Six Ways to Spread the Word About Your Firm’s Funeral Payment Options
August 9, 2021
Offering multiple ways to pay for the funeral gives families options while giving your firm more ways to get paid. However, if your community doesn’t know about these options, then no one is benefiting from them.
If you’re not taking the steps to market these options, you may be missing out on business. Your payment options could be the reason a family picks your firm over your competitor. It could be the reason they plan the funeral they want instead of settling on options simply because they cost less.
To spread the word about your firm’s funeral payment options, check out these six tips for marketing them to your community.
1. Add Your Payment Options to Your Firm’s Website and Social Media Pages
The first step is to update your firm’s website and social media pages, so families who come across your firm online have all the information they need at their fingertips. On your website, you could create a webpage about your firm’s payment options. For the content, you could include brief explanations of each payment option, such as crowdfunding and credit card processing. Then, you could include a relevant link to a resource for learning more or contact information for reaching out to your firm for more information.
You also should add your payment offering to your social media pages. For instance, Facebook lets you add your services to your business page, so families can easily see what you offer. These will likely be briefer than your webpage content. You want to include a link to your firm’s website on your social media pages, so families can go to it to learn more, while you keep traffic on your website.
2. Write Blog Posts to Educate Families About Their Funeral Payment Options
Another way to spread the word about your payment options while keeping traffic on your website is to write blog posts. You’ll want to include calls-to-action on your blog posts, such as for downloading a related resource, filling out a funeral planning form, or contacting your firm for more information.
Here are a few blog post ideas to get you started:
3. Promote Your Funeral Payment Options on Your Firm’s Social Media Pages
To reach more families in your community, you should meet them where they’re at, which is social media. Pew Research Center found that 72% of American adults are on at least one social media platform. For Facebook users, seven out of ten people use the platform daily.
On Facebook, you can create boosted posts and ads. According to Facebook, “a boosted post is a post to your Page’s timeline that you can apply money to in order to boost it to an audience of your choosing.” They’re still technically ads, but they're different from Facebook ads, as Facebook ads “are created through Ads Manager and offer more advanced customization solutions.” To learn more about the difference between the two, check out this Facebook article.
For example, your firm could share your latest blog post about payments and boost it. Or you could create an ad for your firm’s downloadable guide about payment options. To learn more about creating a boosted Facebook post, click here, and to learn more about creating a Facebook ad, click here.
4. Utilize Email Marketing to Further Educate Families About Their Options
Don’t just stop at social media; email marketing is another way to reach more families in your community. For example, an email newsletter is a great place to educate your families about funeral planning. You could send a newsletter that focuses on payments and link to your firm’s blog posts, resources, and other content you’ve created.
Once someone downloads your payments resource, you also could set up an autoresponder email. This could thank them for downloading the resource and share some other links, like to your blog posts, to further educate them about the topic.
5. Create Educational Resources for Families to Easily Download and Read
Creating downloadable resources not only educates families, but also lets you collect their contact information. This way, your firm can further nurture them with the end goal of turning them into a client family for your business.
Here are a few resource ideas to get you started:
6. Host an In-Person Event or a Webinar for Your Community
Whether it’s an in-person seminar or a webinar, you could host an event to educate your families about your funeral payment options. At your event, you could give everyone a copy of your payment options brochure. Or share the link to your funeral home’s payments webpage or another resource to learn more.
To spread the word about your event, you could promote the event on social media, send an email invitation, write a blog post, and add an update about it to your firm’s website. If it’s a webinar, you could share the link online afterward as well, such as by adding the video link to your firm’s website and blog.
To increase event attendance, these are a few ideas:
E-Pay gives your firm’s families multiple ways to pay for the funeral, such as directly on your website, during the arrangement conference, through an emailed invoice, with insurance funds, or by starting a crowdfunding campaign. Plus, we partner with Growth Engine, which makes it even easier for your firm to market your payment options to your community.
Want to learn more about these turnkey features? Click here to book a free SRS demo.
If you’re not taking the steps to market these options, you may be missing out on business. Your payment options could be the reason a family picks your firm over your competitor. It could be the reason they plan the funeral they want instead of settling on options simply because they cost less.
