Laughing In the Face(book) of Death
Funeral professionals must work hard to maintain a positive “feel good” image with the public. End-of-life situations are rarely easy, so it’s not surprising when people hope to avoid frequent visits to our establishments. Given the inherent uneasiness and sadness associated with funerals, we should look for ways to light a candle in the darkness whenever possible. One way to do this is through the use of tactful and timely humor in our public communications.
Even those walking through times of sorrow and grief can find refreshment in funny stories and comical images. The book of Proverbs reminds us that “A joyful heart is good medicine.” With this in mind, here are four reasons why posting humorous content on your social media page is a good idea:
- People enjoy a good laugh! This one is a no-brainer. When you post a funny death related comic or a witty one liner on your Facebook page, you’ve lightened the day of your readers a little bit. You’ve given them a spoonful of good medicine that improves their overall outlook on their day, even if for a little while. Concerns over offending people with death-related humor are usually overblown and based more in outdated tradition than in reality.
- With each humorous post, you chip away at the negative perceptions people may have about you and your funeral related business. Readers enjoy the funny content you’ve shared and they think to themselves “Those folks enjoy life even though they have a hard job. I like them!” Certainly this goes a long way toward promoting warm feelings toward your brand. When they have a need, they may turn to you instead of your more “stodgy” competitor on the other end of town.
- Funny content can quickly go viral. When someone Likes or Comments on content, we are pleased about the engagement. But when a post is Shared, you hit the jackpot because your name travels with the image, particularly if your logo is imprinted on it in a conspicuous place. You can pay a lot of money to get your name out there. Let humor be a type of currency that buys you wide exposure.
- All of this attracts new potential customers. The idea behind social media marketing is to gain Likes or Fans for your page so more people are exposed to the services you offer. We’ve written before about how no more than 20% of the content you post should be aimed at directly marketing to consumers. Instead, your Facebook/Instagram/Twitter content should be informative, inspirational, and entertaining. This allows you to periodically inject just a bit of direct marketing without turning people off. Inspire them in one post and get them to smile in the next. Then, while they are grinning, point them to some of the services you offer. You will be laughing all the way to the bank.
You may be convinced that humorous content is a good idea. But do you have the time to find or create this material? If not, let the folks at DISRUPT Media help. We’ve collected a good bit of light-hearted content that has proven to be effective. At DISRUPT Media, we are dedicated to helping our funeral service clients who have decided to aggressively pursue an active presence in Facebook and other social media channels. We can craft a Facebook strategy tailored to your business using our exclusive four part FUNERAL Social Design Process. Our process is what enables DISRUPT Media to claim that we are the funeral profession’s only full-service social media management firm. Our clients who are a part of our FUNERAL Social Design Process are seeing an increase in post reach and engagement of over 300%. Go to http://funeralsocial.com to find out more about the services we offer.
About Author
Mark Thogmartin, VP of Business Development at DISRUPT Media
Dr. Mark Thogmartin is a life-long educator, working with students from Kindergarten through the doctoral level. He has degrees from the University of Kentucky, the Ohio State University, and Andrews University. Mark’s book, Teach a Child to Read with Children’s Books, has gained wide acceptance among reading tutors and parents who are teaching their children at home. In addition to assisting his son, Ryan, at DISRUPT Media as Vice President of Business Development, he works part-time as a mentor of doctoral students at Capella University. Mark and his wife Donna live in Millersport and are the parents of three adult sons and the grandparents of two beautiful granddaughters.
