Does your funeral home have a marketing plan? According to a 2019 small business marketing survey by OutboundEngine, 50% of survey respondents don’t have a marketing plan for their small business. The survey also found that 58.27% of small businesses only spend 0-5 hours on their marketing per week. 

Without a marketing plan and time to execute it, you can’t engage with and reach as many families as you would with an established plan and time to implement it. It also makes it more difficult to get the word out about your funeral home to your community. 

Still not convinced? Below are four benefits of having a marketing plan. 

1. Establish Yourselves as Thought Leaders in Your Funeral Home’s Community 

Creating marketing content is a great way to establish yourselves as thought leaders in the funeral profession. To put it simply, thought leadership for funeral directors means showing that you’re knowledgeable about the profession and regularly thinking of new ways to better serve your families.  

This builds trust with your families and community, as they know they can trust you to care for their loved one. It also helps you stand out from your competitors. 

To establish thought leadership, there are many ways to do this through your funeral home’s marketing, such as by:  

• Writing a blog post. 
• Hosting an educational event. 
• Posting on social media. 
• Creating your own downloadable resources. 
• Sending an email newsletter. 

2. Help Educate Your Funeral Home’s Client Families and Community 

Per content marketing research by Conductor, people who read a brand’s educational content were 131% more likely to purchase something from them right after reading it. As we mentioned above, you can create marketing pieces to establish thought leadership while also educating your families and community. 

Not sure what to write about? Below are a few topic ideas that may interest your community. Although, it’s best to conduct your own marketing research to find out their interests. 

• Cremation  
• Funeral payment options 
• Funeral personalization  
• Green burials 
• Grief  
• Grief during the holidays  
• Memorial product options  
• Pet memorialization  
• Prepaying for your funeral  
• Preplanning 

Creating marketing content also helps your families make educated decisions, so when they come to you, they’re more prepared — which saves everyone time and stress. 

3. Get More Exposure for Your Funeral Home with a Marketing Plan 

By creating marketing content for various platforms, you can spread the word about your mission and service offerings. You also can reach more people by boosting your social media posts and creating targeted ads. To learn more about social media advertising, download our free eBook! 

Doing this also helps promote the importance of having the funeral planning conversation. As you know, many families haven’t talked about preplanning. Per NFDA’s 2019 Consumer Awareness and Preferences Survey, 88.5% of respondents haven’t preplanned and only 43% are somewhat or very likely to preplan within the next five years. Some of the respondents were younger, with 36% being between the ages of 40 and 54. By creating marketing campaigns focused on the importance of preplanning, you can help them realize why it matters, such as giving their loved ones peace of mind that the arrangements are taken care of. 

4. Generate More Leads for Your Funeral Home 

While creating a marketing plan has many benefits like the ones discussed above, the main goal of your marketing efforts is to find potential client families for your funeral home. With the help of your educational resources, you can nurture families with the goal of turning them into new clients. 

Not sure where to start with your funeral home’s marketing plan? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered with our new partnership with Growth Engine Marketing Hub. Growth Engine has an extensive content library filled with pre-made content on 25+ topics. This way, the marketing hub can send campaigns personalized to your community’s interests on your behalf. 

With this marketing hub, you get access to software that:  

• Publishes to Facebook. 
• Sends email nurturing series and newsletters. 
• Tracks community interest. 
• Promotes events. 
• And so much more! 

Start saving time today with Growth Engine! Click here to schedule a free demo.