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Funeral Director Marketing That Actually Gets Done: A Simple Monthly Plan (Even If You’re Busy)

If you’re an independent funeral director, you don’t need another long list of “marketing ideas”.

What you need is a plan that actually happens.

Because the truth is, marketing rarely fails due to lack of knowledge. It fails because it gets squeezed out by the day-to-day reality of caring for families and running a business. And when marketing slips for long enough, the phone can start ringing less, slowly and quietly.

This blog is the practical “how” to go with the earlier posts in this series. It’s a simple monthly plan you can put in the diary, so your visibility and trust keep building without marketing taking over your life.

If you’d like monthly marketing tips written specifically for independent funeral directors, you can sign up here:

If you missed the earlier blogs in the series, here they are:

Why a “monthly plan” works better than trying to do marketing ad hoc


Most funeral directors don’t have a marketing department. Marketing sits alongside everything else.


So if marketing is only done when you “get a minute”, it becomes:

  • Inconsistent

  • Reactive

  • Easy to postpone

A monthly funeral director marketing plan works because it creates a rhythm. It protects time. It reduces decision fatigue. And it gives you a way to measure progress.

The goal: cover the two types of marketing every month


From Blog 1, remember the two types of marketing you need working together:

  1. Search marketing: being visible when a family needs you

  2. Brand awareness: being known and trusted before you’re needed

This plan covers both, plus the “bridge” that makes families choose you: online reviews.


Creating a marketing plan for a funeral director

The simple monthly marketing plan (for independent funeral directors)

  • Step 1 (Month start, 30 minutes): Choose one priority

Pick one priority for the month. Not five.

Examples:

  • Improve your homepage so it’s clearer and more human

  • Add or update a “What to do when someone dies” page

  • Increase online review requests and responses

  • Build one new community relationship

  • Refresh photos of the owner/team/premises

Write it down. Put it in the diary. That’s your focus.

  • Step 2 (Week 1, 60 minutes): Fix one “visibility now” item

This is the work that helps families find you and contact you in the moment.

Choose one:

  • Make your phone number more prominent on mobile

  • Add a clear call button on key pages

  • Improve your contact page (simpler form, clearer next steps)

  • Add location/service area clarity

  • Add 2 to 4 reviews to the homepage

  • Improve page speed basics (compress images, remove heavy elements)

If you only do one thing this month, do this step.

  • Step 3 (Week 2, 30 minutes): Create one piece of helpful content

    This does not need to be complicated. It just needs to be useful and reassuring.

    Pick one:

    • A short post: “What to do when someone dies” (simple steps)

    • A post introducing the owner/team (people choose people)

    • A short explanation: “What happens when you call us”

    • A community post: local involvement, thank you, partnership (with permission)

    • A myth-buster: “Do I need to decide everything immediately?”

Where to use it:

  • Post it on your social media

  • Add it to your website as an FAQ or short blog

  • Save it for your email newsletter

The goal is to build familiarity and trust over time.

  • Step 4 (Week 3, 30 minutes): Do one community touchpoint

This is the “trust over time” work.

Choose one:

  • Visit a care home or hospice contact

  • Attend one local business/community group

  • Follow up with a celebrant/clergy connection

  • Support a local cause in a small, consistent way

  • Offer a short practical talk or resource to a local group

Then do one simple follow-up:

  • Share a calm, respectful post about it (no sales pitch). This is how community presence becomes visible.

  • Step 5 (Week 4, 20 minutes): Reviews routine

Reviews are one of the strongest trust and visibility drivers for independent funeral directors.

Make it a routine:

  • Send review requests to the families you can appropriately ask (based on your process)

  • Follow up once, politely

  • Respond to new reviews (where appropriate)

  • Add one strong review to your website

  • Consistency matters more than volume.

  • Step 6 (Month end, 15 minutes): Measure what matters

You don’t need complicated analytics. Check:

  • Calls: are they increasing, and are they good quality?

  • Directions requests: are they up?

  • Reviews: did you gain any this month?

  • Visibility: are you appearing more often in local search?

  • Anecdotal signals: are people saying “I’ve seen you online” or “I’ve heard of you”?

Then choose next month’s priority based on what’s slipping.

Two versions of this plan (choose what fits your capacity)


  1. The “minimum viable” version (about 2 hours per month)

    • 1 visibility fix (60 mins)

    • 1 content post (30 mins)

    • 1 review routine (20 mins)

    • 1 quick check-in (10 mins)

  2. The “steady growth” version (about 2 hours per week)

    • 1 visibility fix or improvement task weekly

    • 1 content post weekly

    • 1 community touchpoint monthly

    • reviews weekly

Both work. The difference is speed and competitiveness.

The key: put it in the diary like any other essential task


If you want marketing to happen, it needs a protected slot.


A simple approach:

  • Choose a set time each week (for example, Tuesday 8:30–9:00)

  • Name it something practical: “Visibility and reviews”

  • Keep it even when you’re busy, because that’s when it matters most

If you want monthly tips written specifically for independent funeral directors, sign up here:

And if you’d like help turning this into a clear plan for your business, you can also book a Funeral Marketing Power Hour.



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