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HOW TO PRODUCE AN OUTSTANDING ANNUAL REPORT
It’s all about creating the right impression WHAT MAKES AN INTERESTING ANNUAL REPORT? Much more than a statutory document, your organisation’s annual report can be a valuable marketing tool that defines and promotes your achievements.
It provides a real opportunity to strengthen relationships with stakeholders and engage prospective partners. But how do you make it a vibrant, relevant and informative piece of communication that will inspire people to read it? What information must you include? How can you emphasise your successes? What’s the best way to turn often tedious financial data into information that everyone will understand? This guide tells you how to produce an annual report that will be read, valued and remembered.
Quality content An annual report has to communicate certain information about your organisation to shareholders, investors and customers. Key areas that need to be covered include: Corporate information A brief history of your organisation, as well as its vision and mission offers interesting background, and helps define your organisation’s role in the market. Message from the top A well-written introduction from the head of your organisation that outlines the past year’s achievements and the outlook for the year ahead provides insight into the direction of your organisation. Financial data All the necessary financial facts and figures can be made more accessible with clear charts, diagrams and infographics as well as explanations written in plain English. Where does investment come from? How is it spent? What cost-saving measures have been implemented? Outlining your finances in a paragraph or two can be a lot more inviting to readers than presenting a dry financial statement. Accomplishments Don’t just tell people what you’ve done, tell them what your activities achieved. It’s the results that count. And there’s no more appropriate place to broadcast – and promote - your performance and your successes than in your annual report. Likewise, any disappointing news needs to be communicated clearly and honestly.
Targets What are your targets and expectations for the coming year? How do you plan to achieve them? Be realistic. Don’t promise what you can’t deliver, but don’t undersell your potential for success either. Partner and investor information It’s important that you communicate who your stakeholders and partners are, with a list of funders if appropriate. Equally, if not more important is that you explain how the money was spent. Case studies and testimonials Case studies are an excellent way to communicate results, while testimonials add credibility and can further support your achievements. Inspiring images There’s no better way to breathe life into your annual report than with the use of great photographs or images. Where people don’t want to read lots of information, strong pictures can help ‘show’ them what has been achieved. You can make captions work harder by using them, not just to describe the picture, but to communicate the positive result.
Key objectives WHAT DO YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE WITH YOUR ANNUAL REPORT? WHO WILL MANAGE THE JOB? From the start, assign a person or team to manage the production of your annual report. Decide how much involvement is required from your Chief Executive. When commissioning the work to external specialists (design agency, copywriter, photographer, printer etc), ensure that you have a written brief that clearly explains your key message and objectives, and provides all the relevant information.
What is the main purpose?
Answer this, and you can determine your key message. Key message What is the main message that you want to communicate? Your message needs to be evident throughout the report - from the front cover through to the design and text. Audience Who are you talking to? Be they partners, investors, customers, employees or other stakeholders or interested parties, ask yourself what attributes they all have in common so that you can further hone what you need to say, and how best to say it. Content What information do you need to include to communicate your key message? And what is superfluous? Don’t include administrative detail that is of no interest to anyone, talk instead about what people want to know – achievements, results and the difference that your organisation has made. Theme Creating a theme to your annual report is a good way to provide consistency and credibility, and make it more interesting.
Innovation, expansion, stability – whatever the theme, it makes more sense if it’s underpinned by your key message. Structure Like magazines, annual reports are rarely read cover to cover. A contents page is helpful, as are clear page numbers, and bold headlines. Important information Including financials and statistics – should be highlighted. Make use of summaries, overviews and contact information to help people grasp key points. Design Yes, people can (and do) judge an annual report by its cover, as well as by what they find inside. Style - both in the way your annual report looks and the way that it reads – is crucial in capturing, and holding people’s attention. How many annual reports have you seen that inspire you to want to read them? Attractive design is crucial if your organisation is to appear professional. Good layout and creative use of photography and illustrations add meaning and impact. Copy Beautifully-crafted copy that is warm and conversational will help readability. Avoid pomposity and jargon. Draw on real-life experiences and, where possible, include stories (and photos) or profiles of relevant people to help humanise the report, and bring it to life.
Make it happen with Marketing Impact If you want to grasp the opportunity to create a dynamic document that promotes your organisation’s performance and serves as a successful marketing tool, then talk to Marketing Impact.
Contact us phone 020 8399 7400 email steve@marketing-impact.co.uk visit www.marketing-impact.co.uk Marketing Impact Ltd Springfield House 23 Oatlands Drive Weybridge Surrey KT13 9LZ
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