The Undeniable

Power of Online

ObituariesMaximize profitability by leveraging your

website’s #1 traffic driver: online obituaries.

By Michele Fagan, Owner of Leap Tie an advertising agency for the death care profession

© 2019 Leap Tie TM

aximize profitability by leveraging your website’s #1 traffic driver: ONLINE OBITUARIES.Obituaries are the biggest traffic driver for funeral home and cremation websites. And yet, manybusiness owners still do not realize the incredible value of this content—nor do they understandhow to truly harness the power of online obituaries to maximize profitability for their firm. This article debuts proprietary research from Leap Tie, an Atlanta-based death care advertising agency which has been exclusively serving funeral homes, crematories and cemeteries nationwide for 20 years. To supplement this surprising new data, read on to discover the benefits of posting online obituaries, common barriers to implementing the process and six proven strategies to help you gain higher online volume, increase family satisfaction and drive more revenue.

© 2019 Leap Tie TM 2

1. Improve Site TrafficUpon review of over 3.1 million sessions on funeral home and cremation websites, Leap Tie data reveals:

● 93% of sessions include viewing an obituary on the website

● 78% of site visitors enter funeral/cremation sites via an obituary posting

● 94% of total pageviews are obituary pages

Without an online obituary post for families, a dramatic reduction in all site traffic is inevitable.

Consider this example:A major funeral home provider in a metropolitan area was displaying obituary information online, but the content was hosted through a third-party provider. This lack of activity connected to the primary domain suppressed their search engine rankings dramatically. In the eyes of Google, they were irrelevant to that obituary listing and all of the traffic driven by it—even though they were the provider of the actual services to the family.

Once obituary information was migrated to the funeral home provider’s domain, overall users increased by 408.44 percent in a 10-month YOY comparison. In the last period, there was a 15.37 percent increase in pages viewed per session and 17.70 percent increase in time per session.

2. Generate RevenueWhen a website is built properly, it creates a platform for families to learn more about you, your staff and the services you provide. A well-integrated digital strategy helps you convert this smart, informative content into a steady revenue stream.

In the example previously described, the total leads generated for the planning department prior to the obituary traffic being properly managed went from less than five a year to

averaging one inbound lead a day. This also included an over 20 percent increase in non-obituary traffic to the website, driving communication and connectivity for the entire brand and its service offerings.

Flower sales, which are often handed off to vendors or completely over looked as a revenue source, are one of the instant beneficiaries of hosting a robust obituary online. According to Leap Tie's nationwide review of funeral home and crematory sites, 70 percent of all flower sales are directly generated from the obituary listings them-selves. This means a loss of significant revenue if an obituary is not listed online with every family served.

For instance, the same study revealed that a single website generated 151 transactions in a 60-day period. Out of these transactions, 104 were placed from an obituary. Without an online obituary none of these sales would have taken place.

3. Maintain RelevanceLoss is difficult to process, which is why many people avoid reminders of death or their eventual loss of a loved one. This inherent communication barrier is unique to the profession—people are more likely to dodge death care providers than other merchants, making it much harder to stay top of mind with modern families.

Posting an online obituary provides a conduit of communication for loved ones seeking information or looking to support a family during a death. After reading or leaving condolences, viewers often share these posts to their network via social media. Leap Tie research shows an average of 86.67% of all shares are done via a mobile device on Facebook. Without an obituary, users will create their own content and the funeral home or crematory provider will have missed an easy opportunity to extend their brand and perceived value to families in their community.

Benefits of Posting Obituary Content

overall users

increased by 408%

70% of all flower sales are directly

generated from the obituary

86.67% of all shares are done

via a mobile

device on Facebook

© 2019 Leap Tie TM 3

Despite the established benefits

of posting obituaries, many funeral

homes and crematories still fail to

add this content to their websites.

This is not because owners don't

believe obituary information is

important. On the contrary, both

owners and staff understand the

value of obituary information and

go to great lengths to ensure

accuracy. However, two tendencies

stop owners and staff from posting

obituaries online:

1. “We don't have the time.”Many staff state this is the main reason online obituaries may get overlooked or truncated. With the pressing demands of getting obituaries to a newspaper, accommodating last-minute requests and juggling the hectic day-to-day schedule, the find the final step of posting the content online often gets overlooked and set aside.

2. “Families say no when we ask them about posting the obituary.”Funeral profession staff, by their nature, are non-confrontational and work to accommodate all families. There are many items that are decided in the pursuit of a successful service—but publishing the obituary, like opening the door and turning the lights on, is not something that needs to be requested or presented for permission. The collection and recording of a death is the same as a death certificate which is completed and catalogued.

