The way funeral homes do marketing has changed drastically over the last ten years. Heck, it’s even safe to argue that it’s changed drastically since LAST year.

We already know that our families have changed, and that the way we used to market to them is no longer relevant (if you’re not sure why, be sure to read Why Advertising Your Funeral Home is a Waste of $ And What You Should Do Instead).

But in the ever-changing world of the Internet and social media, it can be hard to keep up with all of the ways you can market your funeral home, and whether or not they work.

Well, fear no more! We’ve got the perfect 6-step plan for you to boost your funeral home’s marketing efforts… backed up by 40 mind-blowing statistics. Ready to dive in? Ok, let’s go!

Step 1: Get online

It’s no secret that the foundation of all your marketing efforts should be your website. Your website is what will rank on search engines, attract visitors through content and grow your business. Unfortunately, 1 in every 5 funeral homes still don’t have a website, and the same percentage of funeral homes don’t even see their website as a marketing channel. If you’re convinced for even a minute that your website isn’t important to your funeral home’s marketing efforts, here are five statistics that will make you think again…

1. 58% of people believe that having a website is key to success. (Weebly)

2. 56% of consumers don’t trust a business without a website. (Weebly)

3. 41% of companies get a website in effort to grow their business or sell things online. (Weebly)

4. 76% of consumers say the most important element of a website is that it makes it easy for them to find what they need to find. (Hubspot)

5. 86.6% of U.S. small businesses cite websites as their most important digital marketing tactic. (eMarketer)

Learn more: 18 Questions Your Funeral Home Website Must Answer

Step 2: Make sure it’s optimized for mobile

Just take one look around and you’ll see that people are using mobile phones to research, engage and share online practically 24/7. And since a death can occur at any moment, it’s important that your funeral home website is accessible when families are on-the-go. That’s why the next step of online marketing success is making sure your website is optimized for mobile Here’s why:

6. Mobile internet usage is projected to overtake desktop internet usage this year. (Microsoft Tag)

7. 59% of mobile users who find your business while looking up local information on their mobile phone will visit your business, while 61% of them will call. (Hubspot)

8. 9 out of 10 mobile searches lead to action. (Hubspot)

9. 70% of mobile searches lead to action within one hour, while it takes consumers one month to reach that same percentage on desktop computers. (Hubspot)

10. 72% of users said that mobile-friendly sites were important to them. (Search Engine Watch)

11. Yet, 45% of businesses still don’t have a mobile-optimized website. (Social Media Today)

12. 48% of users say they feel frustrated and annoyed when they get to a site that’s not mobile-friendly. (Google Mobile)

Learn more: 5 Reasons Why Mobile Is The Future For Your Funeral Home

 

Step 3: Get found online

Once you have a website, it’s important that your potential families can actually find it online. That’s where SEO (search engine optimization) comes in. SEO is the process of getting your website to rank well on search engines. By appearing at the top of search results, your funeral firm will stand out from the competition in all of that online clutter. As you can see by the statistics below, in order to be successful in your SEO efforts, it’s all about attracting visitors organically and ranking high on Google’s search results. Here’s why businesses of all kinds rely on SEO to get found online:

13. The phrase “funeral home” being searched for more than 7.5 million times per month on Google. (Google Analytics)

14. 33% of organic search clicks go to the first result. (SocialTimes)

15. The top 4 positions on search results, generally those considered to be “above the fold,” receive 83% of first page organic clicks. (Brent Carnduff)

16. Of all the major types of online advertising, SEO is viewed as the best channel for driving direct sales, cited by 40% of marketers. (eMarketer)

17. Nearly 80% of people ignore Google-sponsored ads. (Search Engine Land)

Learn more: SEO: What Is It? And Why Do I Care?

