Funeral home directors have a unique set of skills that sets them apart from the rest of the population. You thrive at comforting families, paying attention to the smallest details, and pulling off major gatherings with ease. Unfortunately, you may not be as naturally gifted at generating an online marketing strategy that puts your business in front of potential customers. This can be a serious problem because we live in an era where digital marketing often trumps the more traditional forms of advertising.
Developing your own Funeral marketing strategy doesn’t have to be as complicated as it sounds. In just five easy steps, you can be well on your way to crafting a strategy that uniquely suits your funeral home and serves your customers better:
Develop A Modernized Website
Many funeral home directors believe that the overall design of their website makes no difference. However, this is actually the first impression that many people will have about your business. You need to make sure that your website looks fresh and up-to-date. This can be accomplished by using well-lit and tasteful images, easy to read fonts, and more. For most people, designing a website may not come naturally so consider hiring a professional designer to generate your new website.
A modernized website is about more than simply looks though. It should also be search engine optimized so that your potential clients can find you when they search for funeral homes in their local area. A prospective customer should find your page quick to load, detailed, and beautiful all at the same time. It sounds like a tall order, but creating this modern website is the absolute foundation upon which the rest of your digital marketing rests.
Create Your Own Content
Funeral homes have much more knowledge about their industry than the average person. They know what it feels like to grieve and walk through loss. Experienced professionals understand the subtle differences in the types of services available to friends and family members. You have the cornerstone on potential content that could be created to share with your clients. It’s time to take some of that knowledge and generate tangible content to distribute.
Creating your own content can take many forms. You may want to begin a blog where you regularly share tips for handling loss, compiling memorial services, celebrating anniversaries, and more. Other funeral home directors may want to create infographics that share different statistics or service styles. Get creative with the information that you have stored up inside your brain and figure out what type of content you could create.
Social Media Presence
When is the last time you logged in to check your Facebook? Most people admit that they spend hours each week scrolling through their social media feeds. They are constantly exposed to advertisements and offers from brands, even when they aren’t consciously thinking about it. It’s time for you to take advantage of this trend with social media and develop your own presence.
Consider who your demographic is and then figure out which social media platforms you may find them on. Because clientele for funeral homes tend to be older, you are probably more likely to find them on platforms like Facebook and Instagram rather than on Snapchat.
Developing your social media presence directly ties into content creation. This is the best place (other than your website) for you to place that content into the hands of your readers. Share blog posts, put up a few pictures, and start building a community that engages with your brand. Content creation gives you an excuse to strike up a lasting conversation with a captive audience as they scroll through their regular news feed.
Online Advertisements
You want your potential customers to find you, so why not help them out a little bit? Placing online advertisements through either social media or Google is a great way to get your name to the top of the search results quickly. Funeral homes often find the most success by running pay-per-click advertising campaigns on Google AdWords. You select the keywords that people are searching for and then the platform automatically bids against your competitors to see who will rank highest in the advertisements.
You only pay for the advertisements when a client actually clicks through the link onto your website. Once they are already there, the design of your website and the thorough content that you share on the landing page can help keep their interest piqued until they are sold on your particular goods and services.
Ask For Reviews
Most people refuse to spend money until they have thoroughly researched all of the available options. Is this a wise investment of their resources? In order to answer that question, they turn first to friends and family members, closely followed by online reviews. No digital marketing campaign could be complete without considering the role that these reviews play in the long-term health and success of your funeral home.
Don’t be shy about asking people for a review of your service. In turn, you should make sure to respond to their feedback – both the positive and the negative. Look at each negative review as an opportunity to really think about your business practices and improve your service for next time. As you collect more reviews on sites like Google or Yelp, you can also share these on Facebook and on your website for everyone to see.
Interconnected Digital Marketing Plan
Creating a digital marketing plan doesn’t have to be difficult. Once you get started, you will likely find that there is a natural flow from one aspect of the plan to another. Getting your website, content, and social media off the ground is the most challenging part but it is definitely worth investing the time to do it, and as soon as possible. Make sure you hire seasoned marketing professionals to help or take the time to study up on the type of content you need to create. No matter how you decide to tackle this project, digital marketing is here to stay and your funeral home needs to keep up with the times.