Impact vs Content

Cutting through the noise, being visible and creating real change.

Nancy - from the campaign "Girls Not Brides"

When I take on collaborations or commissions, there is a common request that makes my heart sink... "Create as much content as you can". Sometimes this is the only directive I am given.

Content has become synonymous with an abundance of material that is designed to be churned out at a high enough rate to satisfy the appetite of streamers, social media scrollers and hourly news updates.

In this world within which we operate, the world of making a tangible difference in the lives of others, do we really just value content? Do we just want as much as we can get? Do we just want to add to the noise?

Content isn't what we should be striving for. We should be striving for impact.

Imagine if my only directive for a project was not "create as much content as you can" but "create as much impact as you can". That changes everything. That puts the goal posts on a completely different pitch. That's the kind of organisation I want to work with. That's the kind of brief that shows intent.

Marlene Ann Cozett - From the campaign "Mums of the Cape Flats"

What Do You Want?

Would you prefer a jar filled with 5000 one penny coins or a single £50 note? They are both the same amount of money.

With the coins you could give them out one by one and make a tiny impact on a lot of people, but not a single person would care. With the note, you could generously gift one person and your gesture would be memorable and noteworthy (pun intended).

Do you want to make an abundance of content that has a tiny impact on a lot of people? Or something noteworthy and memorable that engages a smaller, vital audience and points them towards a way that they could be a part of making things better?

Don't get me wrong, I understand the need to post on social media. Why not? It's right there and it's easy. Everyone else is doing it so it feels like the safe bet. Feed the beast and you can go to sleep knowing that you have played your part putting something out into the world.

But almost everything is immediately forgettable.

And I understand the want for more content out of a project. You want value for money and value feels linked inextricably with quantity. Large banks of images that can fill a content calendar for the next year seem like a good investment.

But do you want content or do you want impact?

Antoinette Mtshabe - from the campaign "Textbooks Matter"

What If You Could Have Both?

My focus is on impact. But I understand the need for content. What if there was a way of getting both? And in having both, they work together to exponentially increase each other's effectiveness.

I think you can have both, but you have to start with impact.

Create a high-impact campaign and the content is all there for the taking. And not just any old content but compelling content that is tailored to engage more of the right people.

When we start with impact, we make a targeted campaign that considers:

• Who we want to reach.

• How to reach them.

• What we want them to know.

• What we want them to do.

• How they bring other people in.

  
  

When you look at it, it is pretty much a classic marketing plan.

When we devise our central campaign to fulfil these parameters, we have the foundations of something that could have real impact, something that could reach the right people, engage them, galvanise them to action and encourage them to share the campaign with like-minded people.

It might not be a lot of content, it might just be the right amount to engage, inform and motivate.

Once we have that central campaign - that compelling, considered, curated body of work; we can create more content around it. Content that links back it, bringing more people in and providing more opportunities for sharing. 

Nosipho Eunice Dala - from the campaign "The Price of Gold"

The Central Campaign

Let's presume that our central campaign is a photographic series featuring portraits of people who have suffered the loss of someone close to them through contamination of drinking water by a local factory.

The 16 portraits, and accompanying stories, are going to be exhibited in the town where the tragedy took place, they will also be published as a website and sent out as a media pack to mainstream publications.

Through the exhibition, publications and website the public will be encouraged to add their voice, leave comments and share the stories. Local people who care about their community are our audience and our call to action will be designed to put pressure on local government officials, the people who have the power to do something.

This is the central campaign. It is the core material that provides the impact. It can be repackaged in many different ways but at the heart of it, it is simply 16 real human stories told through powerful portraits and written articles.

Nomsa and Valumsindo Fana - from the campaign "Postcards from Xolobeni"

Content That Connects

Around our central campaign we build content that connects back to it and creates longevity. We can make lots of content that can be posted for months to come, all of which engages a wider audience and then leads back to the same place, the central campaign, multiplying the impact.

Here's a few ideas of content we could make:

• Document the journey - landscapes

• Behind The Scenes - the making of the campaign

• Video interview clips with the subjects

• Quotes from interviews

• Audio recordings

• Video/Stills of the exhibition

• Vox pops of audience reactions to the exhibition

• Testimonials

• Impact Statements

• Screenshots of media publications

This is just a short, off-the-top-of-my-head list of ideas but each campaign will lend itself to multiple forms of associated content. Content which all leads back to the central campaign.

Monthla & Thetho Ngobeni from the campaign "Life After Listeriosis"

Cutting Through The Noise

Here's the kicker... For the projects where I have made "as much content as possible". The content hardly every gets used effectively. It mostly gets put in a metaphorical drawer with the intention of posting at some point in the future.

When it eventually does get published, it is often without real consideration and is typically ignored. Because nobody wants content without substance anymore.

I hate it when this happens. It is a waste of my time and your money. Most importantly, it is a disservice to the subjects of the photographs; the people who have generously given their time and story. The people who have often had to relive a traumatic event or remember a loved one. The people who we said we would give a voice to and then we just filed it under "content" and forgot all about it.

Your audience doesn't want content. They want real. They want human. They want empathy, connection and understanding. They want to feel like they can be part of something that actually creates change.

We aren't doing that with "as much content as possible". We're just feeding a beast that never gets full.