Step 4: Incorporate social proof into your website

Once you’ve nailed your website down and made sure people can find it (even when they’re on the go), why not amp it up with a little social proof? “Social proof,” also known as “informational social influence” is the idea that if other people are doing something, and you trust those people, then you’re more likely to do that “thing” too. By providing social proof on your website, you can put families’ questions, worries and doubts to rest during their difficult (and confusing) search for a funeral home. Check out these statistics to find out why social proof is important to your website:

18. Customer testimonials are the most effective form of content marketing. (SocialTimes)

19. Nearly 63% of consumers indicate they are more likely to purchase from a site if it has ratings and reviews.
 (Bazaar Voice)

20. Over 70% of Americans say they look at product testimonials and reviews before making a purchase. (Power Reviews)

21. 75% of people don’t believe that companies tell the truth in advertisements. (Yankelovich)

22. 7 in 10 who read reviews share them with friends, family & colleagues thus amplifying their impact. (Deloitte & Touch)

23. 79% of online shoppers spend at least 50% of their shopping time researching products. (Hubspot)

Learn more: How To Build Trust With Your Families Online

 

Step 5: Drive traffic to your website and gain credibility

As we mentioned before, your website is the foundation of all your marketing efforts. And once you have an awesome website that you’re proud of, it’s time to drive some traffic to it. How, you ask? Through blogging, of course. Not only does blogging drive traffic to your website, but it also establishes you as a thought leader, increases your online and offline sales, helps you build relationships with potential families, and makes you rank high on search results. Read on to see why blogging is an essential piece of your marketing pie:

24. 52% of businesses say their company blog is an important marketing channel. (eMarketer)

25. 57% of U.S. online adults read blogs. And of that group, two-thirds “say a brand mention or promotion within context of the blog influences their purchasing decisions.” (New Media and Marketing)

26. Companies that blog generate 67% more leads than those that don’t. (SocialTimes)

27. More than 70% marketers plan to produce more content in 2014 than they did in 2013, and 6 out of 10 plan to increase their content marketing budgets. (e-Strategy Trends)

28. 78% of Chief Marketing Officers believe custom content is the future of marketing. It’s not clear what the other 22% are thinking. (SocialTimes)

29. 60% of consumers feel more positive about a brand after consuming content from it. (iMedia Connection)

30. Nearly 3 out of 5 of businesses have acquired a customer through their company blog. (Hubspot)

Learn more: A Step-to-Step Guide to Creating a Successful Funeral Blog

Step 6: Engage with your customers online

The final step in your funeral home marketing success is social media. Since its explosion in 2009, many businesses have used social media to build relationships with their potential customers online, drive traffic to their website, spread brand awareness and even increase customer service efforts. Sadly, less than half of funeral homes are using social media. If you’re one of those funeral homes, here are some jaw-dropping stats that will help you get off the fence and jump on the social media bandwagon:

31. 68% of consumers check out companies on social networking sites before buying. (Social Media Beast)

32. The most common content marketing tactic is social media, used by 87% of marketers. (CMI)

33. 33% of consumers cite social networks as a way they discover new brands, products or services. (Social Media Today)

34. 52% of brands say social media is the top driver for relationship building / brand engagement, more than twice as much as email. (Spredfast)

35. The fastest-growing age cohort on Twitter is 55-to-64 year-olds, up 79% since 2012. And the 45-54 age bracket is the fastest-growing group on both Facebook and Google+. (Fast Company)

36. 80% of social network users prefer to connect to brands through Facebook. (Hubspot)

37. More than 1/2 of U.S. small businesses say social media sites play an important role in active sales. (Social Media Today)

38. More than 1/3 of US small businesses say social media helps them get found online. (Social Media Today)

39. 42% of companies have acquired a customer through Twitter. (Hubspot)

40. Social media has a 100% higher lead-to-close rate than traditional marketing. (Hubspot)

Learn more: 23 Tools to Boost Your Funeral Home’s Social Media Efforts

Over to you…

We hope these statistics opened your eyes to some new ways you can start increasing the effectiveness of your funeral marketing. So, the question is, now that you know how to market your funeral home successfully, how will you take action?

PS. Want a website built for your client families’ needs?

Get a demo of funeralOne’s all-in-one website platform, f1Connect, by clicking here or calling us at 800-798-2575 extension 5!