Who knew the death industry could be…fun?By Amber
About two years ago, WIRED published a video where a mortician answered people’s questions about dead bodies. It’s as gory as it sounds. And yes, it went viral. A quick search on TikTok and you’ll discover that videos tagged #mortician have 1.7 billion views and #funeralhome has over 992M views. People are fascinated with death and these brands are tapping into it.
The personable side to funerals
Hollis Funeral Home is a father-daughter business based in Syracuse, NY. They have 930K+ followers on TikTok and over 20 million views. And it’s because they show this personable side to funerals and embalming. E.g. In this video, where Eileen rates the outfit that someone will wear to their own funeral. Or the team’s many episodes of “casket candy” It also helps that Eileen's dad, Charlie, is an internet treasure.
Funeral directors actually want you to live
Over in Washington, you have Return Home Terramation. They specialise in natural human composting (you might’ve seen their work in this viral video). In their day-to-day content, you’ll see everything from their CEO geeking out over hursts at a funeral convention, to their team talking about their wishes for when they die. And then, there’s the normal workplace stuff like repotting their office plants and learning how to do CPR (because it turns out, funeral directors actually want you to live).
We’re also loving the chatty, walk-and-talk style of ELM Legal’s estate planning FAQs, this NSFW story that Guardian Angel weren’t afraid to post on a brand account, and this “How well do you know your loved ones” festive quiz from Farewill.
Professionals in the death space—funeral directors, nurses, estate planners—are trained to contain their emotions in front of families. But through fun content, these brands are showing the personalities behind the people who look after our loved ones when they pass. And there’s something so comforting about that.
Dive deeper 🤿
꩜ Long conversations about death with The Glam Reaper
꩜ This company that turns ashes into diamonds has over 1.7M followers
꩜ Big Led answers all your weird questions about embalming
꩜ There’s an entire podcast about undertaking
꩜ People tag Lauren the Mortician to warn others about dumb ways to die
Insights from the team
Watch the video : 6 tips for creating content in sensitive industries (e.g. funerals, legal etc)
In the pool with…Conor and Michael from Mortuary Marketing
Based in Chicago, Conor and Michael Cooney are the Founders of Mortuary Marketing. Michael himself is a fourth-generation Funeral Director and Embalmer, and Conor is a Digital Marketing Specialist (he previously worked for the Walt Disney Company). Together, they’re changing the way funeral homes market themselves.
👉 Find Mortuary Marketing on Instagram, TikTok and wherever you listen to your podcasts
Why do you think fun content is so successful in the death industry?
Contrary to popular belief, funeral directors possess a great sense of humor, which often goes unrecognised. Up until recently, people haven’t had the opportunity to see that side. It’s like we’ve pulled back the curtain.
Why did you decide to niche down and work specifically with funeral homes?
We come from a line of funeral directors spanning four generations, affording us an intimate understanding of the industry's traditions and challenges. Funeral directors work year-round and often struggle to keep up with the times. It’s a very traditional industry and we saw the immense potential for modernisation and creativity.
Which piece of content have you had the most fun making?
⚰️ Christmas at the funeral home
What advice would you give to funeral homes that are interested in creating content that’s more fun (but are scared of coming across as disrespectful)?
First and foremost, maintaining a tone that is tasteful and respectful is paramount for funeral homes. The gravity of the subject matter should never be forgotten, and sensitivity to the emotions of grieving families should guide the content creation process. But, it's essential for funeral directors to connect with families on multiple levels. This means crafting content that not only aids families during their challenging times but also resonates with them in their current life circumstances.
Content idea of the week 💡
Like WIRED, crowdsource “Ask us anything you want to know about [industry]” questions from your audience and make a video answering them.
And that's all we've got on the death industry. We hope that's provided some food for thought. If marketing can be brought to life (see what we did there?) in death, then surely there's no sector off limits.
