Learn the secrets to making your funeral home go viral on Facebook! This presentation, given at the ICCFA 2012 Wide World of Sales conference, shows you how you can grow your fan base, engage your audience, and distribute your message.

1. Going Viral
Facebook for the
Funeral Industry
Zachary Garbow
Co-founder, Funeral Innovations
http://facebook.com/funeralinnovations

5. (Silicon Valley)
Experience
Matters

6. 600
750
800
Million

7. 11%
of world’s
population

8. % Obituary Traffic from Facebook

13. “You can’t stop the waves,
but you can learn to surf”
Jon Kabat-Zinn

14. Introduction
to Facebook
Pages

15. Maquoketa, Iowa Pop 6,112

16. With a captive audience of
1,000+ people
do you think you could find
something to say?

17. Why Facebook?
1. Constant contact
2. Engaging
3. Viral Distribution
4. “Hands raised”
5. Home Turf

18. Building a community is hard!
(But the payoff can be huge!)
Grow
Engage
Monetize

19. Is Your Facebook Page
a Ghost Town?

20. Or Community Center?

22. Becoming a Fan

23. The Wall

24. Vanity URL
• Need 25 Fans
• Go to: https://www.facebook.com/username/
• Once set, you cannot change!

25. Grow
your
fan base
(10 tricks)

26. 1 Invite Your Friends

27. 2 Promote on your Website

28. 3 Share Good Content

29. 4 Link in Email Signature

30. 5 Add to Business Cards

31. 6 Add Link to Obit Emails

32. “Fan-Gating”
7

33. 8 Facebook Comments

34. 9 Link to Twitter
Auto-tweet all Facebook Posts
https://www.facebook.com/twitter/

35. 10 Facebook Ads
1 2
Can you guess which did best?
3 4

36. + Bonus Tips!
Get 13 more secrets to grow your
Facebook Fans:
http://facebook.com/funeralinnovations

37. Engage
your fans

38. Get Out of the Box

39. Apps

40. The News Feed
• Engagement is key!
• What to post?
– Inspirational
Stories
– Quotes
– Grief Tips
– Community
News
– Events

41. 1 Keep Posts Short
60% more likes, comments and
shares than longer ones

42. 2 Add Photos
120 – 180% more engagement

43. 3 Add Videos

44. 4 Just Ask!

45. 5 Post About Timely Events
Posts mentioning Independence Day
around 4th of July had 90% more
engagement

46. 6 Respond (Quickly)

47. 7 See What Works, Doesn’t

48. + Bonus Tips!
Get more secrets, including best time
of day and days of the week to post:
http://facebook.com/funeralinnovations

49. Market
and
monetize

50. Online Sales – The Sweet Spot
Traffic Buying Intent
Products/Services
Web Sales!

51. Market Pre-planning

52. Online Sales – Products & Flowers

53. Local Deals
Partner with local businesses to
advertise discounts on their
products/services to your Facebook
Fans

57. www.ficopilot.com

59. “I can’t believe a funeral home would
be so innovative to engage people
outside of making funeral
arrangements”
- Liane Higgins

60. Questions/Comments
zack@funeralinnovations.com
http://facebook.com/funeralinnovations