A company's 10th anniversary is certainly a milestone worth celebrating. How to market the milestone depends on what you hope to accomplish. To thank employees and boost morale, focus on activities within the company. To thank customers and increase awareness, hold events for a wider audience. Since you have all year to celebrate, you can reasonably do so in many different ways, thus accomplishing several goals while enjoying the company's achievement.

Remember the Decade

Ten years constitutes a decade, which is a convenient time period for marketing. It's long enough to have seen big changes occur, but recent enough to be relevant for today. After 10 years in business, it's appropriate to write or update a company history. Interview individuals who started the company, as well as long-time employees and customers, for their reminiscences. This will make your history more complete while bolstering employee and customer loyalty. Include local and global events through the years that put the company's achievements in perspective. Since your goal is marketing this anniversary, focus on why the company was founded, what its goals were then, how the goals were achieved and where the company is headed. Publish the history on your website. Consider publishing it in hard copy, too -- as simply as a small brochure to an elegant, cloth-bound book -- and give it to current and prospective customers.

Celebrate in Tens

Use the number 10 throughout the year to emphasize that this is not just any anniversary, but your 10th. Have a 10-month celebration that includes employees and customers, and everyone connected with the company, with a different theme every month. Use the first month of the year to announce the anniversary in a press release and internal and external newsletters, giving a short overview of the company's history and hints of what's to come. Have a different theme every month, and reveal interesting facts and events from the past 10 years. Offer 10 percent off a different product or service each month, or roll back prices to what they were 10 years ago. After the 10 months of themes, have a party to celebrate and announce it to the press as the culmination of the year, and the start of the next decade of achievement. Advertise your promotions throughout the year to attract new customers.

Launch Something

Take advantage of this anniversary by launching a new product, service or plan. Partner with a nonprofit organization to initiate a company-wide program of regular volunteerism, start a scholarship fund or make a difference in the local community. It can be a big, one-day event that generates a lot of press or the start of something ongoing. Create a time capsule that includes company history from the past decade and information from the launch, with plans to open the capsule in another 10 years. Get the most from your advertising and promotional efforts by including details of the launch, the events, your 10th anniversary and your company's history in all materials.

Thank with Parties

Hold several celebrations throughout the year that are more elaborate than what you might do in a normal year. For employees, it could be a family picnic or a company-wide outing. Thank customers with a lighthearted event like a barbecue or a decade trivia party. The celebrations need not be elaborate, expensive or over-the-top. During the events, play music from the past 10 years and post old pictures. Ask guests to bring a non-perishable donation for a local food bank, and make a company donation as well, as a way of giving back for your company's good fortune. Announce the celebrations through press releases, your email lists, direct mail, advertising, promotional flyers and your website.