A funeral home business is just like any other small business.
And, as such, you must market to obtain new customers and remarket to existing customers to increase sales and grow your business.
Here are 10 funeral home marketing tips to help you optimize your strategy.
1. A Professionally Designed Logo Will Make Your Business Shine
Brand recognition and trust are crucial to the success of your funeral home. A professionally designed logo makes your name easier to remember. It also makes your business appear legitimate, trustworthy and professional. You can find freelance logo designers on sites like Fiverr and Freelancer.com. You’ll want a full color logo, a black and white version of your logo, and the various file types to grant you flexibility down the road. Because, trust us, you will use your logo everywhere. Read more about logo file types here.
2. Build A Useful Website
Your website should look modern and be accessible on mobile devices if you want to maximize conversions. Make sure your website provides helpful information for those considering your services and useful tools to make your current clients’ lives easier. If your clients can’t make payments online, that’s an update you should strongly consider. Make sure that all of your contact information is clearly visible on your website and give prospects a reason to give you their contact information for future marketing.
3. Be Consistent With Your Branding
Your website, flyers, postcards, business cards, online advertisements, social media pages, etc. work together to form your brand identity. The more consistent you are across each channel, the stronger that brand identity becomes. Use the same fonts and color schemes in all of your marketing materials. Keep a consistent tone or voice when it comes to your messaging; develop a voice that resonates with your target audience and stick to it.
4. Utilize Direct Mail Marketing
Direct mail is a traditional marketing strategy that still proves to be the most powerful for attracting funeral home clients. Target homes with residents age 55+ for repeat mailings that increase brand recognition and inform recipients of your services. For added effect, include a branded item in your mailing that the recipient can keep. For example, a refrigerator magnet, a pen, or a small notebook. This will not only increase curiosity and get them to read your message, but it will also get your contact information into their home, which they will keep until they decide to convert.
5. Make An Emotional Connection
Don’t sell the features of your services, sell the emotional benefits. Use your marketing to explain how pre-planning saves your loved ones time, money, and stress when they are grieving. It’s something that most people would care deeply about, but never think about. Tell stories with your marketing; people can relate to personal narratives far easier than they can to facts and stats. Let your satisfied clients tell your community what your services did for them in their time of need.
6. Differentiate Your Services
Use your marketing to let people know what you do differently from your competitors. You may offer unique services, a wider selection of products, more personalization options for memorial services, etc. You may offer more affordable pre-planning options than your local competitors. That’s important to include on your website, because cost is one of the main concerns for most consumers when it comes to funeral planning.
7. Know Your Community
The same funeral home marketing wouldn’t work in every community across the country. Know what the people of your area want and sell it to them! If you operate in a lower-income area, advertise the affordability of your services. If money isn’t an issue in your community, advertise upscale services like eco-friendly “green burials”, casket personalization, or unique photo displays for memorial services.
8. Advertise Online
Funeral homes should help their potential customers find them by running PPC (pay-per-click) advertising campaigns via Google Ads. Go for service-specific, localized keywords to make sure that your most-likely-to-buy prospects land on your website before your competitors. For example, bid on search terms like “cremation services in (your town)” or “affordable funeral home in (your town)”. Monitor your campaigns to make sure you aren’t wasting money on search terms that aren’t bringing in conversions.
9. Show Off Your Staff
Because funeral homes are a very people-oriented business, potential clients like to see who will be coordinating their loved-one’s service. Use real photos of your staff on your website and in your advertising to show the human side of your business and help gain the trust of prospects.
10. Start Blogging
People don’t just read blogs for entertainment; they read blogs to educate themselves on topics that are relevant to them. Let’s say your prospect is considering your funeral pre-planning services, but they’re also considering a competitor’s. Your website simply lists your services and gives them a number to call. Your competitor’s website has helpful articles that break down the funeral pre-planning process, explain the amount of time and money saved by pre-planning, and give ideas for making funeral services more personalized and meaningful. It’s safe to say that your competitor appears to be more knowledgeable and caring than you. If you haven’t started blogging, now is the time to start churning out some helpful content that will make the decision-making process easier for potential clients.
Since our inception, Osiris Software has been helping funeral homes, cemetery and crematory businesses prosper through innovative solutions and world class customer service.
