5 Ways to Build Your Business
Did you know that today’s consumers are skeptical of traditional advertising? They are more likely to rely on recommendations from people who have relational capital: family, friends, mentors, co-workers, pastors, caregivers, etc. Is there a way to use that fact to your advantage? Yes, there is. You need to inspire your brand advocates.
Brand advocates are individuals who have first-hand knowledge of your business and can share their positive experiences through word-of-mouth referrals. According to Danielle Burmeister, Marketing Communications Lead at Homesteader’s Life Company, fostering, identifying, and leveraging brand advocates is an effective way to ensure that your business—rather than your competitor down the street—is the consumer’s first choice for end-of-life care.
Brand advocates don’t only communicate in-person; they share experiences via social media and by leaving reviews on websites. With a reported 85% of consumers trusting online reviews as much as personal recommendations, Welton Hong, founder of Ring Ring Marketing, says your online reputation is critical for converting consumers from website visitors to customers. You need to drive traffic to your website, offer the proper credentials for the visitors who find you there, and identify the most appropriate third-party review sites to participate in and monitor.
At CANA’s 2018 Cremation Symposium, Danielle will be teaching how to identify your brand advocates and mobilize them to become effective ambassadors for you. Immediately following, Welton will share strategies for tweaking your website to make more conversions and increasing your call volume with a great online reputation. For information about the CANA symposium click here.
Danielle Burmeister works as Marketing Communications Lead at Homesteaders Life Company, a national leader in providing products and services to support the funding of advance funeral plans. In her current role, she offers a unique perspective on blending the day-to-day demands of a funeral business with creative and strategic marketing strategy. To read her blog post on this topic click here. For her post on marketing in general, click here. Follow her on Twitter @burmeisterd1.
Welton Hong is founder of Ring Ring Marketing®, a leading expert in helping small businesses convert leads from online directly to the phone line. Ring Ring Marketing has successfully helped many funeral homes inc
rease their call volume in a short amount of time. Welton is the author of Making Your Phone Ring with Internet Marketing for Funeral Homes. He has a graduate degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Prior to starting Ring Ring Marketing, he was a senior technologist at R&D facilities for Intel, Sun Microsystems, and Oracle.
