As we’re closing out the middle of the year, it’s always time for a good check-in on how your funeral business is handling your social media marketing.

It’s good to do an evaluation and find out how to start strategizing for next year as you continue to learn what works best for your unique audience, funeral home brand, and community. 

To help you out, we’re sharing some insights from a groundbreaking social media report that dropped recently from our friends at Sprout Social. 

We’ve broken out our most exciting insights into questions we receive from you all the time on your social media strategy…

Check them out below, and let us know how they resonate with you in the comments below:

Insight #1: Which social media channels should your funeral biz focus on?

According to our research, the top 3 platforms your client families are looking to find you on are…

#1 Facebook (71% consumers prefer)

#2 Youtube (51% consumers prefer)

#3 Instagram (49% consumers prefer)

Close runners up are Tik Tok and Snapchat, but we’ve found these to be mostly younger generations. Interestingly enough, in our research, we found a bit of a disconnect between what consumers are asking for and what brands are focusing on. Many brands are intending to focus on Twitter as a main part of their marketing strategy, while less than 10% of consumers are looking to connect with brands on Twitter in 2022. 

Insight #2: What should your funeral biz post on social media?

The age old question: what type of content is most engaging for your client families? Here’s what we found to be the top 5 most preferred types of content your client families want to see you post:

#1 is short form video (66% of client families prefer)

#2 is images (61% of client families prefer)

#3 is live video (37% of client families prefer)

#4 is gifs/memes (32% of client families prefer)

#5 is text based posts (tied with gifs and memes at 32% with client families)

Can you guess the least engaging post type with client families? If your guess was links to other content, you’d be right. Only 11% of consumers prefer this type of content on your social channels. 

In regards to video content, it turns out that “Consumers find short-form videos 2.5x more engaging than long-form videos,” according to Sprout Social.

Insight #3: How often should your funeral biz post on social media?

The good news is that one good post a day keeps the client families engaged and happy. In our research, 74% of consumers think the publishing sweet spot for brands is 1–2 posts per day. Anything more can seem spammy, and anything less might not keep folks engaged.

Insight #4: What should your funeral biz post about on social media?

To answer this question, we thought we’d start out by sharing this quote from Jenny Li Fowler, the Director of Social Media Strategy at MIT:

“Today’s consumers seek authenticity, or overly stylized piece of content isn’t it. A produced video is essentially your opinion—and consumers aren’t interested in your opinion. They want to hear what other people think of your brand and/or product. Who better as brand ambassadors than people who love your brand so much that they create content bragging about you?”

Now let’s look into the top 3 types of content your client families are hoping to catch on your social media channel:

• 51% of families want to see content highlighting your products or services
• 39% of families want to hear and see real customer testimonials
• Third spot (34%) is tied for both authentic video content and also content showing off your funeral business’ brand personality

Insight #5: Is it your business to speak up on what’s going on in the world?

In case you’re shaking in your knickers at the thought of speaking on sensitive issues happening in the world, don’t fear. Although controversial, it turns out that your client families want to hear what you have to say on social and cultural issues as they arise. 

The numbers in our research show that in general, 71% of consumers think it’s important for brands to take a stand on sensitive issues. So it’s time to find your voice, and use it for the good of your community and our world!

Insight #6: Should social media be a form of customer service?

The short answer is yes. The days of calling customer service are becoming numbered. Now, client families are hoping to be able to reach out to you with their questions via social media. In fact, 60% of brands saying private/direct messaging plays a role in their customer care strategy. Even more, more than 75% of consumers expect a response within 24 hours from you if they reach out. Talk about a high standard of customer service and quality care!

Insight #7: What gives you that competitive edge in your community?

​​Turns out, it’s not your prices or your service that your client families are looking to connect with when they seek you out via social media to see if they want to work with you. It’s actually your business’ alignment with their personal values, as well as their level of trust with you, that is the deciding factor. 

In fact, business alignment with personal values is 74% more important to consumers than it was in 2021. Your products and services are still important at your funeral home, but client families purchasing decisions are continuing to be fueled by trust and shared values.

The greatest insight of all

At the end of the day, you showing up on social media goes a long way. And the more you do it, the more refined you’ll become. We promise :). So keep it up! We support you!

What other insights have you gained on social media in your funeral business? Tell us in the comments below!

Rochelle Rietow

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