Annual Reports: A competitive differentiator

Annual Reports are required of all public companies. While some elect to publish the minimum information required by law, others see their Annual Report as an opportunity to showcase the achievements of the past year to current and potential investors; press and analysts; customers and partners. Indeed, a well-written and attractive Annual Report can be a competitive differentiator, helping brand a company by listing past accomplishments and strategic direction.

In order for an Annual Report to have maximum impact, it?s important that not only are the financial statements accurate, but that the whole report, from the Chairman?s letter to product and program information, is compelling and coherent.

Design

Creative graphic design is a feature of many Annual Reports. Awards for creative design acknowledge those that have invested in a unique look and feel. Some of these Reports rival the trendiest of European fashion magazines in eye-catching color, layout and style.

Content

However, it?s content that matters. Awards that judge Reports based on narrative as well as design are more accurate reflections of the publications use to investors. Very few investors are likely to be swayed by design alone. But a well-written Annual Report, like the Award Winning 2011 Wolters Kluwer Annual Report that I worked on, can focus attention on the best aspects of a companies competitive advantages, product offerings and benefits.

Writing your Annual Report

Producing a well-written Annual Report takes time. Staff in Marketing and PR are the people most likely to be tasked with gathering information from across the organization. In order to create content, they will need to contact subject experts in sales, engineering, support and administration. A well-written Report should contain a mix of data and human interest stories to attract and keep the readers attention. While there?s no way to dress up the Financial Statements, nor would regulators permit this, the rest of the Report can tell stories that showcase the best aspects of the company.

Hiring a freelance writer

In-house staff face the challenge of finding time to research, collate and write the Report on top of their existing duties. Hiring an experienced freelance writer not only relieves this time crunch, but also offers a new perspective. Especially for organizations with multiple divisions, an outside writer can bring coherence to a report which might otherwise seem as if it has been patched together from different sources.

In future blog postings I?ll be sharing my own experience as a freelance writer working on Annual Reports and, in addition to listing tips and tricks, suggesting ways to make the collaboration between freelancer and in-house staff as effective as possible.

If you have any specific questions you?d like me to address, please leave a comment.

Source: http://www.exec-comms.com/blog/2012/10/06/annual-reports-a-competitive-differentiator/

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