As older generations pass away, it seems that the traditional way to send Christmas greetings may go with them. A recent survey by supermarket giant Asda found that a full one-third of Millennials do not send hard-copy holiday greetings to their friends, and it’s likely that this trend will continue. Digital natives, young people who were born or brought up during the age of digital technology, prefer to communicate in ways that are more immediate, more personal, and more cost effective – thus their preference for digital means of communication such as social media, texts, and email. Hard copy holiday cards to not make much sense to younger people who maintain constant contact with each other through their smartphones and tablet devices.
A perceptive business person should perceive what this foretells for every kind of print-based or non-immediate kind of promotional media. Digital media consumption is growing while everything else is shrinking. Even traditional electronic means of advertising, like television and radio, are being used less and less each year. And print-based modes of promotion (newspaper, magazines, Yellow pages) are going the way of the dinosaur and may be close to extinction in the next decade.
What does this imply for your funeral home and your promotional efforts? Here are some quick things to consider:
- If your advertising can’t be viewed on a portable electronic device, you will be reaching fewer people each year.
- Younger people simply will not pay for print based media any more. Consider how you should shift your budget away from print toward digital advertising.
- Even television and radio is becoming less effective in capturing the attention of millennials. They prefer on demand sources for information and entertainment.
- Native digital advertising (advertising created for on-demand, digital media) is moving front and center. You should move with it.
What does this mean for you and your efforts to promote your funeral home business? It is no longer an option to ignore the need to market your services through the social media. If you don’t have any idea where to start, or if you simply don’t have the time to do the necessary research, call us at DISRUPT Media. We can craft a Facebook strategy tailored to your business using our exclusive four part FUNERAL Social DesignProcess. 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.
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.
