This year's Evolution of the Annual Report conference takes place in London on 13 September. Salterbaxter is leading the session on reputational resilience

For most businesses, it is becoming increasingly challenging to satisfy all requirements in a single report. As reporting agendas become more complex, audiences demand greater sophistication on non-financial issues, and on top of this, expectations for return on investment from this extensive process are ever-growing. For reporting teams, this highlights a need to find new ways to capitalise on existing reporting efforts.

In response we’ve developed our campaignable approach. How can companies squeeze more value from the hard work of reporting? Campaignable reporting isn’t just about creating sharable content; it’s bigger than that. What’s more, it’s an approach that’s largely underused by most companies. Unfortunately, this means that the majority of businesses are missing opportunities to reassert their ambitions, talk about their progress and reconnect over and over again with their stakeholders in relevant, timely and useful ways.

Salterbaxter’s unique campaignable approach sets a foundation for businesses that are taking a more active approach to strategy and sustainability targets, allowing them to build a dialogue and proactively respond to the changing needs of society and the planet. This method also creates an opportunity for businesses to make their report content more relevant for their audiences and engaging employees, empowering employee advocacy and increasing talent attraction. In turn, strengthening their reputation, and reinforcing their resilience as a responsible business.

Campaignable reporting allows you to address emerging issues, and fill information gaps as they occur, connecting your audiences to relevant reported activities or achievements in real time. After all, if you’re already creating so many great value stories as part of your reporting process, why not use them to build greater awareness rather than leaving them suspended in your reports?

It’s not about creating new work, it’s about integrating into the existing process and making what you already do work harder.

Leaders in campaignable reporting are shunning the traditional model in favour of this new approach for a number of reasons. Not only does it allow them to explore new ways to create engagement around the launch of the report itself, it also gives them the opportunity to develop a communications platform that strengthens their strategic positioning.

We have seen some great examples of this in recent years, such as live streaming, using platforms to ‘share the moment’ and invite views, targeting audiences at the point of sale and enhanced data visualisation methods. In short, this is allowing them to unlock a return on investment from their existing reporting activity over a number of months.

There’s no one size fits all approach to campaignable reporting, and we believe that every business should develop their own blueprint; begin by defining an approach that properly represents them, their goals and their level of ambition. At Salterbaxter, we’ve developed our audit as a tool that helps us to identify new opportunities for engagement as a starting point for this unique reporting approach.

We’ve used this auditing process to track those who are leading the way in campaignable reporting, and the insights we gained from this process now help our clients to evaluate where they are on the reporting spectrum, and how they can improve their approach in each of four broad areas – reach, content, dialogue and impact.

When we compare the results of each individual audit – even those of pioneers – we always find new ways for companies to maximise their return across the reporting year. Our methodology is about finding the unique solution that best suits each business, and it’s this approach that guides us at Salterbaxter.

Sarah Wood is head of digital insight and engagement at Salterbaxter

Book your places at the Evolution of the Annual Report now