DEATHCARE MARKETING ON THE "OTHER" SOCIAL MEDIA SITES

If you're reading this, chances are your deathcare firm is already present on at least one social media channel. If I had to guess, I'd say it was Facebook (and I'd put my odds of being correct pretty high). You might also be on one other major site, such as Instagram.

If that's the case, good calls from your marketing teams. Even with some rough patches in 2019 and 2020, Facebook remains the biggest social media platform in America based on number of users. Plus, it's the most popular with middle-age and older adults, who account for most deathcare decision-makers.

Instagram comes in second based on user numbers, and a growing number of adults age 35 and up are joining this channel. That makes it a good choice for cremation providers that can manage two social media pages.
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But what about all the other options? Are you missing out on deathcare social media marketing opportunities because you're ignoring platforms such as Twitter, Snapchat, TikTok, Pinterest, or Tumblr. Get some details on these social channels below so you can decide for yourself.

Twitter

If I asked an average American adult to name three social media channels, they'd probably say "Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter." Twitter comes in third behind the other two when it comes to user numbers, and its user demographics are relatively spread out across age groups from 18 to 64.

The challenge in marketing on Twitter is the fast-paced environment. Short posts of 280 characters or less inundate most people's Twitter feeds, sometimes dozens or even hundreds per minute. That can make it hard for businesses to connect with people on the platform.
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It's not that Twitter is impossible to market on. You just have to be persistent, consistent, and sometimes clever to make it work for your cremation services firm.

snapchat

More than 200 million people log on and use Snapchat daily, with active users opening the app an average of 30 times a day.

That's a lot of opportunity for engagement and micro-moment marketing (that's when you connect with potential clientele in those stolen moments when they look at their phones).
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The downside of Snapchat for deathcare marketing is that the bulk of the userbase is under the age of 34 . There might be some benefit to growing audiences early, and certainly some younger people do make deathcare decisions. But most deathcare firms aren't going to find their main target audience here.

tiktok

A relatively new contender, TikTok reports around 100 million users in the United States. Around 62 percent of those users are under the age of 29, which means this social site has the same drawbacks as Snapchat when it comes to demographics.

However, the users on TikTok are highly engaged , spending an average of 40 minutes a day or more on the platform. It's easy to make TikTok videos, which only require a smartphone. And you can use the video you make on TikTok to add video content to other deathcare marketing channels, including Facebook, Instagram, or even your blog.

pinterest

Pinterest is an image-sharing platform. Users make boards and "pin" images (and related links) to them. The idea is that Pinterest acts as a virtual corkboard, and as you travel around the internet, you can collect things of interest by pinning them to these boards.

Deathcare firms can create their own boards, pinning things of interest for their audience, including blog posts, landing pages for downloads, or images of products.
The bulk of Pinterest users—about 70 percent—are female. While the majority of users are under age 40, the median age of users is 40. That means there's a decent number of middle-age and older users.
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Pinterest is fairly easy to manage, which might make it something deathcare firms can do here and there without a big commitment. You may also be able to get some boost from Pinterest traffic without having a profile and boards for your business. Simply create infographics and other images that would entice people to pin them on their own boards.

tumblr

Tumblr is a personal blogging site that makes it easy for people to post their own thoughts, writing, and art or share (called reblogging) the posts of others.
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The majority of Tumblr users are under the age of 35. While Tumblr might be a way for cremation providers to reach younger audiences, it's not really known for being a strong marketing channel outside of unique cases.

THE BOTTOM LINE ON "OTHER" SOCIAL MEDIA SITES

Ultimately, what works well for your deathcare firm depends on your business needs, brand, and where your target audience is. Most deathcare firms should have a presence on Facebook in 2021, but if you have the marketing resources to add one or two other channels while maintaining quality, you might want to test some of these other options.
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Just don't be afraid to move on if the channel ends up doing nothing for you. Better to invest that time and money into channels that are performing than to stick with something just because you started it.

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Welton Hong, is the founder of Ring Ring Marketing® and a leading expert in creating case generation from online to the phone line. He is the author of Making Your Phone Ring for Funeral Homes, Second Edition.