I’ve known Chicagoland Doulas owner Anne Iverson for many years now. As S.O. Social’s flagship client, I credit her with giving me the courage to start my own business.

By managing Chicagoland Doulas’ accounts, I developed S.O. Social’s best practices and organizational style. My confidence soared, and Anne was there supporting me every step of the way. Here is an overview of how S.O. Social has helped build Chicagoland Doulas’ Facebook, Instagram, and Doula Blog.

Backstory

Anne expanded into Chicagoland Doulas in 2015. Drawn to birth work after her time at University of Kansas studying Sociology and Gender Studies, she’s trained with three different organizations since beginning her doula career in 2010.

After her initial start as a doula with the Academy of Certified Birth Educators in Olathe, Kansas, she continued her official training with ProDoula Certification Agency of New York. Anne has also attended workshops including: Bradley Method childbirth education, Spinning Babies, Difficult Births, and ProDoula Postpartum & Placenta Specialist trainings. She has extensive experience supporting parents with breastfeeding. She is ProDoula certified as both a labor and postpartum doula, in addition to being the first certified placenta encapsulator in Chicago.

The Goal

During our first meeting Anne let me know she wanted to reach young professionals in Chicago, expecting or recently postpartum. Chicagoland Doulas celebrates all types of families and birth paths, which is something that needed to be made clear in all marketing.

In addition to Facebook and Instagram, Anne also operated a Doula Blog on the agency’s website. Doula is such an interesting profession. You need to be medically professional yet also personable and warm. My immediate goal was to portray Anne’s flawless execution of these traits in my marketing approach. Via SEO optimized blog posts and daily Facebook + Instagram content, we would reach Chicago families, both new and growing, to establish Chicagoland Doulas as an approachable expert resource.

The Formula

Original content establishing Anne as an expert in her field was key. This is why blog posts immediately took a front seat. On the day-to-day, I post content on Facebook and Instagram that is useful to those who are expecting, raising small children, or expanding their family. I created a weekly content calendar that is as follows:

#mondaycoffeebreak - A thought-provoking blog post, quote, or fact aimed to cure those Monday slumps.
#activelife - Tips on how to stay active! This is for pregnant women, new parents, or parents looking to raise active kids
#funkid - How to build creativity in your child, weather in utero, as an infant, or in the toddler stages
#selfcare - Self care is SO key in pregnany, parenting, and, ya know, life! This weekly post highlights great selfcare spots and techniques.
#TGIF - Friday post! Date night ideas, weekend family activities, recipes for nights in, etc.
#chicagolanddoulas - This is our weekly self-promo post. Statistics say content should be 80% original and 20% self-promo, so we keep it light and casual.

This calendar is interrupted weekly by an expert blog post. Posts like Five Unexpected Parts of Birth and The Difference Between a Doula, Nanny, and Babysitter set Chicagoland Doulas apart from the rest, and also builds up SEO optimized content to put out into the digital universe.

The Numbers

Although there is always work to done, we have seen a consistent increase in followers, reach, and engagement since S.O. Social took over the Chicagoland Doulas’ Facebook and Instagram.

February, 2017

Facebook

Likes: 811
Reach: 412
Engagement: 50

Instagram

Followers: 399
Impressions: 1,200
Reach: 261

June, 2017