An Introduction to Inbound and Outbound Marketing

We hear it everywhere – on TV and radio – it’s actually pretty hard not to hear about how bad things are in this economy. But, the good news is - there is an upside.

It’s a fact – most fortunes are made in troubled times. That means there’s never been a better time than now to grow your business. And I’m going to share with you the biggest marketing secret in funeral business today that will not only help you attract more families and grow your business, but will show you how to use online conversation to connect with your client families.

In this series, I’m going to reveal to you the difference between inbound and outbound marketing, give you 5 easy ways to incorporate inbound marketing into your funeral business, and I’m going to share with you the proven results of inbound marketing from one of your fellow funeral professionals.

Funeral Marketing: Past vs. Present

Before I get into how one of your fellow funeral professionals is using present-day marketing techniques to grow their business, in this first post of the series, I want to explain the differences between the way you’ve been marketing, and how you could be marketing.

Marketing of the past:

In the past you would have placed an ad in the paper, maybe run a TV commercial, and hoped your client families would not only see your ad, but remember you in their time of need. Those were the “tried and true” methods to get someone’s attention long enough to see your message.

The problem today is nobody’s listening. Why? Well, think of how many ads you hear in a given day, and how many of the marketing messages you actually remember. What makes you think your families are any different? This type of advertising is called Interruption Marketing or Outbound Marketing – and it just doesn’t work as your only form of marketing anymore.

Marketing of the present:

Instead of interrupting your client families with marketing messages – you do the things you must to attract them, and allow them to join the conversation. This is called Inbound Marketing, and it’s all about conversations – not interruption.

By using your website, you can tap into the conversations that people in your community are already having online and reach your target market. With a social memorial website, you can actually integrate social media into your funeral home website and engage your client families in conversation, further building relationships with them. This will keep your client families coming back to your website over and over again.

That’s the secret – and it’s easy.

Building a dynamic website is only the first step to integrating inbound marketing into your funeral business. Stay tuned to this series for 5 ways to “Go Inbound”, as well as proven results from a fellow funeral professional that has incorporated inbound marketing into their funeral business.

Take advantage of these troubled times and start using conversation to connect with your families and grow your business. I’ve just shared with you the biggest marketing secret in the funeral profession today. What you do with it is up to you!

Photo 1 Credit: Ninja M.