Buzzwords Copywriting Manchester

Copywriting for Annual Reports will always be challenging. That’s where I’m at right now - writing away on behalf of a major UK organisation!

Annual Reports must rank as one of the most important documents any business will ever produce. Writing Annual Reports is all about balance - talking in an authoritative way about strategy, Key Performance Indicators, performance itself, people and plans for the future… but all the while making sure that key stakeholders will be able to identify with what the organisation does, where it’s going in the future, and how its achievements are measured and presented.

With all this corporate ‘background noise’ going on, writing effective Annual Reports is as much about acquiring and organising the right information as it is about a consistent copywriting approach. It’s vital to establish a structure from the outset, rather like a website sitemap. This should of course be established in close partnership with the Report’s designer. Decisions on page layouts, photography and graphics are dictated by content and how the information flows.

Achieving balance in the copywritten content is about combining readability with authority.  It’s all too easy to slip into inappropriate informality when writing copy that must always be ‘accessible’ to readers of all persuasions.  This blog, for instance, is written in a fairly informal style.  Taking a similar approach to the copywriting for an Annual Report might cut it with certain journalists or shareholders - but it’s not going to work with bankers and financiers who are looking for a serious and professional analysis of the organisation. 

They may go home and morph into ‘normal’ creatures like you or I - but for the purposes of Annual Report copywriting, it pays to watch your tone!

It’s amazing how many people call me with the question: ‘Have you ever worked in… beta blockers/timeshares/materials handling’ - or some other highly specific industry. Any half-way decent copywriter can turn his hand to almost any subject.  That’s simply because it’s experience of copywriting techniques that matters - not the subject matter being written about.  (That can always be researched.)  Just for the record, I’ve worked on some very obscure topics.  Here’s a few of the more ‘mainstream’ sectors:

Travel Copywriting - Upmarket or down dale.  UK hotels or jet-set hideaways.  Brochures, ads and direct mail.  Nothing fazes me with travel copywriting - although it has to be said that this is a more difficult writing genre than many imagine.

Industrial Copywriting - This is a catch-all label for what covers a multitude. If you want to find out about the diversity of UK industry, become a copywriter!  (I did - but not for that reason.)

Financial Copywriting - Banks, building societies, insurance companies, financial advisers, brokers and accountants - Ive written for them all.  Quite a mix, with some pretty impressive names too. 

Property Copywriting - Scene-setting and then getting to grips with the selling points of everything from a one-bed flat to a major mansion house - property writing has its own unique demands.  Brochures, news releases, ads - whatever your weapon, I’ve used it.

Advertising & Design Agencies - I know about agencies.  It’s where I started my advertising career, and I’ve written for hundreds of them since.  I know what agencies want - their target markets, the tone of voice needed.  If you have an agency and you’re reading this, I can probably help you get over the ‘cringe factor’ that comes from writing your own publicity!