50 Years in Funeral Service: Marketing Wins, Failures & What Matters Now
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In this episode of the Deathcare Marketing Show, host Mary Barnett is joined by Martin Thompson, a seasoned funeral home owner with over 50 years of hands-on experience in the funeral service industry. Starting in the mid-1970s working nights for his family’s business in Fort Worth, Texas, Martin has navigated nearly every shift in deathcare, from traditional burials to rising cremation rates, corporate consolidation, and digital advertising.
Martin reflects on expensive marketing mistakes, the changing expectations of families, and why the best marketing strategy isn’t an ad campaign or a billboard, it’s genuine community presence. Ultimately, people choose funeral homes based on trust and relationships built long before a death occurs.
Episode Overview
Many funeral home owners view marketing as a service you purchase: a radio ad, a print feature, or a digital campaign. However, over five decades of service taught Martin Thompson that trust cannot be bought, it must be built. In this interview, Martin breaks down how he built multiple successful funeral homes, what decades of experience taught him about customer service, and why focusing on caring for families rather than pushing high-margin sales creates long-term success.
Key Insights
- Relationships Beat Ads: The most effective marketing investment isn’t an expensive billboard or ad campaign; it’s showing up in your local community as someone people know, respect, and trust.
- Stop Worrying About the Money: Focusing heavily on pushing 18-gauge steel caskets or high-cost packages distracts from taking care of the family. When you prioritize serving people with genuine compassion, financial sustainability follows naturally.
- Cremation Families Deserve Masterpiece Care: Treating a simple cremation family with the exact same dignity, reverence, and attention as a full traditional funeral builds lifelong community advocacy.
- Humility and Adaptation: The industry evolves constantly. Listening to the younger generation and staying adaptable keeps a funeral home relevant across changing consumer preferences.
- Community Means Everything: Funeral directors should strive to be the most knowledgeable and helpful presence in their community, serving hospices, churches, and local organizations long before service is required.
Actionable Tips for Funeral Directors
- Build Direct Relationships with Local Key Touchpoints:
- Create and deliver helpful, non-sales checklists or resources directly to local hospice nurses, clergy, and care facilities.
- Offer your expertise generously without expecting immediate business returns.
- Shift Focus from Casket Sales to Service Excellence:
- Eliminate high-pressure sales tactics. Treat every family, regardless of whether they select a full traditional burial or direct cremation, with equal care and respect.
- Become an Active, Visible Community Member:
- Get involved in local service clubs, civic organizations, and neighborhood causes.
- Show up consistently so community members associate your face with service and trust long before they need funeral arrangements.
- Eliminate Wasteful Marketing Spending:
- Audit your advertising channels; drop low-performing print or bulletin placements that don’t generate genuine community engagement.
- Reinvest resources into genuine community outreach and face-to-face connection.
- Leverage Storytelling to Humanize Your Work:
- Share real, warm, and appropriate stories of human connection to demystify funeral service and build relatable connections with your community.
Key Quotes
“Don’t worry about the money. Stop worrying about how much you can get from somebody—worry about taking care of people, and that part will take care of itself.”
“Community means everything. Community is who we are, what we do, and how we do it.”
“50 years taught me how much I love people and how much I love this industry. This is the greatest industry there is in caring for people.”
Resources & Links Mentioned
- Guest Website: Learn more about Martin’s services at Thompson & Son Cremation & Funeral Service.
- Books by Martin Thompson:
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