Eliminating 2 Common Barriers to Posting an Obituary

© 2019 Leap Tie TM

both owners and staff understand the value of obituary

4

6It takes thought and discipline to

ensure obituaries are posted in

the day-to-day whirlwind of the

operation—but the rewards are

far worth the effort. And, following

the steps outlined below, will ensure

you get the most return from every

single post.

1. Track DataThe easiest way to gauge the impact of online obituaries is to count how many were publishedon your website and then compare them to the number of services completed for the sameperiod. Leap Tie clients have access to this data via the online obituary program, but having a staff member manually keep tabs works as well. Review this number each month with staff and keep a running total for the year. Discuss the discrepancies, what happened and what can be done differently. Ask staff to share what works for each of them and draw on successful tactics.

2. Review Top and Bottom ServicesEach month, determine the most well-attended service. Then, get together with your staff and go online to compare the activity on that obituary. Leap Tie clients can see the number of guestbook entries by service, but a visual count while you review the decedent works also. Look carefully at the comments—consider the quantity and quality of these. Do the same for the least-attended service, what do you see? Reviewing the top and bottom services uncovers new understandings to raise online visits, and can also reveal new insights in actual service attendance.

3. Monitor Flower SalesIf you don't already, review the number of orders for flowers each month and the type of arrangements purchased. Discussions around these items will help staff understand the impact of an obituary and correlate it to the experience for the family at the service time.

4. Elevate Communication with FamiliesDuring the planning phase, review when and how your staff presents online obituaries and where barriers occur. Avoiding the high cost of newspaper obituary printing and having a loved one’s life story available for generations to come are certainly compelling benefits—but if they are not communicated, families may not even realize they have this option.

Creating a list of benefits from the obituary programs you offer not only gives families the information they need, it also adds value into the services you already provide. For example, Leap Tie clients are armed with full-color presentation that includes a break-down of the program, the items families can benefit from, explanations of the images, details about video tributes and more.

5. Share the ObituaryThe simplest way to increase interest in any online obituary is by sharing it. In the initial hours of the creation of a service, communication is ongoing; your staff collects several phone numbers and/or email addresses. Use these same touch-points to send a link via email, text the obituary and provide materials showing where the obituary is located.

Leap Tie websites come equipped to support staff in all of these communication steps. Find ways to tap into methods with your staff and check to be sure it is completed at any point in the process. A fail-safe question is to ask the family, "Did you view the obituary on our website to be sure everything we listed is correct?”

Ways to Increase Online Obituary Postings

© 2019 Leap Tie TM 5

6. Post Compelling ContentAs you increase the awareness among staff regarding the importance of the obituary, you will quickly find just how many posts are severely lacking in presentation. For families, the free addition of full-color photos is one of the biggest advantages of online obituaries. With that in mind, is it acceptable to you that the person in your care had no photograph listed? Were there more images at the service that could have been easily added to the online obituary?

The easiest way to add images or video tributes is through Tukios, an automated tribute video software application. Leap Tie provides an automated link with Tukios, but the link can also be manually added.

Summary: Providing Care that CountsThe website visits and potential revenue driven by online obituaries is undeniable—but the prosperity of your business all boils down to the care you provide for families. By making small changes to the presentation of the obituary or removing barriers to placement, you and your staff can provide informative, engaging content for families and deliver the best-possible experience.

© 2019 Leap Tie TM

I challenge you to ask your staff each month,

"Is the level of care provided for each decedent

the same online as in our care center?"

If not, why should a family care about your

services when they aren't in the building?

Follow these steps above to increase online

visitors, drive revenue and, most importantly,

extend family satisfaction into the future.

6

Take our interactive quiz to see how your firm performs Visit LeapTie.com/Power

Leap Tie co-founders Sean and Michele Fagan

have more than 40 years of combined business,

marketing, and sales experience – and they’ve

spent the past two decades focused exclusively

on the death care profession.

