The annual report is a staple of the modern business world. It’s meant to show shareholders and stakeholders how well the company is doing, and it also provides an opportunity for management to offer its perspective on what has been accomplished over the years. But if you’re considering producing your own first-time annual report, there are some important things you should know before you start that could save you from looking like an amateur.
It can be done! You just need to follow these 14 rules:
1. Don’t create a single annual report.
Don’t try to fit your entire company’s story into a single document. Instead, make different reports to send to each group of stakeholders. In other words, give one “interim” or “semi-annual report” six months after the end of the business cycle and another one six months later, and then produce a full annual report at the end of the year.
2. Don’t forget about shareholders.
Don’t forget your shareholders but make sure you don’t overdo it on details for them. Generally, financial statements are all that’s necessary, but an overview of strategies for shareholder return on investment (ROI) could be useful.
3. Include business partners as well!
Your annual report could be a good opportunity to show your company’s value to current and potential business partners and clients and help build relationships with them. You can do this through statistics, case studies, or by inviting the relevant delegates to an event where they can meet some of your key people.
4. Tell a story.
Include a mix of text and graphics to keep your annual report readable and interesting. You should also consider creating an infographic or two — storytelling is a powerful tool for conveying ideas, information, and knowledge quickly and efficiently to all kinds of readers. Don’t forget to include photos of relevant people for context.
5. Show some personality.
Your annual report is a good opportunity to showcase your company’s values and personality. If you have an official mascot or symbol, consider including it in the report. For example, if you are a sports club, include photos of team members with their jerseys on to demonstrate an element of continuity over time.
6. Remember to keep it professional.
You don’t want to end up with a report that’s too casual, but you can include humor if it helps convey your message more easily and effectively, as long as the tone isn’t too serious. The line between professionalism and personality is slim and can change from reader to reader or culture to culture, so be careful.
7. Make it relevant.
If your annual report isn’t relevant to the interests of all readers, they will quickly lose interest. Try to get an idea of what’s important to each group and address that in different sections. For instance, how can you demonstrate value or success for shareholders? How might this information be of interest to your industry partners or customers?
8. Make it educational as well.
Don’t neglect the opportunity to educate readers about certain aspects of your business. That education could come in the form of an explanation of how you achieved success or what future goals are, or it can be more technical — perhaps an infographic that demonstrates financial performance or a case study on one of your clients.
9. Include photos and visuals.
Your annual report doesn’t have to be purely text-photos can add color, show people’s personalities and convey visual messages that support your written content. They could highlight the work you do or illustrate who you are as a company. You could even consider including infographics or charts that use photos instead of, or in addition to, words.
10. Remember to make the text count.
Don’t be afraid of using lengthy copies if you need to; investors and other readers will appreciate it. You can include some short messages as well to give more visual interest (or break up longer sections) but make sure that the key messages are easy to find and read.
11. Let some things go.
If you’re struggling for ideas, don’t be afraid to recycle from previous annual reports if a particular style or format works well or is popular with readers. You can also design a template so you always have a good structure for your report no matter what the content is.
12. Make it interactive.
Your company report doesn’t have to be flat, two-dimensional pages you can flip through — make it more interesting for your readers by including some interactive elements. You could include embedded videos or interviews with key people, or even let readers download the report as a PDF file where they can interact with diagrams or charts.
13. Always keep it simple.
Don’t try anything overly complex; your annual report should be easy to navigate and read, with clear links between related items. Make sure the interface is intuitive for different devices (including mobile) and that all text can be easily found and read by visitors of any age or background.
14. Make it multimedia.
If you’re looking for new ways to engage with readers, consider including multimedia elements in your annual report. You could include a podcast or video interview with the CEO or some other key person; these segments could be embedded within the text and linked to as separate files too.
15. Use Venngage.
Venngage is an online graphic editing platform that also provides various annual report template designs that companies can use for free. To give you an idea, here are some annual report examples from their website.
The annual report is your company’s opportunity to tell the story of what you’ve achieved over the past year. It can be an excellent way for investors or customers to get a sense of who you are, how successful you were, and where you plan to go in future years.
If done well, this document will also help motivate your team members by showing them that their hard work has paid off. Make sure it’s relevant for all readers; educational without being technical; interactive but simple; multimedia without neglecting text content. What are you waiting for? Check out Venngage and start creating your annual report to successfully impress your shareholders!