To spread the word about your firm’s funeral payment options, check out these six tips for marketing them to your community.
1. Add Your Payment Options to Your Firm’s Website and Social Media Pages
The first step is to update your firm’s website and social media pages, so families who come across your firm online have all the information they need at their fingertips. On your website, you could create a webpage about your firm’s payment options. For the content, you could include brief explanations of each payment option, such as crowdfunding and credit card processing. Then, you could include a relevant link to a resource for learning more or contact information for reaching out to your firm for more information.
You also should add your payment offering to your social media pages. For instance, Facebook lets you add your services to your business page, so families can easily see what you offer. These will likely be briefer than your webpage content. You want to include a link to your firm’s website on your social media pages, so families can go to it to learn more, while you keep traffic on your website.
2. Write Blog Posts to Educate Families About Their Funeral Payment Options
Another way to spread the word about your payment options while keeping traffic on your website is to write blog posts. You’ll want to include calls-to-action on your blog posts, such as for downloading a related resource, filling out a funeral planning form, or contacting your firm for more information.
Here are a few blog post ideas to get you started:
- Explain your firm’s payment offerings and how they work.
- Provide tips for deciding which payment option is right for you.
- Share the benefits of prepaying for a funeral.
- Give a few examples of why you might want to start a crowdfunding campaign.
3. Promote Your Funeral Payment Options on Your Firm’s Social Media Pages
To reach more families in your community, you should meet them where they’re at, which is social media. Pew Research Center found that 72% of American adults are on at least one social media platform. For Facebook users, seven out of ten people use the platform daily.
On Facebook, you can create boosted posts and ads. According to Facebook, “a boosted post is a post to your Page’s timeline that you can apply money to in order to boost it to an audience of your choosing.” They’re still technically ads, but they're different from Facebook ads, as Facebook ads “are created through Ads Manager and offer more advanced customization solutions.” To learn more about the difference between the two, check out this Facebook article.
For example, your firm could share your latest blog post about payments and boost it. Or you could create an ad for your firm’s downloadable guide about payment options. To learn more about creating a boosted Facebook post, click here, and to learn more about creating a Facebook ad, click here.
4. Utilize Email Marketing to Further Educate Families About Their Options
Don’t just stop at social media; email marketing is another way to reach more families in your community. For example, an email newsletter is a great place to educate your families about funeral planning. You could send a newsletter that focuses on payments and link to your firm’s blog posts, resources, and other content you’ve created.
Once someone downloads your payments resource, you also could set up an autoresponder email. This could thank them for downloading the resource and share some other links, like to your blog posts, to further educate them about the topic.
5. Create Educational Resources for Families to Easily Download and Read
Creating downloadable resources not only educates families, but also lets you collect their contact information. This way, your firm can further nurture them with the end goal of turning them into a client family for your business.
Here are a few resource ideas to get you started:
- Write a guide about the different types of funeral payments to choose from.
- Create an infographic for choosing the right payment option for you.
- Make a brochure that includes your payment offerings.
- Work with an existing client family to create a case study. You could even pull quotes from it to use in your firm’s other marketing efforts as a real-life example.
6. Host an In-Person Event or a Webinar for Your Community
Whether it’s an in-person seminar or a webinar, you could host an event to educate your families about your funeral payment options. At your event, you could give everyone a copy of your payment options brochure. Or share the link to your funeral home’s payments webpage or another resource to learn more.
To spread the word about your event, you could promote the event on social media, send an email invitation, write a blog post, and add an update about it to your firm’s website. If it’s a webinar, you could share the link online afterward as well, such as by adding the video link to your firm’s website and blog.
To increase event attendance, these are a few ideas:
- Provide everyone with a free meal.
- Offer a discount to families who attend the event and then use your services.
- Give everyone a gift as a thank you for attending your event.
- Have a contest they can enter for winning a prize.
E-Pay gives your firm’s families multiple ways to pay for the funeral, such as directly on your website, during the arrangement conference, through an emailed invoice, with insurance funds, or by starting a crowdfunding campaign. Plus, we partner with Growth Engine, which makes it even easier for your firm to market your payment options to your community.
