If you haven’t been inundated with Facebook 10th anniversary videos yet, you’re probably not on Facebook and you should probably stop reading this post.

If you’re on Facebook and haven’t seen your own video simply log in to Facebook and then go to facebook.com/lookback.

Here’s what I love about this campaign. It’s about ME the user. It’s about MY history. Yes, it showcases Facebook, but it doesn’t hit you over the head with it. When most businesses celebrate their birthday or anniversary they only preach about themselves in their advertising.

‘Look how good we are, we’re still in business…YAY!’ And then they throw some gimmick at you like, ‘because it’s our 10th birthday, we’re giving everyone 10% off this week.’

BARF!

These are just as bad as ‘the boss is away, so we’ve slashed our prices’ sales. It’s a cheap gimmick to get people into the store, but in reality it doesn’t do anything for ME the consumer. We’ve become so immune to sales, because EVERYONE has them. We almost expect to walk into a store and see sale signs everywhere. Sales lead to ZERO brand loyalty. If I can find something comparable at a cheaper price, I’m going to go there. I don’t care if it’s your 10th, 20th or 50th birthday. I DON’T CARE ABOUT YOU BECAUSE YOU DON’T CARE ABOUT ME. 10% off means nothing to me.

Now, I don’t care that much about Facebook. Having said that, the 10th anniversary videos I do care about. My wife and I sat down while on vacation and viewed our vids. We shared laughs and then shared our videos to our friends. Why? Because we cared about what was shown. It reflected who we were and just how connected we are to our friends.

Next time you’re celebrating a business anniversary, don’t do a sale because EVERYONE DOES A SALE. Be different. How about pledging to give anyone who purchases an item from your business a birthday cake on their birthday. Simply make a purchase in store, sign up for the birthday club and on your next birthday the store will buy the cake. This is a great way to make a sale about the CUSTOMER. Not you. You silly business owner.

This is also a great way to build a database of customers who you can reach out to in the future, including birthdays. An email database is one of the MOST useful tools you can have in your marketing toolbox. There are plenty of people I know who generate hundreds-of-thousands of dollars by only using an email database.

If you’d like to sign up for mine, fill out the form below and I’ll add you to the list. I won’t buy you a birthday cake, but I’ll gladly give you specific tips on how to improve your businesses marketing.

xoxo

Jordan