Inside the Strategy
No Two Funeral Homes
- and No Two Strategies
- Are the Same
The work featured here represents a range of markets, organization sizes, and goals. In some cases, success looks like increased visibility. In others, it’s clearer messaging, stronger positioning, or improved consistency over time. What they share is a common foundation: thoughtful strategy, informed execution, and close collaboration.
Case:
Premier Funeral Home Growing Multiple Brands
How hyper-targeted marketing led to a record year in pre-need & at-need volume.
Context
Bradshaw Funeral in Saint Paul, Minnesota, is a full-service premium brand, while its value brand—Simple Traditions by Bradshaw—serves families in the Twin Cities at a lower price point. The marketing goal was to grow both businesses while also maintaining the integrity of the full-service brand.
Outcome
Market share growth
4.66%
2022 - 2025
Bradshaw and Simple Traditions have combined to capture more of the market each year. They had a record year in 2025 for both preneed and at-need volume, reaching 30.09% market share–up from 25.43% in 2022.
-
Branding – Established the Simple Traditions brand identity
-
Targeted SEO – Added content highlighting Spanish-speaking staff at Simple Traditions
-
OTT, Geofencing & Display advertising – Promoted Spanish-speaking services for Simple Traditions & Green Cremation for Bradshaw
-
Pay-Per-Click advertising – Captured quality calls & price shoppers for Simple Tradition
Tactics
Case:
Context
After a fire destroyed its building, Sharp Funeral Homes built a new facility and simultaneously seized an opportunity to reach more families. With its new location, the firm sought to grow its call volume through expanding its reach to two nearby towns in Michigan.
Outcome
OTT video views
880K
over 12 months
Monthly OTT spend
<$500
zip-code targeted
Families served
70
from neighboring communities
-
Video production – Shot evergreen content of new funeral home, staff & families
-
OTT advertising – Placed video ads in target zip codes
-
SEO – Community-specific landing pages
Tactics
Traditional Funeral Home Expanding Into New Markets
How a carefully crafted video campaign brought in 70 families from neighboring markets.
Case:
Context
W.L. Case Funeral Directors was not running a marketing program prior to partnering with @need Marketing, giving us ample opportunity to grow its market share and reach new families in the Great Bay Lakes Region of Michigan
Avg. leads per month
12
new families reached
Outcome
PPC spend
$1,400
per month
Cost per click
$1.94
avg. CPC
Running at a budget of $1,400 per month, we generated an average of 12 leads per month for W.L. Case. The Click-Through Rate (CTR) averaged 11.4%, and the Cost Per Click (CPC) averaged an efficient $1.94 throughout the campaign. The approach succeeded in generating new businessfor the firm, particularly among families who had not known about W.L. Case’s brand or services previously.
-
Pay-Per-Click advertising – Increase paid website traffic
-
SEO – Increase organic website traff
Tactics
Established Funeral Home Reaching New Families in a Competitive Market
How focusing on web traffic generated 12 new leads per month for a long-standing brand.
Case:
Direct Cremation Brand Growing Share in the Low-Cost Option Market
How digital marketing took them from 10 calls per month to 70+ per month.
Context
When Arkansas Cremation, which serves families in Central Arkansas, decided to grow its direct cremation brand, it was doing around 10 calls per month.
Outcome
Starting Call Volume
~10
calls per month
Current Call Volume
70+
calls per month (avg.)
Growth
7x
increase in call volume
The business has increased its call volume substantially from the approach, now hitting an average of 70+ calls per month. It has taken price increases periodically to bring the price back up while still maintaining market share in the direct cremation sector of the market. The Pay-Per-Click campaign has continued to generate quality calls. After adding the display advertising component to further increase visibility and brand awareness, Arkansas Cremation recently had a record month in call volume.
-
Pay-Per-Click advertising – Drove quality calls & visitors to the website
-
Display advertising – Increased brand awareness & gained calls
Tactics
Case:
New Direct Cremation Brand Protecting the Traditional Funeral Market from Low-Cost Competitors
How a multi-channel campaign launched a cremation brand with 10 calls per month.
Context
When our client launched Summit Simple Cremation, a direct cremation business in Ohio, @needMarketing was brought in to create the brand identity and develop a stand-alonemarketing strategy.
Starting call volume
0
new brand at lauch
Outcome
Current call volume
10
avg. calls per month
Tactics deployed
4
brand, SEO, PPC, display
Summit Simple Cremation has steadily grown from zero calls to an average of 10 calls per month in the span of a couple years. By staying intentional with the targeting of the Pay-Per-Click campaign, brand visibility outside the premium brand’s typical market area has grown. Additionally, the campaign has flexibility for targeting in the future to protect the market area around the premium brand, positioning Summit Simple Cremation to capture calls over other direct cremation providers.
-
Branding–Created brand book with logo, color palettes, fonts, etc. to differentiate from the premium service brand
-
SEO–Optimized the website for organic traffic
-
Pay-Per-Click advertising - Captured calls from families interested in cremation
-
Display advertising–Boosted brand awareness in the new market area
Tactics
You’ve Seen the Work.
Let’s Talk About Yours.
Every funeral home’s challenges and goals are different. Let’s talk about what meaningful growth could look like for yours.