Want to learn more about these turnkey features? Click here to book a free SRS demo.
It’s 2022. If you haven’t realized it already, it’s time to understand the importance of your funeral home website for your firm and community. From making funeral plans and paying the expenses to expressing condolences and learning about coping with grief, your website can do it all and so much more. Want to learn how? See how you can take your funeral home website to the next level in 2022 with these 22 must-have features. Create the Ultimate Interactive Obituary Experience . Give your families a space to grieve their loss, show their support, and honor their loved one with interactive memorial walls. With features for expressing condolences, posting photos, and sharing memories, everyone can heal and remember their loved one. Make Ordering Funeral and Sympathy Flowers Easy with an Online Store. By having an online store built directly onto your website, families can conveniently order funeral and sympathy flowers while visiting their loved one’s memorial page. Spread the Word About a Loved One’s Passing Through Social Sharing. With easy social sharing, you can let your families share their loved one’s obituary and condolences on social media to spread the word about their passing. Support Families Through Crowdfunding Campaigns. Another way to let families show their support is to have the option to donate to a funeral crowdfunding campaign directly on their loved one’s memorial wall. Include Your General Price List (GPL) on Your Funeral Home Website. Along with a breakdown of your products and services, you should include your GPL to be transparent with your families and build trusting relationships with them. Let Families Pay Directly on Your Website with an Online Payment Center. Many families want the convenience of online payments, so you can give them this with an online payment center for credit card payments and more . Give Your Families an Easy-to-Navigate Design on Any Device. No one wants to waste time finding what information they need, especially while at-need planning, so make sure your website is easy to navigate of any device. Have Forms for Families to Easily Enter Their Information. Instead of families calling your firm for everything they need, have forms that families can submit for preplanning, downloading resources, and more. Put Your Contact Information in an Easy-to-Locate Spot. If families want to call or visit your firm, don’t make it difficult for them to locate this information. Along with a Contact Us page, you should also include this information on your homepage. Provide Your Community with Grief and Funeral Planning Resources. Your website can be like an online library for families to learn about funeral planning and grief. For example, create a Resources page for your content and link to any other educational resources. Help Families Grieve and Stay Informed Through Email Subscriptions. Without any work required from your employees, let your families sign up for email subscriptions directly on your website, such as for grief support and obituary notifications. Share Frequently Asked Questions with Your Community. Many times, your employees repeatedly answer the same questions from families. To eliminate some of these repetitive questions, have a FAQ section on your website. Post Useful Information on Your Website’s Blog. Your firm’s website should have a blog for regularly sharing content about preplanning, at-need planning, personalizing a funeral, grieving, memorialization, and more. Secure Your Website with a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) Certificate. Giving your families a secure connection when entering sensitive information on your website is a must-have. To do this, your website should have an SSL Certificate. Eliminate Spam Through Sophisticated Spam Filters. Eliminate spam comments and messages with sophisticated spam filters. This way, grieving families don’t have the added pain of rude comments. Develop an SEO Strategy to Get Found by More Families Online. Make sure your website gets found by more families online by including things like meta descriptions for your webpages and keywords. Design a Logo that Represents Your Firm’s Brand. Your logo should be visually appealing and reflect your firm’s brand. If it’s been a while since you’ve revisited your logo design, it’s probably time to explore some new ideas. Tell Your Families About Your Firm’s History, Employees, and Mission. Your families want to know the people behind your firm and what you stand for , so make sure to include things like your firm’s mission to serve families, history in your community, and employee bios to help them better understand your goals. Take Professional Pictures of Your Firm and Merchandise. If your website photos are low quality, this can reflect negatively on your business. To prevent this, draw families to your firm by taking professional photos of your facility and merchandise. Showcase Testimonials from Your Firm’s Client Families. Give your community real-life examples of positive experiences families had working with your firm, whether they’re text or video-based testimonials. Route Families to the Funeral Location Through Text Directions. One way to make things easier for families is to have a tool directly on your website for sending directions to the funeral or graveside service right to their phones. Integrate with Your Other Favorite Funeral Technology Solutions. Lastly, your funeral home website should integrate with your other funeral technology solutions to save you time, such as your case management software and marketing automation software. Take your firm to the next level in 2022 by upgrading to an SRS Website. Click h ere to book a free demo .
