Make your annual report sing

A university must be willing to innovate, adapt to educational trends and offer high-quality programmes to achieve academic excellence. It must then effectively communicate these achievements through an effective digital strategy. An annual report can collect all this information into a neat, shareable package.

By highlighting your institution’s annual progress in one document, you can generate interest and recognition from within the academic community and society. This can lead to greater visibility and an enhanced reputation, which, in turn, can attract new students and staff and opportunities for collaboration.

Planning for success

The report must be planned months ahead of its publication using a structured and interdisciplinary approach that fosters a shared sense of achievement among all parties involved. Because it is likely to be authored by many valuable collaborators, ensuring its messaging is consistent is key. Here are some things to consider.

Form a cross-functional team: establish a cross-functional reporting team with representatives from key departments. Regular meetings should encourage effective communication and allow all departments to share progress, successes and challenges. This will ensure that each area’s input feels integral to the project. 

Project tracking: use standardised templates or digital platforms such as Google Drive to document project milestones, objectives and outcomes. This helps with tracking its progress and ensures that data is always available, even beyond publication.

Content collection and editing: define clear criteria and deadlines for submitting information for content managers in each department. Put together an editorial team in charge of standardising the messaging to ensure the report’s coherence. 

Visual and graphic design: brief a design team on establishing a graphic identity for the report. This should include fonts, colours, imagery and support material that creates a coherent creative appearance. Using templates for specific types of data such as infographics and charts can streamline the design process. The design process should be iterative, with flexibility for revisions to ensure the report’s quality.

Analysis and evaluation: identify metrics that align with the institution’s objectives to assist with evaluating the effectiveness and impact of the report. This will allow you to highlight successes and areas for improvement later.

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Maximising the report’s reach

Develop a timely and robust digital communications campaign to disseminate messages and enhance your report’s reach. Engage a range of audiences using a multichannel approach. Some of the best conduits are your university’s website, external websites, social media channels, email newsletters, teacher and student networks and academic conferences or other educational events.

Schedule content to be published to coincide with the report release across your social media and newsletter channels. Prepare a press release tailored to local and national media outlets. Additionally, create a microsite or interactive PDF version of the report to make it more accessible and engaging.

Hosting a launch event

We recommend planning a report launch around significant academic or institutional events, such as the university’s anniversary or an annual conference. 

An in-person or online launch event could include keynote presentations and panel discussions on key report findings that allow deeper engagement with the content and prompt media interest.

Harnessing the wealth of expertise at your institution, you can create an engaging annual report filled with achievements. But without an effective communication strategy, it won’t reach the people who need to see it the most. Use these tips to empower your institution’s staff to contribute to a report that you’re proud of. Once you are ready, use a range of promotional activities to gain greater coverage and expand its impact. 

Ana Fuster is a content and media leader at the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Perla Téllez is a digital content designer at the Monterrey Institute of Technology.

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