How to turn your business anniversary into a marketing opportunity

It’s party time!

Does your business have a milestone anniversary coming up? While it’s certainly not common for businesses to make a big fuss about birthdays on a yearly basis like we do personally, it’s important to celebrate special anniversaries when they come around – whether that be 10, 25, 40 years, or many more of successful operation.

Whatever the age of your organisation, celebrating an anniversary is a fantastic way to show your appreciation to existing customers and to recognise the contributions made by the company’s staff, managers and suppliers.

Furthermore, it’s a terrific opportunity to reach out with a positive story to tell prospective customers as well as strengthening relationships with your existing client base. Enhancing your logo and other visual elements to mark the occasion can also raise awareness of your brand and your offerings in the market.

Celebrating an anniversary reinforces the fact that the business is moving forwards in a stable and dependable way, and continues to stand the test of time with a track record of success. And who wouldn’t want to work for and with a business that displays these desirable qualities?

By highlighting the success of your past, what you’re doing right now and your plans for the future, you can drum up even greater confidence in your products and services. Here’s a list of ideas for you to help celebrate your anniversary and spread the good news.

Get a special anniversary logo designed

There’s not a simpler, nor arguably more effective way to showcase your business anniversary than getting an agency to design a special anniversary logo. Anniversary logos depict longevity, trustworthiness and stability and can be shown off everywhere your regular logo is currently displayed. This includes your website, email signatures, social media channels, digital sales and marketing collateral, along with all your stationery, business cards and office signage, too.

Promote it on your website’s homepage and key landing pages

Your website is likely the first interaction customers will have with your business, so why not splash the announcement of your new business anniversary on your homepage? It’ll make a big impression, plus potential customers will be more likely to trust your business knowing that you’ve been around for a while and have stood the test of time.

To celebrate their 75th anniversary, KFC created ‘The Hall of Colonels’ and put it front and centre on their homepage, telling the story of their founder from his early days as a sixth-grade drop-out who learned to cook for his family to his legendary status as the creator of one of the world’s favourite foods.

Let your social media followers know about it too

Whenever your business has big news to share or wants to recognise an achievement, you post it on social media. Your business anniversary is no different, and you should create a social content plan based solely on this topic to ensure the word gets out. This opens up the door to create multiple types of engaging content such as videos, images, infographics and articles about your anniversary. It may feel like you’re blowing your own trumpet, but it’s your special occasion and you deserve the recognition.

To really maximise the impact that your anniversary can generate, it’s worth considering getting some professional outside help from an advertising agency.

Send an email campaign to your subscriber list

Your email list is one of, if not the most valuable, marketing tools at your disposal. Email remains the only direct digital connection a business has to its audience, so if you have something important you want your customers to know, getting an EDM campaign made is the way to go. You can use this to promote content you’ll want created regarding your anniversary, special offers, or just simply to thank them for supporting the business over the years.

Host an in-person celebration

Now that society is moving away a little from Zoom calls and back to some face-to-face interactions, what better time and way to celebrate your anniversary than to host an event? Whether it’s a get together just with the company’s employees, or you decide to opt for something bigger and invite a few of your valued clients, a party is the perfect way to celebrate everything that your business has achieved with those who have made it all possible.

Let everyone know your history

Your history is your story of where the business started, where you are today and every single step in between. So it’s a great way of giving your customer base a deeper insight into your business. But instead of just directing people to a run-of-the-mill History page on your website, why not think outside the box? Instead, you could commission an animated video, get an in-depth article written, interview your CEO/founder, or get a history infographic creatively designed.

Run a competition on social media

Depending on your products/services and audience, running a competition or hosting a giveaway on social media can be an effective way to generate awareness and build excitement around your business anniversary. You can also use this opportunity to increase your followers on your social accounts by requiring people to, for example, follow your page, like/share the post and tag three friends in a comment in order to enter the competition.

To celebrate five decades of service, Cayman Airways launched a competition on its Facebook and Instagram pages asking followers to share their favourite moments with the airline to be in with a chance to win a round trip for two anywhere in the world. As you can see in the picture, the competition also required entrants to follow their page, post their own photo and tag Cayman Airways in order to enter the draw.

Need a hand with the celebrations? We can help

Celebrating your business anniversary provides an opportunity to show appreciation to the people who have helped get the business to where it is today – while showcasing the company’s past, present and future.

If some of the ideas listed above have sparked your interest and you think they would work well for your business, yet you don’t have the professional skills to create them yourself, Orion Creative can help. We can also come up with more ideas that will resonate with your own specific target audiences and help roll out the plan.

Orion has a team of expert graphic designers, videographers, digital marketers, copywriters and web developers at the ready to ensure your celebration leaves a lasting impression on your existing client base, your managers and staff and your potential customers, too.

Get in touch with us today and we can help you get the party started.