January 2022

Page A6 JANUARY 2022 FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS Se c t i on A www. vischerfuneralsupplies.com R & S MARKERS FREE Sample Upon Request CREATE CUSTOM TEMPORARY GRAVE MARKERS FOR AS LOW AS $4.95 EACH PHONE: 561 .963.4732 EMAIL: INFO@RSMARKERS.COM WWW.RSMARKERS.COM By Welton Hong Building community on social media is important, es- pecially for deathcare firms. You provide a deeply personal service, and when individuals or their families see you as a part of their community, you’re more likely to be a first choice for preplanning or during an at-need situation. Regularly asking questions on social media is one of the best ways to build community. But you must know which questions to ask and how to bring them back around to your services when appropriate. T he B enefits of A sking Q uestions on S ocial M edia A question is part of a pair, and when you leave one part open, most people are compelled to close the pair by pro- viding an answer. That can prompt more engagement on your pages as people leave comments on question posts. Asking questions and then engaging with the answers also creates a more organic conversation. That helps build trust in your deathcare firm, as consumers are bet- ter able to discern the people behind the business name. Those answers provide more than a boost in your social media engagement statistics. They also let you know more about your target audience and provide a jumping off point for future discussions or mentions of your services. You can get as creative as you like with questions on social media—as long as they reflect the mission and values of your business. You can use social media poll features to collect responses or ask questions that can be answered freeform in the comments. Here’s a look at six questions you can ask to get started: 1. Have you ever written a eulogy? If so, what’s your top tip for someone trying to write one? As a pair, this makes a great setup for Instagram Story slides. Ask the first question as a Yes/No poll for instant engagement. Follow up with a second slide asking for the advice with a “Question” sticker. You can then share some of the best answers with your audience for additional Ins- tagram Story content you didn’t even have to create! On Facebook, post both questions as a single status update to potentially provoke some discussion in the comments. 2. Have you preplanned your final arrangements? Post this one as an Instagram Story slide with the “Yes/ No” poll sticker. You could follow it up with slides that de- tail the benefits of preplanning and include a link to more information. For Facebook, phrase the question to elicit comments by asking, “Have you preplanned your final arrangements? Tell us in the comments why or why not.” 3. What little thing at the last funeral you attended made it easier to honor the memory of a lost loved one? This one would work on any social platform where peo- ple can leave comments. Pair it with an image of some- thing that evokes memories of funeral services or memori- als, such as an arrangement of lilies. 4. Which would you choose? You can use this question repeatedly with different top- ics. Choose two images and pit them against each other in a follower poll. Options might include: • Two funeral flower arrangements • Two caskets • Two cemeteries with different aesthetics This is actually a great way to do some informal market research or test the reception of various products, and you don’t have to exclusively poll about deathcare. If you’re re- painting the walls of the funeral home lobby, poll about colors. If it’s October, have the staff carve pumpkins and let followers vote on a favorite. 5. What do you think about (insert something in the community)? Demonstrate that you’re a caring, active participant in the local community by asking questions relevant to the town or neighborhood. Six Questions to Ask on Social Media Powerhouse Marketing with Welton Try to stay away from anything too polarizing (for ex- ample, you probably shouldn’t ask about a controversial local school board decision). Instead, stick more to fun things: “Who’s had a burger at Smith’s Burger House?” “Fall is here, and City Park is gorgeous. Share your pic- tures of local fall foliage in the comments.” 6. What’s the most confusing/scary aspect of funerals to you? Ask people to call out what parts of the deathcare or preplanning process that scare or confuse them so you can better plan for educational content in the future. For example, if you see a lot of people are scared of preplanning because they think it’s a gamble, you can create content that explains exactly how you safeguard preplanning dollars to ensure services will be available when they’re needed. Make sure you provide a basic answer to legitimate questions right in the comments and let people know you’ll be sharing more in the future. Or, if you’ve al- ready written a blog post on the topic, this is an excel- lent opportunity to link naturally to your website (link to the specific post so people don’t have to search for it). People want to be heard and engage with others, and that’s as true online as it is in face-to-face interactions. Leading with questions invites people into the conver- sation and can help those who normally lurk feel more comfortable posting a reply. Welton Hong is the founder of Ring Ring Marketing ® and a leading expert in creating case generation from online to the phone line. He is the author of Making Your Phone Ring with InternetMarketingforFuneralHomes . Formore information, visit www.FuneralHomeProfits.com. F U N E R A L H O M E & C E M E T E R Y N E W S w w w . N o m i s P u b l i c a t i o n s . c o m Monthly Columns online at Call 651-450-7727 to request a wholesale catalog, Our Extra-Large Cremains Bags (13”x 15”) are perfectly sized for the Standard Plastic Human Service Urn. or visit UrnBags.com to order some bags. Just $2.90 each*. * Bags sold in multiples of 10 Choose from Black, Blue, or Burgundy J t $3.10 each* Choose fr m Black, Blue, rgundy, Green or Gray Smallwood Care Removal Services Celebrates Fifth Anniversary By Laurie Esposito Harley Anthony Smallwood GOOSE CREEK,SC— Smallwood Care Removal Ser- vices, the vision of proprietor, owner, and operator An- thony Smallwood, is proud to have recently celebrated their fifth anniversary. Smallwood’s involvement in the funeral and removal services industry started in 2012 when he began work- ing as a removal attendant at Scott’s Mortuary, based in Monck’s Corner. While in that role, Smallwood had a desire to strike out on his own and run his own business. Thus, Small- wood Care Removal Ser- vices was born. Smallwood built the busi- ness based on three key te- nets: honesty, respect, and compassion which is re- flected in the company’s mission statement. “Our goal is to facilitate the de- livery of compassionate care to survivors of the de- ceased, thereby ensuring that the remains are han- dled with respect, removed in a timely manner, and transported to the desig- nated facility where the hand-off exchange is done with decency and in com- pliance with federal, state and local laws.” Smallwood was featured on South Carolina’s WCSC Live 5 in April last year, shortly after the pandemic hit, discussing how the pro- cess around deceased body removal had been changed in light of COVID-19. Pre-pandemic, Small- wood’s team would be dressed up in suits and it was their custom to say a prayer with the family prior to removing their loved one from the vicinity. This all changed with the pandemic. “Now we’re using masks and all-white Tyvek suits just for safety reasons. Not saying that person has coronavi- rus, we’re just trying to be safe because we don’t want to take anything back to our families.” As those in the funeral services industry know all too well, body removal can be an emotional and challeng- ing experience for the family members and loved ones in need of the service. The fact that several clients have tak- en the time to leave five-star reviews on the Smallwoood Facebook page speaks to the high quality of customer ser- vice and compassions demonstrated by the Smallwood Care Removal Services team. Smallwood Care Removal Services are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. To learn more email smallwood- care@gmail.com, call 843-697-9017 or visit their Face- book page at https://www.facebook.com/SmallwoodCare. Like @Nomis.Publications Like us on