Harnessing the power of digital reporting

Digital reporting is about amplifying the impact of your annual report. It need not be complicated or costly, but it should be non-negotiable.

For some, digital reporting means using AI to increase efficiencies or creating an HTML-native report in response to digital tagging requirements. For others, it is about adopting screen-friendly formats and creating searchable, easily navigable documents. While these are all valid ambitions, digital reporting is also how companies promote, display, and repurpose their reports online to maximise stakeholder engagement.

Unless someone receives a printed copy of your annual report, they will access it online. This starts a digital journey. How are companies using this opportunity to realise the full online potential of their reporting?

Tailored experiences

Audiences consume content in different ways. We often use this analogy to explain user behaviour: skimmers, swimmers and divers.

Skimmers dip into reports, maybe looking for specific facts or figures. Swimmers spend a few minutes absorbing summarised information. The divers get into the full detail. Reporting needs to cater for all of these readers and online reporting is particularly effective here, allowing readers to navigate information in a way – and to a level of detail – to suit their needs.

Digital reporting approaches vary but many adopt online annual reviews to complement downloadable pdfs and surface key themes from the year. Savvy reporters embed video within these overviews, such as a talking head with leadership or a short overview of the strategy. Others include features like interactive results that can fully exploit the strengths of a digital format. The best examples promote stories from their reporting suite as part of these summaries, providing an accessible window into the key achievements of the year, in a format that appeals to a diverse range of audiences. 

Reporting hubs, where information is clearly organised with audience requirements in mind, are being favoured. The most sophisticated might include live performance dashboards, but at a more basic level this could simply be a repository where compliance documents are supplemented by additional information – such as topic-specific reports or sustainability data sheets in excel – tailored to different needs.

Social media is a powerful tool to drive readers to your report and extend the life and reach of its content. Implementing a promotional campaign to support the report’s launch, which draws out performance highlights or case studies to support your business strategy, is a proven way to push engagement. 

Missed opportunities

Somewhat surprisingly, our 2024 FTSE 350 research showed that only 48% of companies produce an online review alongside the annual report and mind-bogglingly, almost 50% of companies failed to launch their reporting on social channels. These statistics illustrate that, despite the best practices identified, many companies are missing a clear opportunity to optimise the value of their reporting. With 2024 reports now being published, our 2025 research is underway and it will be interesting to see developments in companies’ approaches to digital.

Amplify your communications

Overall, there are five key things to think about when looking to make greater use of digital formats and channels.

1. Consider your user journey – the majority of stakeholders will be accessing your report online. Therefore, the document needs to be well promoted (both on your website itself and through wider channels), but also think about where the journey may go afterwards. Are there supporting stories or greater detail that would be worth linking up?
2. Cater to a wider range of audiences – in contrast to your investor-focused report, more diverse stakeholders are likely to engage with website or social media content, including employees, customers and job seekers. 
3. Improve accessibility – extracting key features or stories from your report makes content accessible on all devices. Reading a standard pdf on a mobile is almost impossible! 
4. Create consistency – repurposing material from the report on the website helps maintain consistency in your messaging and content across your different channels, reinforcing the most important points.
5. Measure engagement and impact – a digital review, unlike a regular pdf, can provide far richer data and insight into audience behaviour and interests, instead of being limited to the number of downloads. 

There are obvious benefits to using digital formats to make more of your annual report. We know the energy and expertise that goes into producing a report every year, so locking it away within a pdf risks that hard work being limited. Give the biggest stories and most important messages the platform they deserve.

To keep up to date with the findings of our 2025 research into FTSE 350, AIM and Euronext reporters, sign up for alerts.