Michele Fagan Owner

Sean Fagan Owner

Take the Leap and we Tie it all together

How does your online care for a decedent measure up?Tracking DataWe don't keep metrics on our business and so I have no idea the number of obituaries posted online now.❍ 1 ❍ 2 ❍ 3 ❍ 4 ❍ 5 ❍ 6 ❍ 7

If I tried to find this data, I'm not sure where to start.❍ 1 ❍ 2 ❍ 3 ❍ 4 ❍ 5 ❍ 6 ❍ 7

My web provider never sends me a report detailing items of value like this to me. ❍ 1 ❍ 2 ❍ 3 ❍ 4 ❍ 5 ❍ 6 ❍ 7

I don't know who in my organization can help me get this pulled together.❍ 1 ❍ 2 ❍ 3 ❍ 4 ❍ 5 ❍ 6 ❍ 7

This seems like more work than it's worth, given all we have to do each month/day/week.❍ 1 ❍ 2 ❍ 3 ❍ 4 ❍ 5 ❍ 6 ❍ 7

The Obituary OnlineI'm not sure what we actually include when it goes online.❍ 1 ❍ 2 ❍ 3 ❍ 4 ❍ 5 ❍ 6 ❍ 7

There isn't anyone on staff that manages this, it's left up to each staff member.❍ 1 ❍ 2 ❍ 3 ❍ 4 ❍ 5 ❍ 6 ❍ 7

We do it only when it's a funeral, cremation families don't need/want the obituary posted.❍ 1 ❍ 2 ❍ 3 ❍ 4 ❍ 5 ❍ 6 ❍ 7

I don't check if every family gets a completely filled out obituary with a video tribute.❍ 1 ❍ 2 ❍ 3 ❍ 4 ❍ 5 ❍ 6 ❍ 7

We do video tributes at the services, but we don't post them online very often.❍ 1 ❍ 2 ❍ 3 ❍ 4 ❍ 5 ❍ 6 ❍ 7

We charge families an up charge to post the obituary online.❍ 1 ❍ 2 ❍ 3 ❍ 4 ❍ 5 ❍ 6 ❍ 7

Marketing the ServiceFamilies do not get a verbal or visual demonstration of what the online obituary includes.❍ 1 ❍ 2 ❍ 3 ❍ 4 ❍ 5 ❍ 6 ❍ 7

I'm not even sure it's listed on our GPL as something we do.❍ 1 ❍ 2 ❍ 3 ❍ 4 ❍ 5 ❍ 6 ❍ 7

We don't gather any contact information beyond what's essential to the service coordination, so I'm not sure how we would even notify anyone when it comes online.❍ 1 ❍ 2 ❍ 3 ❍ 4 ❍ 5 ❍ 6 ❍ 7

I'm sure our families know we have it and so they just go online and check for the information themselves.❍ 1 ❍ 2 ❍ 3 ❍ 4 ❍ 5 ❍ 6 ❍ 7

Use this scale to indicate the degree to which

the following statements are accurate:

1. Does not describe us at all

2. Barely describes us

3. Somewhat describes us.

4. Neutral

5. Generally describes us.

6. Mostly describes us.

7. Completely describes us.

© 2019 Leap Tie TM 7

© 2019 Leap Tie TM

Experts in your professionleaptie.com

8

Tracking DataLower than 20 With your sense of the importance of data it should be your next step to increase the awareness of the value with staff to ensure complete obituary information is done for every family. Share the numbers with your staff at your next meeting and keep them in front of you for at least a year to measure results.

20 or Higher It's time to get a designated staff member to assist you in watching this key data point. I'd also encourage you to talk to your peers inside the profession and ask what data they measure and review on a regular basis.

The Obituary OnlineLower than 20 Keep your focus going as you look forward to the next families you serve. Ask yourself, "What more can we include that is a part of the service each family receives in person?"  Make a note of the top 5 obituaries that were posted for families so far this year, review them with staff and continue to ask what more can we do? Reward and praise staff that take the time to continue their high level of service.

20 or Higher Ask yourself, "If my relative died and their obituary was listed online what would I want it to look like?" Once you answer this go review the last several months of obituaries listed on your website.  Make a list of the best and worst from your observations and make it a plan to have a company meeting and review the findings.

Marketing ServicesLower than 20 Start with the basics and be sure to list the online obituary in your price list materials. From there talk with your staff about the fact that it is an important service you offer to families. Take a virtual tour of a few of the most recent postings online and ask them "Would this be something you were proud of if it was your relative listed?".

20 or Higher You have the right mindset and are committed to educating families. Take the next steps and gather data on families during the arrangement conference with the intention of pushing notices out to them about the obituary. Ensure your staff personally visit the online obit to view the information and encourage them to sign the guestbook for the family. Check your share features from a mobile phone to ensure each obituary reads well and can be shared. Monitor the investment your staff are making to be sure it is paying off by watching the key metrics of your business.

What your score means.