What if we told you there was a funeral home marketing strategy that could help create positive interactions, help you reach new audiences, and nearly 70% of that audience would be willing to use your services, given the need?
What if that same marketing channel was one where consumers were open to marketing, seeking connections, and willing to interact with your business? And what if we told you that not even 50% of funeral homes were utilizing this marketing strategy?
Funeral home social media marketing is an underutilized opportunity to reach new audiences and market to prospective clients.
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Every business needs to spend time, money, and resources on client or customer acquisition. Determining the best methods to do that depends largely upon the service, the market, and the target audience, all of which change over time.
For that reason, it’s not enough for a funeral home to rely upon the same marketing strategies it’s used for decades. Markets and consumers evolve, and so marketing strategies must also evolve to meet people where they are.
Further, with some seismic shifts in the funeral industry itself, reaching out to potential clients is more important than ever. Reassuring clients of a funeral home’s ability to provide the services they want and need is vital, but so is emphasizing the role funeral home directors play in memorial services, which can be complex and labor intensive, regardless of burial choices.
Traditional funerals are fading, so traditional funeral home marketing strategies need to reflect that changing market.
Nearly 95% of internet users are on social media and spend roughly 2+ hours on those sites daily. In the U.S. alone, 72% is on social media. In short, social media presents an amazing opportunity to connect with potential customers/clients and should not be ignored.
However with so many social media platforms out there, it can be overwhelming, especially for those who don’t frequent social media or who limit their use to a single platform. Understanding some of the basics is really all you need to get started, and it needn’t be complicated.
In fact, not only are consumers seeking your interactions, but they expect it. So follow along with these funeral home social media marketing tips:
As mentioned above, there are a lot of social media platforms available. At least two are owned by one company and enable you to cross post, simplifying your usage there. Still, understanding the usage and demographic statistics of platform users will be crucial in helping you determine which platform to use.
For example, if you are aiming to attract and interact with an older crowd, you may have a variety of options as social media users are skewing older. However, the platform matters, as does your method of interaction (video, article posting, images, updates, etc.).
One of the best aspects of social media is the ability to share video (across each of the platforms) at significantly less cost than a television commercial. In fact, video is deemed to be one of the best methods of reaching social media audiences. Over a five year period, video interactions increased by over 30% with half of users saying they prefer video content and share it with friends twice as much.
Further, with some editing, it can be cross-posted on a variety of channels, meaning you can make one video work across multiple platforms, leveraging its power with a wide variety of audiences. That means you can offer tours of your funeral home, an overview of your services, educational pieces, testimonials, and even share video resources you find helpful.
One of the things people love most about social media is that it provides an inside look at the lives of people and businesses they care about. Consider sharing posts about your team, your history, and even yourself.
Keeping it informal at times is essential, but you can also use the platform to share valuable information and resources. Establishing yourself as approachable, compassionate, empathetic, and knowledgeable can do wonders for the kind of trust building that leads to customer loyalty and relationships.
Consider sharing information about burial costs, alternative services, and even options about preneed insurance.
One of the biggest mistakes people make in engaging on social media is failing to implement social listening strategies. Not only does this mean engaging when and where your brand or business is mentioned on social media, but it also means engaging when people ask for recommendations related to the services you offer.
That means you may want to be an active participant on local pages related to your town or city, pages of business partners, as well as industry pages. All can present viable opportunities for you to interact and network with potential clients or individuals who can connect you to them.
It can be difficult to ask, and of course needs to be appropriately timed, but soliciting reviews on social media is a quick and easy way to display to social media visitors the positive experiences others have had.
Similarly, updates and posts can feature and highlight reviews and positive feedback previous clients have shared with you.
You’ve likely heard it before, the term social media engagement, and it refers, specifically, to the likes, shares, and comments you get on your content.
That means you need to not only be sharing content that garners those responses, but when others do engage with your content, you should also engage with them. Even if it’s as simple as acknowledging their response, it’s about establishing you and your brand as someone who listens and cares.
Your social media strategy doesn’t need to be time consuming. In fact, there are a variety of social media automation tools out there, some with free plans, that can help you speed up your funeral home social media marketing strategy.
Further, you can enlist the help of other team members and automation tools (like Google Alerts) to find and share new and up-to-date content.
Preneed insurance is a way for your funeral home to ensure business over the long-term but also to assist your clients and future clients in handling their end of life ceremonies, memorials, and services. Including preneed insurance in your funeral home marketing strategy is, therefore, essential.
Tried and tested marketing strategies, like direct mail, are foundational strategies that return results, but social media marketing can be more cost effective, reach more people, and be shared more widely. In fact, direct mail comes in behind email and social media when it comes to marketing ROI.
When it comes to preneed insurance, your target audience is a wide range of people and varied demographics. Understanding who you’re reaching is invaluable.
When you start a business page on most social media platforms, you’re provided with invaluable social media metrics that can tell you how and whether your efforts are working. You can then tweak and target your messaging, including considering paid advertising that is tailored to your desired audience.
When it comes to funeral home marketing strategies, not using social media is a missed opportunity, especially when it comes to preneed insurance. However, if your goal is to use social media to market your preneed insurance, be sure to stay focused on a goal. For example, you may want to get three leads each month based on your social media marketing campaigns.
While paid marketing is a viable strategy, a concrete content strategy can reap the same rewards and benefits, with a lower cost. For your strategy, consider the challenges you help families navigate at the end of life and include articles and posts that discuss those challenges.
The goal with each of these content options is to enable you to mention and direct visitors toward the preneed insurance options you offer and explain how it can help ensure individuals get the end-of-life celebration they want, without burdening their family with the cost.
Social media marketing for funeral homes is essential. As customer and client expectations change and as funeral services adapt, your marketing efforts must also evolve. Social media is cost effective and allows you to interact with potential clients and customers while leveraging the experiences of families who have worked with you in the past. In short, the capacity for it to serve as a marketing vehicle to support your goals is immense.
If you’re looking for a preneed insurance partner who’s also ready to support your goals by providing you with unparalleled support and care, get in touch with the ELCO team today. We know your business doesn’t depend on the calendar or clock, so we’re here when you need us.