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 (again!)?
We’re all hoping for a fabulous Christmas. Let’s face it, we need it and we deserve it after the challenges of the last 18 months or so! Of course, the business of birth continues, and doulas keep on working. And to do that we need to keep on promoting our services. How do we do that at this busy time of year?
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!
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 business doesn’t have to take a back seat just because you are!
Christmas Marketing for Doulas
Republish your Blogs
You don’t always have to create brand new doula blogs. If you’ve been blogging for a while you’ve probably got more than enough content to republish some of your favourite, or more popular 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! And if you’re sharing great content then that content is still great and is still really valuable to parents. That’s what it’s all about! Not only does this help your time management, refreshing blogs (or any website content) helps your SEO rankings, too! remember to schedule blogs ahead of time so that they pop up regularly without you having to remember to do anything about it.
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! If you’re feeling totally overwhelmed, it’s ok to give yourself permission to scale back on the number of posts you write and publish, and avoid posting on the days where people are more likely to be focused on turkey and crackers than searching for a doula.
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. This way you’re keeping your doula services visible, supporting people and at the same time drinking wine. Everyone’s a winner.
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 read. 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 doula 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 interest as a doula. Take a handful of your blogs and weave the same doula / pregnancy / birth related 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!
