In my previous articles, I have already shared my thoughts on report formats and the significance of timing in report publication. Now, I want to explain why it is crucial to publish a report in all formats simultaneously.

In brief, I believe that early and simultaneous publication of corporate reports is a key factor in their effectiveness. This impression is supported by research my colleagues and I conducted over 10 years ago.

Now, let’s delve into some insights gathered from projects completed by our team:

Companies with a well-developed free float and high-quality reporting experience the peak of report reading efficiency within the first 2-4 weeks.

Stakeholders will choose PDF or interactive format regardless of their features. The key factor is what gets published first.

We have observed attempts by stakeholders to search for reports several days, and sometimes weeks, before the expected publication date. They browse for reports through search engines and corporate websites, and they make direct visits to the domain where the interactive report will be hosted.

In other words, within a month after publication, your report will communicate with stakeholders most effectively.

Let’s model the situation and imagine that:

You released your report in PDF format,

You issued a release with a link to it, placed it on the website, and maybe even sent targeted emails to key stakeholders,

The online version will be slightly delayed by, let’s say, a month until the agency completes it (considering the significant volume).

In this case, your stakeholders will be reading your report in PDF format, which will become the primary communication tool. They will only learn about the online version AFTER satisfying their initial demand for the reporting information. In other words, the online version will be an additional and optional tool that may complement, but not replace, user impressions already formed after reading the PDF file.

I would go further to say that some projects have a unique practice of publishing reports in three different formats. This is due to regional regulatory peculiarities.

PDF saved from MS Word (without design)

Designed PDF

Interactive (Online) Report

There was a 30-day gap between the first and second formats. According to our data, the “unattractive” file was the most sought-after by stakeholders because it was released first. The effort, time, and money invested into PDF and online formats turned out to be less than optimal investments.

This happened a long time ago, and we learned a lesson: subsequently, we published all formats as synchronously as possible to provide stakeholders with an organic choice of report format.

Sync it right: why is simultaneous report publishing across all formats important?