Getting started on social media at your funeral home is easier than you think.
It might seem overwhelming at first, but if you take it one step at a time, we guarantee the overwhelm will disappear.
That’s why we created a checklist for you. To take it ONE step at a time.
Let’s not waste any time!
Here is the checklist for getting started with social media marketing at your funeral home:
1. Pick your social media channels
First step is to choose the social channels you want to invest in. We recommend starting with no more than two, so you don’t bite off more than you can chew.
According to our blog “The Best Social Media Platforms To Use At Your Funeral Home Right Now” here’s our list of the BEST social media platforms for funeral businesses, in order:
- Youtube
To learn more about why we choose these channels, check out our blog on it here.
2. Complete your social profiles thoroughly
Ever heard the saying “you get what you give”? This is definitely true when it comes to social media! But before we even get to writing posts and all that jazz, let’s start at square one. Taking the time to thoroughly fill out your social media profiles adds to your professionalism, brand look and feel, and builds trust with your followers.
Especially since social media results are usually the first to pop up in Google search results.
This involves…
Choosing the perfect handle (or name) for your social profile.
Since your social profile’s handle is often limited to 16 characters, it can be hard to decide what to land on, since most funeral home names are much longer than 16 characters! We highly recommend making sure your handle says “FH” or “funeral” or “funeral home” or “mortuary” in there so people know who you are!
For some ideas on how to condense your name down into a smart handle, try NameChk.
Choose great quality photos for your profile
There are a few photos you need to add to your profile in order to complete the set-up process. Our number one priority here is choosing high quality, professional photos that show off the personality of your funeral home, as well as your professionalism. It’s truly worth it to hire a photographer to get the job done!
We love Eterneva’s photo set-up on Facebook, because it shows off their logo, the families they work with, as well as their slogan.
Pro tip: If you want to try to create something similar to Eterneva’s cover photo for Facebook, check out Canva, a free design tool that’s easier than clip art!
Filling out your bio and “About Me” sections
With only so much space to explain who you are and what you do, you have to get smart about how to fill out your bio. Leaving it blank isn’t a good idea, so let’s dive into some important things to include in your bio:
- A link to your website (or LinkTree, we’ll get to that next)
- Your location so people know where you are located
- A quick snippet on your mission/something catchy that makes your unique
- Your hours or phone number
You can pick and choose what’s most important to you. Remember, keep everything short and sweet and don’t take up any unnecessary space with wording not essential to your profile.
For an example of a well done funeral home Instagram bio, check out @HollisFuneralHome:
Don’t forget to link smart
Instead of simply linking to your website in your social media profiles, try a service like LinkTree that allows you to create a “collection” of links. For example, you can link to your Youtube Channel, website, specific workshops, or a “Contact Us” link.
Here is an example of a death doula, Sarah Kerr’s, LinkTree profile. As you can see, she has a lot of courses and resources to offer. So she uses her LinkTree profile to provide access to all of them. As you get started with your LinkTree, we recommend not overwhelming your audience with lots of links, and keeping it simple at first. Then, build as your funeral business’ brand does online.
READ MORE: How a link in bio Instagram tool can grow your brand
Step 3: Follow your fellow funeral homes and influencers
If you want to keep a pulse on the funeral profession, here’s your chance. Your social media profile is the place to follow:
- Your competitors
- Influencers in your niche
- Accounts who inspire you for your content creation
- Your community members
- Neighboring organizations
Your social media account can be your number one tool in keeping up with the times in our profession if you follow smartly! We recommend NOT following every single person who follows you, or mass following large amounts of profiles at a time. You want your feed to truly “Feed” you with inspiration, innovation and clues into what’s next for your community and our profession.
If you don’t know where to start, most of the social platforms out there offer up some sort of follower suggestions to get you started (like our example on our Instagram profile below).
Step 4: Create a plan for social mentions and messages
When it comes to social media marketing for your funeral home, it’s all about timeliness. If someone tags or messages you, sometimes that mention or tag might not even last a full 24 hours! (in the case of you being mentioned in a story). So it’s important to have a plan of responding to and paying attention to these tags and mentions.
Maybe you could start with making a plan to check your social profiles once daily so you don’t miss anything. We recommend in the mornings before your work day starts if you can, but you can find the best time for you.
Responding to messages and tags affects your visibility
There is a great importance in responding to the messages and tags you get in the social media world. In fact, social media platforms are now making it so that your ability to respond to your messages and tags directly impacts your visibility on these platforms! Pretty wild, right! So don’t snooze, or else you’ll lose.
Remember, it doesn’t have to be complicated. Just check your social media once a day, and see where that organically leads you
READ MORE: 8 Ideas For Social Listening To Grow Your Funeral Business
Step 5: Start creating content
Once you’re all ready to go, it’s time to create content!
We suggest creating a mix of videos, reels, photo posts, and question posts. The more variety, the more engaged you’ll get your audience.
Social media posting is something we’ve written about a lot in the past. So instead of repeating ourselves, check out some of these blogs below on posting on social media:
We hope these 30+ combined ideas are enough to get you started creating content for your funeral business’ social media pages.
Don’t forget about your funeral home website
No social media efforts are complete without a stellar website. Want the funeral profession’s leading website platform? Get in touch with us to learn more about f1Connect by clicking here.
How has your journey been with social media at your funeral biz? Tell us in the comments below!
