A company’s annual report is an important and prestigious document. It is a once-a-year opportunity to tell your story to the world, to let people know what you have achieved, to remind them of your values and to share the things that you are proudest of. At Spark we are on a mission to make annual reports exciting, engaging, informative, and impactful.
Let Us Tell the
Story of Your
Year
When you consider the time, effort and resources that go into the production of a good quality annual report, it is a shame that often the documents are printed off and remain unread.
That is why we are constantly innovating, looking for new ways to tell your story to your investors, customers and stakeholders.
By blending the most modern technology with traditional storytelling techniques, Spark can help you to amplify and communicate your achievements to key stakeholders. Often, the content of an annual report is dry, but we are able to bring the numbers and key facts from the year to life in a range of different ways.
Why Digital?
A digital report is not simply a PDF version of the document that can be downloaded and read online. Instead, it is a way of using video, interactive websites, infographics and other techniques to create engagement and impact. This is why there is a growing trend for major companies like Airbus, Mailchimp and Walmart to move their annual reports to a more interactive online platform.
Like ourselves at Spark, these companies know that digital annual reports have a range of benefits which can achieve so more than a report produced only in a traditional format.
So have you gone digital yet?
Here are what we believe to be the four biggest reasons that your business should be considering making its next annual report a digital one.
01
Flexibility
Firstly, digital reports are more flexible than print. They allow you to present information in new and different ways. If you are proud of a new product or service, then highlight it with a video – let customers see or experience what it is that you have achieved. If there are key facts or information that you want to convey, then you can incorporate infographics, to bring the numbers to life.
The other great benefit is that you can tailor specific information to different groups of people. For instance, your shareholders might be interested in some issues that your customers are not, or you might have certain products which you only offer in particular geography. With a digital annual report, you can focus specific messages for particular users. In turn, they are able to navigate their own pathways through the information easily and quickly, to find what is most relevant to them.
02
Accessibility
2020 has taught us that all businesses benefit from strong digital platforms. COVID has shown us that finding ways to connect with customers and stakeholders that are not face to face is critical if you are to maintain your brand.
There are other benefits too. No more printing and distribution costs, and a reduction in the use of paper helping you to deliver on your wider sustainability goals.
By shifting channel from print to digital, your annual report goes from being ‘a report that you read’ to a ‘site that you visit’. It stops being a one-off annual snapshot, and can be easily incorporated into your communication strategy throughout the year.
03
Story telling
Digital reports can tell your company’s story more effectively. They are simply more engaging. We all know that despite the costs and effort that go into traditional reports, many printed copies are never read. With a digital report, the story is told much more effectively.
Additionally, with a digital report, you can track exactly who is reading it, when, and what they are looking at. This level of data analytics can provide real insight and analysis about what your customers think about the work that you do. This can help you to develop new products and services, and to target them at audiences much more effectively.
04
Interactive
A high-quality digital report is something that your customers can engage with dynamically, rather than passively.
This provides your key audiences with the opportunity to interact with you as a business. With a printed report, communication is all one way. It is you telling the world something. A digital report allows the world to speak back. Customers and stakeholders can feedback their own views, tell you what they like, comment on the work that you are doing.
To us this is one of the key benefits. The brands of the future need to be connected to customers, need to be shaped through interactions with them. The traditional annual report does not allow that to happen.
How Spark Can Help
At Spark we specialize in producing digital annual reports which are flexible, accessible, engaging and innovative. We have already helped businesses like STC and Ma’aden to move their annual reports to a digital platform. Isn’t it time for you to make the same leap?
To learn more about how we can use the latest technological innovations to shape and share your story get in touch.
