Making Social Media Work for Your Funeral Home: SMART goals Simple Steps to Success

Social media can be a powerful tool for a wide range of businesses. This is especially so for your Funeral home. Let’s take Facebook as an example. It’s not just about posting death notices. It’s about connecting with your community and standing out. So how can you do this? Let’s break this down into simple, achievable steps using SMART goals.

What are SMART Goals? 

SMART goals are a way to make your plans clear and easy to follow. They stand for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound.

Let’s get SMART with Facebook

• Specific: Make your Facebook page a welcoming place for your community. Share information that helps them. For eg: how to handle grief and tell them about your caring services. Example: Post a story about how your services helped a family through a tough time.
  
• Measurable: Aim to get 250 new people liking your Facebook page. Example: Keep a simple tally of how many new likes you get each week.
  
• Achievable: Post things that your community cares about. Tips on coping with loss, news about local events and stories that show you care. Example: Share a post about a local memorial service you’re involved with.
  
• Relevant: Being active on social media matters. It’s where people go for support and to remember loved ones. Your presence there aligns with your mission of care. Example: Share a beautiful quote about remembering loved ones. And invite your audience to share their memories.
  
• Time-bound: Set a goal to achieve this in the next four months. Example: Set a reminder to check your progress at the end of each month.

We need a plan!

Here’s an example Action Plan for enhancing your Funeral home’s Facebook presence:

Weeks 1-4: Establishing a Strong Foundation Complete Your Profile:

1. Ensure all information on your Facebook page is up-to-date. Including contact details, services offered and a brief history of your funeral home.
   
2. Develop a Content Calendar: Plan out what you will post each week. This could include:
   

• Mondays: Posts about your services for e.g. unique aspects of your funeral services.
• Wednesdays: Educational content for e.g. blogs on coping with grief.
• Fridays: Testimonials from families you’ve served (with their permission). Or stories that show your involvement in the community.
  

3. Engage with Followers: Respond to comments and messages. Do this within 24 hours to create a sense of community.

Weeks 5-8: Building Community Engagement

1. Start ‘Memory Mondays’: Share a touching quote or story about remembrance. And encourage followers to contribute their stories or memories.
   
2. Host a Photo Tribute Day: Once a month, invite families to share photos of their loved ones. This then creates a virtual memorial space.
   
3. Share Local Events: Post about community events you’re participating in. Or ones you are sponsoring, showing your involvement beyond funeral services.

Weeks 9-12: Increasing Interaction and Support

1. Facebook Live Q&A Sessions: Host a live session discussing topics eg: funeral planning. Promote these sessions in advance to increase participation.
   
2. Create a Support Group: Consider starting a private group for those dealing with loss. Offering a safe space for sharing and support.

Weeks 13-16: Review and Adjust

1. Assess Page Growth: Look at the increase in followers and engagement on your posts.
   
2. Analyse Feedback: Review comments and messages. To help you understand what your community finds most helpful.
   
3. Adjust Strategy: Focus more on the types of posts that received the most positive engagement. Consider experimenting with Facebook ads targeted to your local area to increase reach.

Ongoing Evaluation:

1. Monthly Check-Ins: At the end of each month review the growth in followers, engagement rates and feedback.
   
2. Survey Your Audience: Occasionally ask your followers what they would like to see more of on your page.

By following these steps, you’ll increase your funeral home’s visibility on Facebook. Also, deepen your connection with your online community. Remember, social media is about building relationships. As much as it is about sharing information.

For more insights and tips, explore my other blogs click here. Stay in Touch: Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and “X” for more regular updates and tips!

Finding social media a challenge for you, or to market your funeral home or business?

I will work with you to understand your unique needs. From there develop a plan with you that will help you. Looking at online and offline marketing opportunities for you and your Bereavement or Funeral business. I will help you understand the best way with different things such as how to engage new families. Expand your network, attract future staff and more. Book a free consultation and let’s have a chat. For more information, check out my different Services, book a call or email me at eimer@fitsocialmedia.co.uk. Thanks for reading and if you found this useful do check out more of my Blogs and Resources.