Over the past couple of days, as I was racking my brain over what to write in my next blog post, I kept asking myself the same question over and over again in hope of finding inspiring and meaningful content to share. “How is the funeral industry relevant to conversations we are currently having among our social and business circles?”
Then it hit me. That is exactly the question that needs to be addressed. One of the biggest challenges facing the industry is not just the circumvention of death but rather the circumvention of even talking about death.
Therefore, in order to answer the question of how the funeral industry is relevant today, we have to first look at the landscape of conversation and social interaction. People are talking, just not about us (or not in the way in which we would like). Moreover, technology and social media are increasingly defining and dominating how people are communicating. And businesses are no exception.
Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, and YouTube, among others, are all vehicles for people and businesses to communicate and engage with others. So that leaves the question for our industry to answer, “Where is our place?”
Many funeral home owners, marketers, and associations within the industry have adapted to these mediums and are actively sharing pertinent information with consumers and other industry professionals. And while being active is the first step, we must also analyze whether a dialogue is taking place. We are sharing, but are we engaging? Are people responding?
I would argue that a number of factors weigh into how a funeral professional or organization’s place is positioned and perceived on social media. Factors such as who your audience is (are you connecting with consumers or with other like-minded businesses and professionals?), which medium you are utilizing (Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn are very different mediums with different ‘personalities’ and, as such, should be used differently), and, of course, the content you are sharing.
In order to change the conversation, or lack thereof, surrounding death and funerals, we need to change the stereotype and provide meaningful content to the community around us.
So now let’s all inspire each other and do exactly what this post calls for: let’s have a conversation! What meaningful content are you sharing? How are you changing the conversation surrounding death and funerals? How are you not only sharing information, but also engaging your audience? Let’s hear it!
