Five Simple Steps to Protect and Boost Your Market Share

Written by Welton Hong, Ring Ring Marketing

Every year, I travel throughout the country to help funeral home owners make their phone ring and boost market share.

Call me a nerd, but I love seeing business owners succeed, especially when it comes to assisting  family members in honoring lost loved ones or planning ahead.

On Thursday, Sept. 11, I’ll be joining Chris Cruger, the CEO of The Foresight Companies, and other experts as a speaker at “Mastermind: Elevating Your Funeral Service Business to New Heights,” which is approved by Ohio for 5.5 hours of continuing education. The event will be at the Live! Casino & Hotel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

In this article, I’ll highlight some of the main items I’ll be highlighting at our Mastermind event. If you focus on these action items as you move toward 2026, you’ll be well positioned to protect and grow your market share.

1. Secure your placement on Google.

Everyone likes free, and showing up high on the first page of Google’s search results – or what we call organic reach – remains as important as ever.

But as Google has matured, it has increasingly focused on various paid advertising placements, which you simply cannot ignore.

You want to keep your brand and company top of mind as well as the top of the page by paying for Google ads, which is one of the easiest ways to protect market share.

The best part, however, is that unlike Facebook, which charges for impressions, you’ll only pay when someone clicks on your advertisement. So, simply by having your advertisement on Google, you’re not just boosting your chances of earning a click and potential customer, you’re also taking away a top position from a competitor who wants to cut into your business.

If a family already knows you, sees your advertisement and doesn’t click, that’s not such a bad outcome since you’re taking that real estate away from someone else. If they do click, that is even better!

Google continues to roll out paid advertising options, including at the top of its “three pack” of local firms that show up above organic search results. So now, it’s really a four pack. When I speak at deathcare conferences and events like the upcoming Mastermind in Philadelphia, I walk through how to capitalize on these opportunities, step by step.

2. Make your Google Business Profile as robust as possible.

If you have not done so already, claim and verify your Business Profile on Google and complete the verification process, usually done via phone or email. Next, ensure your information is accurate and complete, and verify that your business name, address, and phone number match across all platforms and directories, which indicates to Google you are a real business and boosts your search ranking.

One mistake I see too many funeral homes make is that they fail to indicate they are open 24 hours, which means competitors that show they are always open get more phone calls.

Another key step is to add high-quality photos and videos to your listing. Don’t forget to update these as you make improvements to your facility.

On your listing, you should encourage and respond to reviews and use the “Posts” feature to share events, offers, new products, or company news.

There are numerous other best practices to follow. Making sure you do all the above is the first step.

3. Enhance your website to convert visitors into customers!

When I speak to most business owners, they know their website needs work, but they do not know where to start.

To rank highly on Google, you want to make sure you are publishing fresh content on your website and cultivating a sense of trust in the community.

We trust people, and too many websites fail to include headshots and biographical information about the owners and staff on the About Us page. If people don’t see you, and if they can’t find out information about you, how can you expect them to trust you – especially when it comes to something as important as protecting and honoring the remains of Mom or Dad and celebrating their life?

4. Focus on getting positive reviews.

Everyone asks the same question: How many reviews does my business need?

The answer is always the same: There is no set number, but a good rule of thumb to go by is at least one more than your competitor.

Ideally, you want to boost that distance with your primary competitor over time, making sure reviews are high quality, of course.

There is an entire process to minimize the damage of negative reviews, but the main thing is do not ignore them. If you get a negative review, take a deep breath and respond when you are in the right frame of mind. Many times, a customer may have a legitimate complaint or gripe, and listening and responding may be enough to turn a negative review into a positive one.

5. Get involved on social media.

That means you need to do more than simply boosting a post here and there on Facebook to promote your funeral home.

You need to actively network, which means following, liking and commenting on the pages of businesses and individuals you’d like to cultivate or continue a relationship with.

For instance, if there is a hospice or multiple hospices in your area and you’ve had a hard time making a connection, a good place to start is by liking their pages, sharing their posts (when appropriate) and commenting.

The rule of reciprocity will usually result in them liking your page, too – or at least becoming curious about you and your business. That curiosity could lead to referrals, or at least a willingness to learn more the next time you reach out.

The trick with social media is to turn virtual relationships into personal ones, which can be a multistep process. First, you want to push people to your website. After that, the next step may be getting the to subscribe to an e-newsletter – or get them to keep coming back, so they think of you when a need arises.

When you consistently monitor social media, post and engage with others, your efforts will pay off over time.

I’ll be going over these strategies and others in more detail at “Mastermind: Elevating Your Funeral Service Business to New Heights” on Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025, at the Live! Casino & Hotel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The event is approved by the Academy of Professional Funeral Service Practice and numerous states for 5.5 hours of continuing education. If you enter Promo Code “Foresight” at online checkout at www.MastermindFuneral.com, you will save 50% off your registration!

Welton Hong is the founder & CEO of Ring Ring Marketing, which has helped over 600 small businesses grow their revenue through online marketing strategies. He is also the author of Making Your Phone Ring with Internet Marketing for Funeral Homes.