DISRUPT Media did a webinar at the end of September that was 100% on relationship marketing, and we really kind of coined using that term in death care. And here's why- it's based around data. It’s based on analytics and what we can prove.

According to NFDA, 80% of funeral home business is relationship-driven. Also, according to NFDA's consumer survey, 90.4% of consumers shop zero to one funeral home before making arrangements, and the top two reasons consumers choose the funeral home that they do is proximity to that location and then the relationship that they have with that location or somebody at that location. So here's the deal, If 80% of your business is geared around establishing relationships, then how in the world can your marketing not address building a relationship?

How do we build relationships?

Relationships are built by engagement. Me communicating with you. You communicating with me. We exchange information, we engage with content that each other posts. I am friends on Facebook and have followers on Facebook and Instagram and all the platforms with thousands of funeral professionals across the country. And I have not met all of them face to face. Yet, I know where they vacation, they know where I vacation, they know about my family, I know about their family, I know about their hobbies, they know about my hobbies. We know a lot about each other. We've established a relationship through content engagement. It works the exact same way with your funeral home to the consumer.

You MUST focus on content that is organic and builds a relationship. Who you are, what you do, how you do it better. Why should a family drive by three other funeral homes to get to yours? And here's the deal; there will be a funeral home that owns the online market in every single community. It's going to be you, or it's going to be somebody else. It's your choice.