Legacy partner exclusive: Online-only obituary package test

Digital obits appeal to families dealing with the death of a loved one. Meet this need with a custom online-only test package in Legacy’s consumer placement network.

We have some important news to share. Your private-party customers want to place obituaries. Now more than ever. 

How do we know? Over the last six months, clicks on the link to Submit an Obituary across all newspapers in Legacy’s consumer placement network have increased 30%.

So why then are obit placement rates still dropping? Legacy’s customer support team regularly gathers user input, including phone and email surveys, to discover why they didn’t complete their obituary orders. Here’s what we found:

• 68% of respondents to an abandoned cart survey listed price as the reason they chose to not complete their obituary purchase. 
• 71% of non-purchasers who listed a desired price point expected the obituary to be $100 or under.

Why online-only notices?

“I’m a huge fan of online-only notices,” says longtime industry executive Brian Walsh. “They’re flexible, customizable, allow families to tell their loved one’s story and they are exactly what readers have been asking us for.”

It’s easy to see why other publishers are prioritizing online obituaries. In today’s digital news world, they enhance print obituary benefits with:

• Long-term reader engagement — Print notice readership is limited to whomever is still buying and reading a hard copy paper, a tiny fraction of one or two ZIP codes for most markets. Online obituaries are permanent and can be read by anyone in the world, anytime. This extends an obituary’s value and reach from days to years.
• Easy digital strategy fit — Obituaries are must-read news for millions. This makes digital notices a vital, easy addition to the growing e-newsletter trend.
• Unique revenue generation — Online notices offer an ever-growing cart of upsell opportunities, purchasable long past the original publication date, including videos, memorial plantings, anniversary notices, comfort-care packages and more.

Test online-only in Legacy’s private party network

So on the one hand, we have people who want a newspaper obituary but are bumping up against a price barrier or prefer something digitally-focused. On the other, we have newspapers who worry about making broad changes to their obituary model. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if there was a risk-free way to bridge that gap?

Legacy’s private party portal can easily support any sort of package you’d like to try. Take advantage of this partner-exclusive opportunity by testing an online-only obituary option for your market. Set up is turnkey, cost free and completely customizable.

Contact us at the link below to schedule a consultation.