Case Study — Cemetery & Memorial Services

$3,149 In Ad Spend to $225,000 In Sales: How Meta Ads Sold Crypts for an Australian Cemetery

A well-established Australian cemetery had crypts for sale — a high-value, emotionally significant purchase with a long sales cycle. Orbit Marketing built a three-phase Meta ads campaign that turned $3,149 in ad spend into $225,000 in crypt sales — a 71× return on ad spend, with more sales still being followed up.

Not every client wants their business named alongside a campaign like this one. We respect that, so this case study describes the strategy and results without identifying the cemetery.

Ad spend, revenue generated, and return on ad spend for the campaign.

The Challenge

Facebook and Instagram advertising is usually associated with e-commerce stores, gyms or local tradies — there's a common misconception that Meta ads generate poor-quality leads and don't work for high-value products or services.

This client had a real commercial challenge: crypts available for sale, a high-value product with a long sales cycle, and a market that required careful, respectful communication. Crypts aren't an impulse purchase — they're a significant financial and emotional decision, often made by people planning ahead for themselves or a loved one.

The brief was straightforward: generate qualified enquiries from people interested in purchasing a crypt, so those enquiries could actually convert into sales — not just pad out a list. The budget was modest. The expectations were conservative. The results were not.

The Strategy

Orbit built a three-phase Meta ads approach across Facebook and Instagram, designed to meet potential buyers wherever they were in their decision-making process. With a tight timeframe and a modest budget, all three phases ran virtually simultaneously — rather than launching one after another — so no momentum was lost and every dollar of spend was maximised.

Before building anything, the team identified three ideas that mattered most to the audience: spirituality (the emotional weight behind the decision), the quality of the physical product (marble, brass, craftsmanship), and having a place to come, sit, reflect and remember. These three ideas shaped every piece of copy and creative.

1. Brand Awareness — Making Them Known Locally

   Branding-focused ads built visibility and credibility, and gently introduced the idea of crypt ownership to an audience that may never have considered it before. These ads weren't selling — they were warming.

2. Meta Lead Form Ads — Reducing Friction

   Native, high-intent lead forms let interested prospects register without ever leaving Facebook or Instagram — no website to load, no form to build from scratch. Lower friction meant more people willing to raise their hand.

3. Conversion Ads — Capturing Serious Buyers

   Conversion-focused ads sent higher-intent traffic directly to the website enquiry form, capturing buyers further along in their decision-making process who were likely to convert quickly.

testimonial

I worked with Simon, Jo and the Orbit Marketing team over the last six months and they were a trusted partner in planning and delivering our digital marketing campaigns to drive visibility and leads. They brought strong strategic thinking, a solid understanding of how channels work together, and a data-driven approach to optimising performance and ROI. The team was always responsive, reliable and a pleasure to work with, providing great value. If you're looking to extend your marketing capability with an experienced partner, I'd highly recommend Orbit Marketing and would gladly work with them again.  

Katrina Colpo
Marketing and Engagement Manager.