Humanize your milestones with good public relations

Happy March!

It's time for me to celebrate a milestone that doesn't matter - this month, my tenure running the show at Small Adventures Communications is now officially my second-longest at any organization. While I still have about nine more years before this becomes the longest I've ever worked in one place, I still want to recognize this moment.

Too often, I see organizations celebrate admittedly weird milestones like this in a very inauthentic way - a boring press release, a wonky ad, an artificially peppy internal communications piece.

So, what's the best way to plant a flag through public relations, celebrate a milestone, and stay relevant?

Like so many other PR questions, my answer is, "It depends."

Milestones do creep up, but they aren't surprises.

Start with your plan. Build these into your annual or quarterly plans. Determine how they fit into your plan to reach your business objectives. Build messaging that ties your milestone to those goals and showcases your organization's value to stakeholders.

Find your stories. One of the best ways to celebrate a milestone is to share stories of how your organization has impacted those who played a role in helping you reach this milestone. Testimonials, profiles, and memorials can be easy content to help leverage a milestone.

Choose your channels wisely. Consider which channels you'll activate for a specific milestone. The bigger the milestone, the wider you can plausibly reach and still retain relevancy. In my case, this milestone doesn't carry much weight beyond myself, and so you can see my strategy to use this as an opportunity to share considerations around celebrating milestones is limited to tactical sharing on social and on this blog.

Don't lose focus. The milestone is not your hook. It's an extra tidbit, but the story you are sharing should always focus on impact. If you have nothing to share beyond the milestone, you have nothing to share period. The good news is that the story exists; you need to uncover it.

Thanks for celebrating with me in one of my favorite ways - learning and sharing! I'm curious about what odd flags you've planted in your career and how you have recognized them. Share below!