An impact report serves as a powerful tool to showcase your company’s contributions, and there’s no doubt your organization has a compelling story to tell. But that won’t mean very much if your report isn’t engaging, readers give up, and your story goes untold. It’s essential to make your report visually engaging to capture and retain your audience’s attention.
1. Reflect Your Brand’s Style
Your impact report is an extension of your brand, and as such, it should reflect your brand’s identity and values. This includes everything from the color scheme and typography to the photography style and iconography used throughout the report. Consistency is key here; maintaining a cohesive style not only reinforces your brand’s ethos but also ensures a seamless reading experience for your audience.
If your company already has brand guidelines in place, be sure to adhere to them when designing your impact report. If not, consider developing them to ensure consistency across all your communications channels. Remember, your impact report is an opportunity to not only showcase your company’s achievements but also reinforce its brand identity.
2. Streamline Content for Maximum Impact
Long blocks of text can overwhelm readers and diminish the impact of your message. To ensure your report is both informative and engaging, aim to reduce clutter and break up text into smaller, more digestible chunks. Each block of text should ideally contain no more than 80-100 words, allowing readers to consume information more easily.
Breaking up copy can be achieved in several ways including:
- Headers and subheaders: Because these headers will introduce new font sizes and weight, it will create visual interest while also creating a navigational hierarchy that will allow users to easily get where they want to go.
- Imagery: Ensure your images align with your brand tone and the context of the story you’re telling and you really can’t go wrong.
- A dynamic layout: Your copy doesn’t need to flow entirely across the page like in a blog. Block things in interesting ways to keep information engaging and digestible.
3. Harness the Power of Visuals
Images not only break up large chunks of copy but also provide visual context and appeal to the emotions of your audience. Consider incorporating photographs of your employees in action, whether it’s volunteering in the community or working together to achieve your company’s mission. Showing will be just as meaningful, if not more so, than telling.
Furthermore, don’t underestimate the importance of data visualization. Complex data points can be difficult for readers to grasp when presented in a purely textual format. By transforming them into simple, easy-to-understand graphics, you not only make the information more accessible but also enhance its impact.
4. Embrace the Power of Animation
Incorporating animation into your impact report can take it to the next level, making it more dynamic and exciting. Animations can be as subtle as copy appearing or moving on-screen as you scroll, which can be achieved easily without coding through pre-built modules on things like WordPress. You can also introduce more complex animation through embedded animated videos or the use of Lottie files, which are used to make robust animations that trigger on scroll and can be effective in leading your reader down the page.
For example, imagine a bar chart that animates as the reader scrolls down the page, illustrating the growth of your company’s impact over time. There are really fun opportunities here, as long as you host your report on the web.
