Nicole Vullo on 
Marketing has a way of making you feel like you’re always behind. New platforms, new algorithms, new acronyms (SEO, CTAs, KPIs) thrown around in meetings as if everyone already knows what they mean. If you’ve ever nodded along in a marketing conversation while quietly wondering what half the terms actually mean, this one’s for you. I recently wrote about why marketing needs a bigger seat at the strategic-planning table in 2027. This piece is the companion to that: a plain-English glossary of the marketing terms that matter most in our profession, paired with what each one actually looks like inside a funeral home or cemetery.
Start Here: Strategy vs. Tactics
Before any of the vocabulary below is useful, this distinction has to be clear. Strategy is the why and the where-to that the business goal marketing is meant to support. Tactics are the how, the emails, posts, ads and events you actually do. A calendar full of social posts, emails and videos isn’t a strategy. It’s activity. The two only connect when every tactic traces back to something like “grow preneed appointments 15% this year” or “gain cemetery market share.” Without that connection, you’re just staying busy. As I said in my last piece: “we have always done it this way” is not a marketing strategy.
The Vocabulary
Target Audience & Buyer Personas
Your target audience is the broad group you serve. A buyer persona goes further, a detailed profile of one type of customer within it, their needs, their worries, and where they go looking for answers. Think “Preplanning Pam,” 58, a homeowner who researches quietly online for weeks before she ever calls, reads reviews closely, and wants information, not pressure. Every persona exists to answer one question: what would actually be useful to this person right now?
The Marketing Funnel
The path a family travels from first hearing about you to walking through your door, in three stages:
- Awareness — they notice you exist, through a Google review or a community sponsorship.
- Consideration — they compare options, reading reviews, checking your website, maybe asking an AI platform.
- Decision — they call or visit. Every tactic you run should have a stage it’s built to move someone through.
Branding
Not just your logo. It’s what people feel and expect from you every time they interact with your business. The same warmth and tone in an obituary letter, a Facebook caption, and a phone call. As I put it recently: it cannot simply tell people what services you offer. It needs to show them who you are.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
Improving your website so it shows up when families search terms like “funeral home near me.” This still matters but it’s no longer the whole conversation.
Local SEO & Your Google Business Profile
Optimizing your presence for “near me” searches: your free Google Business Profile listing, hours, photos, and reviews. Claim and verify it. Add real photos of your facility and staff. Respond to every review.
AI Search & Answer Engines — New for 2027
This is the shift I think about most. Families now ask AI platforms complete questions like “What funeral homes are near me?”, “What should cremation cost?” and get an answer, often without visiting a single website. The question that matters now isn’t just “did we rank on page one?” It’s: does the digital world understand who you are, what you do, and why someone should trust you?
Content Marketing
Useful, educational material like articles, guides, videos that answers a family’s questions before they ever call. “What to expect when planning a cremation.” Why a certain tradition matters. A simple FAQ on preplanning. When everyone can create more content thanks to AI, simply creating more is no longer a differentiator. Creating something worth paying attention to is.
Video Marketing
Short video that builds trust faster than text and it doesn’t need to look like a television commercial. The staff member who serves families every day, speaking honestly to a phone camera, answering one common question, is often more compelling than anything polished. Being unmistakably human may become one of your greatest marketing advantages.
Reputation Management & Online Reviews
Actively monitoring and shaping how your business is perceived online, rather than hoping it takes care of itself. Reviews are often the very first thing a family sees about you. It is a trust signal now visible at scale, often before you even know someone is considering your business. Ask families for a review at the right moment. Respond to every review within 48 hours, the good ones and the hard ones.
Word-of-Mouth & Referral Marketing
A recommendation from a trusted source, a friend, clergy member, or hospice partner remains one of the most powerful forms of marketing there is. Real relationships with hospice partners, clergy, and senior communities, and a genuine thank-you when they refer a family, still matter enormously.
The Customer Journey
The path from first hearing about you to calling…and it’s no longer a straight line. A family might see your Google Maps listing, read your reviews, check your Facebook page, ask an AI platform, and then call you, often without a single visit to your website. Website traffic alone no longer tells the whole story.
Lead Generation & Calls to Action (CTAs)
A lead is someone who’s shown real interest: filled out a form, called, or requested information. A CTA is the specific next step you ask them to take: “Schedule a free preplanning consultation.” “Call now.” Clear, simple, easy to find.
Preneed Marketing
Marketing aimed at helping families plan and pay for services before they’re needed, not in the middle of a crisis. Educational seminars, direct mail on the benefits of preplanning, and a gentle nurture sequence after the first conversation.
KPIs: Vanity Metrics vs. Outcome Metrics
A KPI (Key Performance Indicator) is a number tied to a goal and not every number is one. Vanity metrics are website visits, social likes, open rates. They feel good but don’t always mean much. Outcome metrics are phone calls generated, preneed appointments booked, families served. They show real impact. Don’t just ask how many people visited your website. Ask what happened because of your marketing.
ROI (Return on Investment)
What you got back, compared to what you spent. A $2,000 video series that led to five preneed contracts has a clear, provable ROI. A five-year-old ad you can’t explain does not. Ask yourself honestly: are we doing this because it works, or because we’ve always done it?
Bringing It Home
None of this vocabulary matters if it doesn’t change how we plan. Start with the business goal, not the tactic. “We need to post more” and “we should do video” are not plans, they’re guesses. Grow preneed. Increase cremation calls. Gain cemetery market share. Prepare for a future transition. Those are goals. Marketing belongs inside strategic planning, not beside it.
Before you finalize your 2027 plan, try this: Google yourself. Ask an AI platform about providers in your community. Read your reviews…and not just the five-star ones. Pretend you know nothing about your business. What would you conclude? You may not love every answer. That’s the point of planning. Your operations determine how well you serve a family once they choose you. But your marketing plays an increasingly important role in whether they choose you at all.