Writing an obituary during a time of grief is one of the most challenging writing tasks many people will face. How does one sum up a life in a few paragraphs? Where does one even begin? Often it is the first time a loved one has even tried to write an obituary.
ObitWriter® alleviates some of this stress by asking the family a few questions, allows them to choose a style and tone, and provides a first draft. The family is still in control and can edit the obituary to create a thoughtful story of their loved one.
Here’s how it works
The family starts by entering the deceased’s name, dates of birth and death, and a few key details about their life, such as family relationships, survivors, education, career, and hobbies/passions, etc.
From this bare bones information, the platform generates a complete, thoughtfully written obituary in seconds.
The family can also customize the tone of the obituary to match the personality of the deceased and the family’s preferences. Options include traditional, religious, celebratory, and poetic among other choices. They can even toggle back and forth to see which one sounds better. The family then has the option of editing the copy to finalize the obituary.
Here is an example using hobbies for a fictional John Smith:
Why This Matters
ObitWriter® is an ai-powered writing tool that takes the pressure off families performing a difficult task of writing an obituary for their loved one during a stressful time, often with little time to prepare.
“For people that don’t know how to write an obituary, or are in grief and shock, it’s really nice to have a starting point,” said Malcolm McGrorgy, Sales Consultant with iPublish Media Solutions. “It is actually a very compassionate solution.”
A Revenue Lift for Newspapers, too
Beyond the improved user experience for families, this feature can provide a revenue lift for newspaper partners as well. The rich, detailed content connects with families emotionally, and creates more complete and thus longer obituaries instantly. Nothing is left out of the story. Experience shows that most customers will opt to pay for an enhanced tribute, rather than cut the story back to save on cost.
Availability
ObitWriter® has just been launched with select customers. If you are interested in adding it to your AdPortal Obituary site, please contact us for a demo and complete details. Please note, the feature requires an updated version of AdPortal and needs to be scheduled through your project manager.
