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Some families are seeking the lowest price for cremation. However, they may not realize that, when they decide not to have a service to remember their loved one, they may be confronted with condolences everywhere they go for months. As we know, memorial and funeral services provide much-needed closure for friends and acquaintances. Keep this in mind as you plan your marketing.

There may not be a lot that can be done about price shoppers, but we can develop relationships and raise awareness of services prior to the time of need that will help your funeral home be top of mind when someone has a need. Here are four ways to raise awareness of the need for memorial services and the great options you have available, no matter if the family chooses cremation or traditional burial.

Because of the trend for people to shop online for cremation providers, your website is often the first place families see your funeral home and crematory. Perform an audit of your website to ensure that cremation is an option on your site—and make sure it is clear that you offer funeral and memorial services, burials or interments and visitations for cremation. Any urn offerings should be present as well. Make sure your site contains the search terms and information people need to know about cremation and services. Finally, check your veterans page to make sure it mentions and links to cremation with services, as well as personalization of services.

Preplanning information on your website and in brochure form should also clearly state that cremation with a funeral or memorial service is an option. Preplanning makes it easier to pay for cremation and the services of the person’s choice, so address that in marketing materials. Emphasize your expertise in preplanning and the easy of prepayment, as well. Mention preplanning on social media, in newsletters and in direct mailings. Hold seminars to allow people to ask questions about prepayment and preplanning in a casual setting.

Demonstrating the beauty and comfort of personalized memorial services to potential families will help them see the value in having a service with cremation. You can ask permission to take images of a service that is highly personalized with an individual’s hobbies. Or, consider making a video in which you talk about a recent service and how the personalization was accomplished through food, music and images. To help people envision how it might work for their family, share the information on your social channels and blog about the custom choices another family made that contributed to a special and touching sendoff. 

Take time to share information and testimonials on your social media channels. Social media provides the perfect platform to share with the 50 and up audience all of the options, including personalization and preplanning. Post visuals of a cremation with a service, or mention how a meaningful memorial service followed the cremation and interment. You can also share links that address how services contribute closure to the grieving process. A blog post could emphasize how important it is to take time to hold a visitation, which allows friends a less formal, less time consuming option to express their condolences with the family, while the funeral serves primarily family in a more formal setting.

You have many options for enhancing the marketing of your services to accompany cremation. As the tides continue to shift in the industry, please let us know when you need expert help marketing your services.