Is your company coming up on a milestone anniversary? It doesn’t matter if your company is turning one, 15 or 150 – an anniversary campaign is a huge opportunity to boost employee morale and deepen engagement with your customers.
Your company’s heritage is key to how customers perceive your authenticity, as recently reported in The Journal of Business Research. And Millennials in particular want to do business with and work for companies with a proud heritage, as reported by The Luxury Institute in New York. (In case you still don’t think U.S. Millennials matter to your brand, they already account for $1.3 trillion in direct annual spending and the first of this age group is only just now reaching peak buying power).
So it pays to pay attention to your anniversary. But what’s the best way to celebrate it? How to make sure you’re spending valuable time and money on the right things that will deliver maximum impact?
Here are 5 top tips that we’ve seen our clients and other brands follow to guarantee the biggest ROI on your company anniversary campaign:
1. Plan well ahead
Start planning at least two years before your anniversary year. This will give you time to dig into your archives, capture memories, and pursue most options whether you create a company video or history book or throw a gala for your employees. Most importantly, it will give you time to savour the lead-up to your anniversary, instead of just surviving the mad rush.
2. Strike a volunteer committee
There are many small jobs involved in celebrating any corporate anniversary and a committee of enthusiastic employees is vital to making it all happen. Try to include one or more long-time employees, a leader with decision-making authority and someone with marketing experience in the mix.
3. Share your stories
Gather memories from past and current clients and employees by asking them to share their most memorable stories, or you can get more specific and ask employees to share stories that illustrate one of your company’s core values. Share your stories with your employees and customers in whatever mediums you can – in your newsletter, on social media, in a video, and on an anniversary page on your website. Share them with the media too – you’ll be surprised how often the media will pick up your story about why you matter to your community.
4. Design an anniversary logo
Create a unique anniversary version of your logo that clearly states how long you’ve been around. You will get incredible leverage from this one visual reminder that you are a company with a proud history. Put it on your website and make sure all employees add it to their email signatures.
5. Celebrate all year
Maximize your anniversary by using all year to celebrate. Sponsor local events, have an open house, host a contest or giveaways, create sales incentives (like 20% off for your 20-year anniversary), or share company trivia and old photos daily on your social media channels. Get creative and think of your employees and customers. What would have value to them?
SEE ALSO:
