Major Funeral Home Facebook FAIL: Stop "Liking" Porn [NSFW]

Posted by Ryan Thogmartin on Monday, September 3, 2012 · Comments

The biggest threat to your funeral home online is you. Yes, you, and Facebook will be your biggest downfall.

In the past few years I have probably been the biggest advocate of funeral homes using social media and funeral directors embracing social networking with a strong focus on Facebook. I have also been very open about why funeral homes shouldn’t set up a Facebook Profile, which is designed for personal use, but instead setup a Facebook Page (Timeline) which is designed for businesses.

Besides the fact that it is against Facebook’s terms of service, using a Profile under a business name and using it for both personal use and business purposes can be confusing and dangerous.

For example: It doesn’t make sense when “XYZ Funeral Home” post pictures of new decorations at their kids new apartment or party picture from a weekend at the lake.

It can also be very bad for your reputation when the community members, who are “friends” with you on Facebook, see that XYZ Funeral Home like “Freaks Only 18+ ONLY No Kids Allowed” page. Sounds like something that would never happen right? WRONG!

This weekend when scrolling through my Newsfeed I saw the following post from a funeral director who has his personal Profile setup under his Funeral Home name:

I can’t image this is good for you personally or your business. As a small business owner you are already under a microscope from the community, being a funeral director adds another level of scrutiny.

When you have a Profile on Facebook everything you Like, Comment, Post, or Share is put on display in the newsfeed’s of those who are your Friends. Before you get click happy know what your doing. And please stop using personal profiles under your business name.

There is a reason Facebook created Pages for businesses. If you still don’t understand why, please read this post again.

About the author

Ryan Thogmartin is founder and CEO of two innovative companies. Connecting Directors LLC (www.connectingdirectors.com) and Disrupt Media Group, LLC (www.disruptmg.com). ConnectingDirectors.com is the premier progressive online publication for funeral professionals. ConnectingDirectors.com is a thriving global publication with a reader base of over 15,000 of the most elite and forward-thinking professionals in the industry. Disrupt Media Group, LLC is a social media marketing solutions firm. Disrupt MG focuses on proficiently assisting small businesses in creating engaging social media marketing strategies. Without a social media marketing strategy companies and brands are just aimlessly posting without any coherent direction. Social media marketing is more than just having a Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube page; businesses have to have a strategy to telling their story, one that opens the door and starts the conversation.