Video Marketing: Your Key to Expressing Empathy
Funeral service is a profession that unfortunately many people are scared to visit, but do so because they need to. We aren’t the only profession under this category. Lawyers and doctors could also be considered in that same arena. But there’s a great opportunity for doctors, lawyers, oh, and by the way, funeral homes. We can make the process of a visit easier for families.
One of the biggest reasons behind this fear that people have is the fact that they don’t know who they will be dealing with. Is the face behind the door a gray haired, clean-shaven man in a stiff black suit with a grim look on his face? Why not remove that trust gap by putting you and your wonderful staff on camera? Why not show them who you are since we have the capabilities to do so?
You can utilize video to build trust and show empathy. It’s more than just a means to express your bid in the race to the bottom for cremation prices and where you stand in the movement for green and alternative burials. It’s a way to show the public who you are and why they should trust you, your staff, and your funeral home or cemetery.
With video, you don’t want to just slap together a video of you shaking hands with a family member. You can show the crispness and classiness of your brand with a professionally produced video. They aren’t as pricey as you might think. People tend to be surprised with the costs associated with local production companies. You can go somewhere small but experienced that can convey to the community who you are through clear video clips. They can get a lot of content in a short amount of time.
Perhaps you don’t have the funds in your budget for a professional video session. That’s not a problem. It doesn’t need to be professionally done. You can do it yourself if you feel comfortable in front of the camera. If not, find a key staff member with a bubbly personality who understands the social world that’s ever evolving and get them involved. It doesn’t cost anything other than the phone that’s in your hand.
What do you do with the video after it’s created? Well, posting it on your website is a great idea, particularly for an introductory video showing you and your staff and building trust and empathy. But as you continue to make videos, you’ll want to use social accounts like TikTok, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook. They’re cheap advertising sources. You’re not going to get pricing like this forever when it comes to digital marketing, so you should take advantage of it while you can.
Your videos shouldn’t be “We’ve been in business for 100 years…” blah, blah, blah. No one cares about that. Tell your story, but with an eye toward empathy, not “We’re the greatest.” It needs to be about them, not you.
Encourage user-generated content. People send you cards thanking you for how well you did for their grand mother’s funeral. Turn that into marketing for your funeral home or cemetery. People trust other people’s opinions, and if they are happy with the work, care, and empathy you’ve shown, they can encourage others to trust you, too.
Once you’ve got content live on social media, begin to track your views and shares. The data is there, and you can make adjustments to ensure you’re showing the best content. For instance, you may have a video on all that urns can be used for, but it didn’t do well. Don’t show it again, but do show the one on your fleet, as that one got a lot of responses. Every community is different, so you’ll need to track your own videos and take the time to go through the data.
Video is the future. Advertising is no longer on the corner of the street, but on the computer. Show people that you care, you can be trusted, and you’re empathetic. After that, you can talk about price. People want to know the cost they’re going to spend, but they’re willing to partner with you based on care, trust, and empathy over price.
Understand that it’s going to take time to be good with your video content, but you will get better not only in front of the camera, but with creating content that your audience wants to see. It really will impact your business.
Statistics show that people are reading less and gravitating toward videos. You need to be there in that growing space in order to step ahead of the competition and see greater success. Chances are, your competitors aren’t using video. It’s an open ocean to really stand out locally, where it counts.