CarusoPR recently responded to a LinkedIn inquiry for the best way to celebrate reaching three years in business. We wanted to share our response as an example of how to use social media as a tool to professionally provide knowledge and ideas without being overly self-serving.
Question: What would you do to celebrate reaching three years in business--something? Or nothing?
Response: "We would encourage you to use your business anniversary as a part of your strategic marketing efforts to continue to acquire new clients, grow your business and ultimately reach more successful milestone years. How? Use the press release you wrote to share the how and what you've accomplished, not just stating the length of time. Reach our to your community or target audiences and get in front of them--offer to speak or write tips and articles that impart your growing knowledge and expertise to build on your successful client results and gain positive exposure. Think about integrating your story of achievements, accomplishments and case studies to date through all of your current communication channels, such as your website, blog and other social media channels, including LinkedIn, to reach potential new clients. I would encourage you to reach out to your current and former clients with a simple Thank You to reconnect and remind them of the services you provide and as an outreach for references. This is an easy way to incorporate your business anniversary into your marketing efforts and can be as simple as specially designing a card, creative email or other form of letter, of course depending on the number and type of people and businesses you are trying to reach.”
The Lesson: We all know that social media, when used strategically, can be a powerful instrument for increasing business and connections. We sometimes forget, however, that using social media does not always have to be a self-centered activity focused on exposure and profit. Engaging in social media conversations offering practical, valuable content is a practice we follow and encourage our clients and other organizations and businesses to also adopt. There is value in connecting and communicating without expecting something directly in return.