If you are in the death care industry, it is important to utilize all the tools at your disposal.
There are many different types of free digital marketing used by small and large businesses. Of course, social media can be one that people think of first as Facebook has taken the social marketing world by storm with its ease of connecting with people and promoting businesses; however, digital marketing doesn’t stop at Instagram, it spreads throughout the entire Internet.
One of these options is Google My Business. Google My Business is both completely free and easy to use and set up.
What It Can Do For You
Using Google My Business can help in more ways than one when it comes to getting your business noticed in the death care industry.
Having your business profile public, and fully set up, allows customers to easily find you. This can lead to “zero-click searches” because the information they are searching for on Google is right there in front of their eyes without needing to search around.
When you do have all your information in Google My Business, families can find you by keyword, location, business name or even by the list of your business services. The key to achieving the top position is easier than most think: make sure you verify your business, fill out your profile’s information, create regular postings and respond to reviews. Stick with it and you’ll be amazed how quickly you business will rise in the search ranks!
How to Get the Most Out of It
The very first step in getting your business listed on Google is to create a Google My Business account. List your business hours, name, website, phone number and business description. There are also sections for products and services so you can highlight what your business in the death care industry provides for individuals and families.
Being a part of the death care industry, it can be common that most people might have questions prior to contact you out of the blue. Luckily, there is a section in Google My Business to generate popular questions and then you can input their answers. If you have any commonly asked questions by families, include them in this section. This small but powerful section can act as the first source of customer service for your funeral home business.
And, don’t underestimate the power of photos! Adding photos to show off your building, the interior, offices and parlors offer families an excellent way to familiarize themselves before they visit your funeral home business. Visuals can help put your potential client families at ease, so they aren’t walking into somewhere completely unknown.
Additionally, you can view Google reviews of your funeral home business on your profile. One of the best ways to improve your local search optimization and get more clicks to your website is to generate lots of positive Google reviews.
When someone does review your business, be sure to respond! If the review is positive, take a minute to thank the reviewer in a thoughtful, personal way. While you hopefully won’t get many negative reviews, if you do get one, responding is also a good way to mitigate the damage. You’re showing other families that you can handle criticism and will work to fix whatever problem exists. Most of the time, upset reviewers just seek to be understood, heard and offered some type of reconciliation. Be kind in your response, then offer to take the conversation offline so you can work to resolve the issue privately.
And if it’s a “fake” review (from someone who never actually interacted with your business), you also can make that clear in your response—but always be professional and positive in your tone. The worst thing you can do is respond defensively or angrily. You can take this an extra step and report the spammer to Google directly.
Lastly, don’t forget to promote your business by creating Google Posts on your profile. This feature lets you publish short blog posts about your funeral home business. You don’t have to write much, the posts go live very quickly, and offer an instant way to publish updates about your business.
With all of these ways to show off your business and connect with families in your area, it is essential not to let this opportunity pass. Start your profile today and embrace how Google My Business can grow your small business in the death care industry.
Since our inception, Osiris Software has been helping funeral homes, cemetery and crematory businesses prosper through innovative solutions and world class customer service.
