How to Celebrate the Company Birthday in Style

So it’s your company’s birthday.

Today is your opportunity to indulge, have some cake and show your fans/guests/customers your true colours.

Here’s how to make the most out of your brand’s special day:

Happy birthday to me me me

Marketers and PR people say it’s the kiss of death to talk solely and incessantly about yourself on social media.

On your birthday, that rule goes out the window. It can be all about you — as long as it’s interesting.

Tell your story

How was the company founded? Who makes up the company now and what are they all about? What are the most poignant or funny stories your company has collected over the years? What have you learned along the way?

When you’re sharing these details on social media, tell stories about real people doing specific things. Stories about CEOs strategizing in generic boardrooms aren’t nearly as captivating as tales of entrepreneurs risking their life savings and drawing out their ideas on bar napkins.

Don’t be afraid to bring out the quirk.

You can rework these stories into tweets, longer social media or blog posts, and/or, if your story is interesting enough, pitches to media.

Your brand is a party and everyone’s invited

On your birthday, start something everyone can get involved in. Our client 7-Eleven Canada celebrates July 11^th (7-11 — today!) every year by giving away free Slurpee drinks. Thousands of Slurpee lovers celebrate alongside the brand as a result and the company’s birthday turns into something much bigger.

Your “party” could be as involved as an event or product giveaway, or could be as simple as your CEO giving a Twitter shout-out to your loyal customers, your social team Instagramming a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the decorated company lunchroom, or a hilarious gif you made at the party.

Get silly

There’s no serious way to wear a birthday hat. Today, let your hair down a little and just be you. Your resulting communications will be magnetic. Show your audience just how fun it is to be a part of your organization. Let them in on the joke.

At Peak we use our company birthday as a reason to give back to our clients and media contacts. This year, that took the form of a wine-tasting bash at the Peak office. It was our way of showing we care about the people we work with every day. Because we all had fun, engaging photos and social media posts came naturally from the event.

Celebrate with visuals

Photo- and video-sharing platforms like Instagram and Vine are your ticket to generating quick, fun content that will engage your audiences in ways no plain-Jane blog post can.

Yes. Share those badly drawn cake cartoons. Those goofy birthday cards. The interns’ three-legged race. The perfect cupcakes you made for the occasion. The CEO high-fiving the company mascot. One of your project managers jumping out of a birthday cake.

Just make sure you make those social posts before you get into the champagne.