Goal Setting and Digital Marketing

When I wrote my book, “The Consumer’s Journey to Purchasing Funeral Services,” I have to admit I had to research a simple question: “What is the difference between ‘marketing’ and ‘advertising’? I mean, if you spent the majority of your adult life in the advertising industry, and you have a Communications Degree (Syracuse, Newhouse, 1977, TV-R), you should know the answer. Right? So here’s what I learned.

“Marketing” and “advertising” are often used interchangeably, but they encompass distinct aspects of promoting any business or service. So to be clear, “marketing” is a broad strategy that includes market research, product or service design, defining your Ideal Consumer, and brand building. “Advertising” is a component of marketing. It’s the paid promotion of products and services using media. 

DIGITAL IS A FAT WORD 

Now, this article is about "Digital Marketing," but here’s the scoop: the word "digital," to me, is as broad and bulky as they come. That’s why I consider it to be a fat word—meaning a broad, overused, and vague term that means different things to different people.

To expand this thought, "Digital Marketing" can mean social media, websites, email, Google ads, SEO, or anything online. In other words, "digital" is more of a label, not a strategy.

I love strategy. It implies a clear, intentional plan to achieve a specific goal using the right actions at the right time.

So, for this "Digital Marketing" article, let’s start with setting a goal that actually means something. Once we have that in our sights, then we can talk about a strategy.

And just so you know, vague goals rarely happen. "I want to grow" is an obvious one for most firms. Ask anyone, and most would say they want to grow. Yet, that’s where the idea ultimately fails because it’s not real.

THE POWER OF MAKING A DECISION 

What I challenge you to do is to create a goal. A real goal. A goal that is possible, one you believe in. A goal that you want.

If you want to grow, then make a decision. Decide on a specific “growth objective.” This should be a real number that’s combined with a date. Say it like this: “We want to serve 300 families per year by the end of 2026.”

Now that’s a goal! And if the firm has been doing 200–250 per year, it should be a believable objective. Everyone from owners to operators can agree on it.

And here’s a key thought: You don’t have to know exactly how you’re going to accomplish a goal before you decide you want it. The goal should come first. Wise, successful, and wealthy leaders know this secret. After making a decision, they will think about it and marinate on it. If someone asks you how you’re going to accomplish this new growth objective, your first answer should be, “I don’t know…but we’re going to figure it out.

If you believe a goal is possible, you dwell on it, you sleep on it and maybe you share it with like-minded peers or mastermind partners, what will happen is new ideas will come forth. Ideas you never thought of before, ideas you will absolutely need to answer the “how” you are going to do it part.

BE HENRY FORD 

Napoleon Hill’s #1 business classic, Think and Grow Rich, has one of the best examples of goal setting. Henry Ford’s vision beyond the Model T was to create an 8-cylinder engine. He didn’t know how to do it, but he believed it was possible. His engineers? They weren’t so confident. When given the order to create it, they repeatedly told Ford it couldn’t be done.

His response was simply, “I want it.”

What made Henry Ford unique was how quickly he could make a decision, and then how slow he was to change it. He was known for his persistence, so he rarely gave up. And eventually, after months went by, the “how” part seemed to appear out of nowhere. His engineers figured it out!

Henry Ford believed it could be done, and because he made a decision, and because he didn’t give up, he owned the 8-cylinder engine. The result? His business grew. Yours can too.

DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU WANT? 

Most people don’t. Key thought. But if you know what you want, that you want to grow, you have a clear growth objective, and you think it should include “digital marketing,” you’re reading the right article.

What I have to offer with the words I have left are two ideas that would represent a digital marketing strategy. They are:

DIRECT DIGITAL MARKETING 

This is where you are directly marketing or advertising to people you believe have an interest in your services. What makes direct digital marketing popular is the ability to create a real “return on investment” or “ROI” because what you spend should immediately return to you as a lead or a business opportunity. You can do the math.

Direct marketing campaign success can be directly tied to the value of the funeral home brand. If the brand is the Premier Funeral Home or market leader, the one that gets the most word-of-mouth advertising, and the one (or ones) that get the most calls, then they should be engaged in direct digital marketing because they will get the most results for the dollars spent.

If the brand is not so popular, then the objective is to have some wording or positioning statement that begs consideration. Value, price, or specialty funeral homes may fit here.

A common form of direct digital marketing is Google Ads. These would be ads targeting people who have no preconceived notion of who they are looking for. They’re searching because they have an immediate need. This is kind of the wild Wild West in that you can spend thousands and hope it works.

Our approach to direct digital marketing is with Meta Platforms. That’s the pond I swim in. It begins with an aggressive “traffic” campaign on Facebook to drive traffic to a funeral home website of consumers interested in preplanning. When they go to the funeral home website, they become part of a unique Datasets or Pixel audience that can retargeted by ads with forms designed to “convert” Ideal Consumers into Leads.

Again, the key to success with direct digital marketing is that the brand is the best, or near to being the best. If not, then a unique positioning statement that resonates despite the market’s brand landscape will be needed.

DIGITAL BRAND ADVERTISING 

The brand of a funeral home should be dependent on the funeral home type. In my book, I have identified six funeral home types, with each having its own approach to brand advertising.

For funeral homes that would define themselves as Premier or Emerging Funeral Home, I recommend using posts on Facebook or Instagram using images of real people. It’s people that make a funeral home unique. By creating content using real, relatable people over long periods, you are establishing trust with your future customers.

The other critical part of digital brand advertising is buying or boosting your ads. If you are using Meta Platforms and know how to navigate that tool, then you can build geofenced audiences, establish user interests for topics, and even use forms to generate leads. The key thought with buying or boosting ads is this: Facebook and Instagram are not free. To be successful you need to reach thousands of people that you don’t know, and they don’t know you.

My key thought for digital brand advertising: it’s not easy to create and consistently produce, but if it’s done correctly, it creates a powerful foundation that, over time, establishes an equity position in the minds of thousands of ideal consumers. If it plays a role in improving and growing the brand, then it should also benefit you more in your direct marketing efforts.

Unlike Direct Marketing where you can create an ROI, with Brand Advertising it’s not so straightforward. But if you take a long position, have a great staff, a beautiful facility, a stellar reputation, and provide your images and copy are professional in their look and read, then you should be successful. 

And if your brand is solid, and you intend to grow, doing both Direct Marketing and Brand Advertising would be wise and profitable.