Just the words alone, Annual Report, sound impressive and big league.
Most corporations are required by law to publish an annual report. But what about a small business that doesn’t have any investors or shareholders and isn’t required to do a yearly summary?
Annual reports are not just for the big corporations anymore.
It makes perfect marketing sense for a smaller business to get into the game.
It’s a great way to be different, to stay in contact with your best customers, and to draw in new customers. Serious customers want information about what they’re buying and with whom they’re doing business. An educated customer is the best kind.
A small business report isn’t an expensively printed and bound book with a fancy embossed cover. An online PDF will work perfectly.
It doesn’t need, and in fact it shouldn’t have, any charts, graphs, numbers or financial outlooks.
Let photography do the heavy lifting
A small business report must have one thing in common with the big corporate reports: good photography. Pictures say a lot about a company.
• Let customers know what to expect from your company. Do you have any new products or services coming in the next few months?
• Profile some of your employees, and not just the executives. What exactly do these employees do for the customer?
• Feature customers who use your products or services. Testimonials always get reader attention.
• Show behind-the-scenes at your repair department, customer service area, quality control lab, or any other area that is ready to support the customer.
• Give out as much information (text and visual) as possible. Where do you source your materials? What goes into your quality control? What do you do with customer feedback? What’s good about your industry?
• Bonus points for being upfront and honest with your customers. If a product or service you offered was a flop, tell them and explain why. Show that you’re on the consumers’ side.
Many businesses offer online newsletters or other email subscriptions. Most of these are just thinly-disguised advertisements.
Separate your annual report from the hordes of online newsletters and other spam by using original photography, and don’t use clip art or stock pictures. Be sure you include contain real useful information and not advertising.
An annual report isn’t about advertising, it’s about enhancing your brand. Small businesses have to think big league.
