidays is to take a more relaxed, slimline approach. This way you’ll still look like you’re blogging, posting on social media, and chatting with your subscribers, but, secretly, you could be lying (totally laptop-less) on the sofa letting your lunch go down and catching up on TV.
Your doula biz doesn’t have to take a back seat, just because you are. So with that in mind, here are…
4 Ways to Slimline Your Christmas Marketing Strategy and Slay the Festive Guilt
Republish your Blogs
You don’t always have to create brand new blogs you know. If you’ve been blogging for a while you’ve probably got more than enough content to republish some of your favourite older articles instead. Your newer followers may not have noticed a particular blog first-time around (or second or third in fact) so don’t worry!
Sharing them again isn’t the lazy-doula’s way out either. Republishing blogs is a great marketing tactic, it gives you the opportunity to update any out-of-date content, it’s great for your SEO and you can even build your mailing list or give your conversions a boost by adding links to your new freebies, products or services.
Schedule Your Social Media
There are stacks of social media scheduling apps around and some are worth their weight in brandy doused Christmas pud! Scheduling your social media in advance gives you that Superdoula feeling of having everything organised for the entire week by 7am on Monday! Scaling back on the number of posts you write and publish is another way to dilute the Christmas biz pressure too.
Maintaining your visibility is important and if the bare minimum is one post a day, then schedule one post a day on each of your social media platforms. Manage your follower expectations by posting that you’re taking a wee break over the festive season. Many of your followers will likely be doing the same so they will totally understand.
Not sure which scheduling app to go for? Here at Nurturing Birth our favourite free social media scheduling platforms are Hootsuite and Later, whilst our fave paid platforms are Post Planner or Buffer.
Create & Schedule Your Newsletter(s)
If you’re a weekly newsletter sender, then ease that festive burden and adopt a monthly approach during December and January. A bumper Christmas edition or two (which also directs your subscribers to your republished blogs) is perfectly acceptable – and sometimes more likely to be consumed. Save more time by creating and scheduling your newsletters in advance and you’ll know your subscribers won’t assume you’ve abandoned them. Ah… the beauty of automation. We love it!
Decide on a Simple Christmas Content Subject and Stick to it
Another great way to avoid trying to post on Facebook while you’re tucking into your trifle is to think about (and plan) the type of content you want to focus on over the next six to ten weeks. Keep it easy by sifting through your calendar and finding any upcoming National or International days which fit with your industry. Take a handful of your blogs and weave the same subject thread through your social media pages and newsletters too.
In need of inspiration? Check out:
So go and enjoy your Christmas, make family memories (kids grow up so quickly!) and slay that Festive business guilt.
Come January you’ll feel refreshed, rejuvenated and ready to conquer the world, again!