2021 was a revolutionary year for the funeral industry, but in 2022, it’s time to take it to the NEXT LEVEL. If you haven’t already, now is the time more than ever to embrace the mobile revolution . With a little help from your technology solutions, you can meet your families’ needs anytime, anywhere while creating a faster and simpler process for your firm. For the sake of time, we’ll focus on three important aspects of your firm: Funeral Options Business Management Aftercare 2022 is already here , so there’s no time to waste. Let’s start with funeral options. Take Your Funeral Options to the Next Level: Give Families Online Choices Families want online options. It’s as simple as that. They’re used to it now, so they won’t settle for anything less. The pandemic showed them that a lot of their in-person tasks can be accomplished online in less time, such as: Using an app to place your grocery order ahead of time instead of wandering the store. Scanning your check with your mobile device and depositing it without ever leaving your couch. Or simply entering your credit card number online and pressing submit. Having virtual appointments with your doctor, accountant, and other professionals instead of meeting in person. You can apply these same concepts to the funeral industry. Instead of meeting with families in person for every task, some things can be done virtually, such as selecting their funeral options on your website through a pre-planning form, signing forms, collecting files, making the payment virtually , and meeting through video chat. Of course, this doesn’t replace in-person meetings. The purpose of these features is to take tedious tasks like filling out paperwork and swiping credit cards to a virtual environment. This way, you can save in-person meetings for building more meaningful connections with your families. So going back to the question, how can you take your funeral options to the next level in 2022? Give families more online choices. Instead of driving to your firm to pay for the expenses, sign a form, or give you documents, let them do it virtually in a matter of seconds. Not to mention that this is more secure than documenting things on paper. Take Your Business Management to the Next Level: Say Hello to Case Management Software Do you want to way to offer your families everything we’ve just covered and more all in one place? Say hello to funeral home case management software. As the popular saying goes, behind every successful funeral director is a turnkey case management system. Okay, maybe people don’t go around saying that, but they should because it’s true. Without an organized and easy-to-access system, your firm couldn’t function. But you can’t use just any system. Meet 9Online , the funeral industry’s elite management software. Instead of using third-party integrations that cost you more time and money, it has built-in features for signing forms electronically, collecting the payment virtually, communicating with families in a safe, virtual environment, and so much more . Take Your Aftercare to the Next Level: Focus on Your Marketing and Website Lastly, we can’t forget about aftercare. As you know, a family’s journey with grief is long from over once the funeral takes place. It’s something that they’ll carry with them for the rest of their lives. Though this may sound daunting, you can make things much easier for them by focusing on how your website and marketing efforts can help them. By building up your aftercare resources, it could even be the reason someone chooses to work with your firm over another one. For example, these are a few ways your website and marketing can improve your aftercare efforts in 2022 and beyond: Share blog posts, guides, and other resources on your firm’s website . Engage with families on social media through posts and ads. Use email nurturing to further engage with them and provide them with grief resources. We know this sounds like a lot, so that’s why we partnered with Growth Engine. It’s the first marketing automation software designed specifically for the funeral industry and you and your families’ needs. How cool is that? Click here to learn more about this platform. Book a free SRS demo to learn even more ways to boost your business performance and better serve your families.
We want to give a shout out to our incredible clients and their brand-new SRS Websites! Thank you for trusting SRS with your funeral home's website . We’re proud of every design and make sure they accurately represent your firm and provide you with the tools you need for success. Below are just a few of our favorite SRS Website designs from this fall. Lighthouse Funeral & Cremation Owner and Manager Tate C. Goodwin opened Lighthouse Funeral & Cremation in 2013. Today, they have several Michigan locations. On their new SRS Website, families can use E-Pay to make an online payment for their loved one’s funeral service expenses.