Funeral home Facebook marketing: the true cost of posting obituaries
When faced with the challenge of creating content for Facebook, funeral homes often (understandably) gravitate toward the easiest option: obituaries.
We get it. Posting obituaries makes the task of creating content easier, and makes it feel like you’re getting another thing on your list done.
But there’s a downside. Posting obituaries on your funeral home’s Facebook Page can actually slow—and even reverse—the growth of your page’s followers.
We tracked the Facebook Pages of 30 funeral homes for 30 days
Here’s what we found:
- Funeral homes that didn’t post obituaries had an average growth rate of 0.33%.
- Funeral homes that included obituaries in their content had an average growth rate of 0.21%.
- Funeral homes that only posted obituaries? An average growth rate of just 0.03%—over 10 times slower than those that didn’t post obituaries.
Why obituaries hurt your funeral home’s Facebook Page growth
Think about why someone would follow your Facebook Page in the first place. Maybe it’s because you donated to a non-profit they care about, or perhaps you provided funeral services for a family member.
One thing we know for sure: they’re not following your Page to see obituaries of people they don’t know.
How to grow your funeral home’s Facebook Page
Be you.
Your funeral home plays a vital role in the community.
- Participate in local events
- Share your favorite spots around town
- Celebrate your amazing staff
- Offer helpful insights on grief
- Post heartfelt testimonials from those who have pre-arranged
- Share why you entered the deathcare industry or what inspires you
Here’s a great example from Fundy Funeral Home welcoming their newest team member.
Looking for more inspiration? Check out our practical guide to social media marketing for funeral homes.
Content that humanizes your funeral home wins
To prove our point, we also analyzed the actual content funeral home’s were sharing to see how many engagements (likes, comments, shares) each post got on average:
- Obituary posts got 2.4 engagements
- Non-obituary posts got 3.3 engagements
- Posts that celebrate staff? An impressive 11.8 engagements!
When you focus on content that humanizes your funeral home, you’ll see much higher engagement, which is a key to successful funeral home Facebook marketing.
Conclusion: think beyond obituaries when marketing your funeral home
We know it can feel daunting to put yourself out there, but the content that truly connects with people is exactly what will help grow your page.
If you want to reach even more people online, consider offering live streaming to your families. Internally, we’ve found that 30-50% of virtual guests are local to the funeral home. That represents a massive opportunity to connect with more families in your community!
