Create a Marketing Plan to Acquire More Business For Your Funeral Home

Funeral Industry News August 25, 2009
CDFuneralNews

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Create a Marketing Plan to Acquire More Business For Your Funeral Home

imageMarketing your funeral home can sometimes, or all the time, be very tricky. What is appropriate advertising or marketing? Should you sponsor Don?t Drink and Drive programs? The perception people in your community have of your funeral home is very important. So how do you know what marketing strategies don?t cross the line? I have had many conversations with funeral directors who want to do marketing campaigns but can?t put together a good plan. If that is you then you need to keep reading.

I ran across a website today call six-feet-under.com. Their tagline reads: Funeral home marketing wisdom guaranteed to grow your market share. The site looks like a great resource for funeral home who really want to do some marketing to gain a stronger hold on their target market. They offer a FREE bimonthly email newsletter titled: LOOK ALIVE! The World’s Greatest Funeral Home Marketing Newsletter. The site also offers downloadable article in PDF format that the author has written.

I am not going to personal indorse the site because I have not been able to spend enough time on it, but it does look like a good resource, you be the judge, and let me know what you think.

Scott DeMenter, Founder of Six Feet Above says this:

After spending years as both a copywriter and a marketing consultant for the funeral industry, the agony of dealing with unscrupulous conglomerates finally got the best of me. So I had my business cards cremated and went on to develop some spectacular marketing successes (and failures) at a number of international business-to-business and nonprofit organizations.

Now, with a hard-won understanding of the most effective tactics and strategies, it’s my goal to empower funeral home owners like you with the marketing know-how that will grow your market share from six feet under to six feet above.

Below are IAQ ? Infrequently Asked Questions ? Questions funeral home owners should be asking but most often don?t.

Q. Why would you list infrequently asked questions?

A. Because they?re questions more funeral home owners should be asking ? but too often don?t. Many assume they already understand what marketing is. Or they?re too embarrassed to admit they couldn?t give the definition of marketing if their success depended on it. (It does, by the way.)

Q. What is marketing and how does it pertain to running my funeral home?

A. Marketing is the matchmaker between what a funeral home sells and what a customer buys. This is achieved by figuring out who the target audience is and everything about them. Uncover their motivations and their pains and then configure your offerings so they uniquely satisfy these motivations and alleviate their pain.

Finally, unleash the power of memorable communications to tell people why and how your funeral home does this better than any other in the community. When you?re done, you?ve got something remarkable that people are willing to pay a premium for and go out of their way to find. You have something that stands out from the crowd and represents real value.

In the absence of a compelling reason to choose your funeral home, consumers will always base their buying decision on price.

Q. Isn?t marketing for big companies?

A. Yup. It?s also for small companies, medium-sized companies, and anyone else who depends on customers.

Funeral home owners who can’t market effectively are always at the mercy of competitors who can. What would happen if the funeral home owner across town took the initiative to become more marketing savvy than you?

Educate yourself now or slash prices later.

Q. Doesn?t marketing cost a lot of money to be effective?

A. To the contrary, some of the most effective marketing is created on a shoestring. Having too much capital often leads to incredible waste and doing things using conventional means instead of finding fresh ways to stand head and shoulders above your competitors.

Q. Isn?t marketing too crass for funeral homes?

A. That depends. If you use marketing just to toot your own horn, then yes. But if you use marketing to show customers how your funeral home can make the funeral process more reassuring, more rewarding, and less stressful, then no. Proving to customers how their lives can be better because of what your funeral home truly offers is beneficial for everyone.

Q. What?s the fastest, easiest, cheapest way to learn how to market my funeral home?

A. Funny you should ask. SIX FEET ABOVE just happens to publish a free, biweekly newsletter specifically for funeral home owners who want to grow their business.

Q. Why in the world did you name your newsletter LOOK ALIVE! The World?s Greatest Funeral Home Marketing Newsletter?

A. Since it?s one of the only newsletters of its kind, it?s pretty hard to argue that it?s not also the greatest (and the worst, I suppose). But, more importantly, even if it were one of hundreds, I?m positive it would still be the best. The tactics and strategies are proven. The content is concise and easy to understand. It’s written by someone who is passionate about helping funeral home owners succeed. And it?s not just information ? it’s actionable ideas. That means funeral home owners like you can use it to reach the next level of business growth and success. If you haven?t subscribed to LOOK ALIVE! already, don’t make me beg. It’s FREE! So sign up now.