A company anniversary is a great way to engage your employees, brand your company, and build your business. A significant number of years in business is more than just an opportunity to throw a big party, it’s an opportunity to strengthen your brand, develop relationships, and foster new business. The party is just one piece of the puzzle.
As a company, you have an entire year to create opportunities to celebrate your clients and employees and your company anniversary. The number of years in business is something to be extremely proud of. There are many things you can do to create awareness of your firm. For example, if you are celebrating 50 years in business, you could celebrate each year during a one-week time frame. Be prepared and start planning the first week in January. Open dialogue amongst the firm to discuss how everything actually was started. Find out something fun and interesting about the founders or the firm. Did your company name get created in a bar? Did the founders have a passion for changing the world one project at a time? Tell the story, that’s what it’s about. These are small pieces that when put together assemble the entire puzzle.
You can then find significant occurrences over the 50 years to highlight each week. Some of these could include project awards, leadership/principal/owner changes, or significant community projects, just to name a few. The firm could also highlight when the first computer was used in the office (for companies older than 25 years) or when the fax machine was first introduced to employees. There are many fun and interesting facts about your company that you could share through social media, website, press releases, and other communications throughout the course of your company anniversary year.
Other pieces to the puzzle include celebrating with the employees. The employees have contributed to so much of the company’s success, so make sure to include them in the company anniversary celebrations, too. Host employee events and employee and family events to educate and promote the company’s history, heritage, brand, and culture. For an employee event, you could create Jeopardy or Trival Pursuit game to educate employees about the history of the firm. This would be especially helpful for newer employees to learn more about the firm. It’s also fun for those that have been there for a long time, too, because they can help craft the questions by making it fun but informative.
The company should also host client events, which could include the big party but there should be other communications and events involving clients. Design an anniversary logo and display it on all your marketing collateral. This can be used during the entire company anniversary year. Highlight different projects and clients you’ve worked with over the years, especially ones that have been with you since the beginning of the firm. Create a timeline of significant projects, awards, and changes in the company. Create an award for the longest term client you’ve kept. Tell the story about how you acquired the business and how you’ve kept the business. Make it fun and interesting. All of these marketing opportunities are also pieces to the puzzle.
The final piece of the puzzle should be the big celebration party. This can be as elaborate or simple as possible but make it memorable. Host the party at your office or a significant project you have designed or built. Create a theme for the party. All the marketing efforts should be connected and lead up to the celebration party.
The entire year should be spent highlighting different parts of the firm. This is an opportunity to reach out to past and existing clients along with telling your story to prospects. This can also be used as a business development opportunity. Show case community support, association involvement, civic, etc. Make sure to complete your puzzle by utilizing your resources wisely and get the most out of your investment.
nu marketing would be happy to assist you with an upcoming business anniversary plan. We can also help you with all the details of the events, too, which would be the party, open houses, or employee events. Call us today to help us put your plan together! We’d love to help you put the pieces of your puzzle together.
