There was a day back when I was growing up that young attorneys would pass the Bar exam and then were instructed to “Hang out a shingle” to let the world know they were in business.  That might have worked back in the 1970’s or 1980’s but today if that attorney is not reaching out to find customers his days might get awfully boring.

The same could be said of funeral homes.  There was a time when letting the community know you were there, going to church and community events to mingle with potential consumers, and having a nice looking facility brought death calls to your door. . . . .but times have changed.

In today’s world where consumers are bombarded by messages all day, you need to be able to reach out to them, especially at a time when they need you.  And, finding them when they need you is a science that can be figured out.

I continue to be the Chairman for a non-profit home care and hospice business (www.ethoscare.org).  We were a guerilla start-up in 2014 with zero market share and an ingenious group of  management that believed we could garner market share from big, established players in the markets we serve.  To do so, we had to offer great care to our clients, but we also had to market to get those clients in the first place.

My favorite part of board meetings continues to be listening to our marketing departments strategy and results.  They mine data to target potential customers.  For instance, some type of algorithm monitoring can tell us what computers or cell devices  may be looking at “hip surgeries” in our market area.  We are then able to place ads on those computers or devices about Home Care, because that person will probably be looking for home care therapy post-surgery.  We can even get our ads placed on the devices of those who have been looking at our competitors website.

I don’t know how it all works. . . but you’ve all seen it on your own devices.  If you shop for a cruise, you will get ads promoting cruises for the next three months.  And just know, if your funeral home is not marketing like this, you are probably at a disadvantage because your competitors probably are.

That brings me to this article that I read from The Trade Desk.  The article deals mainly with retail media formats, but one can use their findings to find consumers in all forms of electronic and digital media.  Here’s some highlights of the article:

• Use of electronic sales data will triple next year
• 76% of marketers plan to use point-of-sale data frequently “to connect advertising activity to consumer purchases”
• Sales data can be used for both driving purchases and building brands.
• . . . data can allow brands to be much more efficient and precise.
• 55% of marketers employ three or more retail media networks in their marketing mix.
• 71% of shoppers say they prefer limited, tailored ad experiences instead of paying to avoid ads

After reading The Trade Desk article I thought it was an opportune time to introduce Funeral Director Daily funeral home owners and managers to Legacy.com.  Legacy.com is a new sponsor of Funeral Director Daily.  I always knew that Legacy.com was a company that consolidated obituaries and service information.  . . . .What I didn’t know is everything else they can do to improve a funeral home’s business and brand. . . . . their vast reach and incredibly high number of page views allows them to mine death care data to help you learn more about your funeral home and build your brand.  Click here to learn more about Legacy.com

Click here to go directly to the Legacy.com Market Intelligence page.