How organisations can measure the impact of storytelling

Stories can raise awareness, change perceptions, support fundraising or influence decisions. Each objective needs different evidence. Write down the objective and the audience before production starts, and agree two or three indicators that will show whether it worked. The Barcelona Principles, the international principles for communication measurement, make measurable goals the first step.¹

• Reach: how many people saw the content, and where
• Engagement: watch time, completion rates, shares and comments
• Action: downloads, sign-ups, enquiries or event registrations
• Perception: what audiences and partners now think or understand
• Use: whether partners, media or decision-makers used the content

A film seen by thousands but watched for five seconds has achieved little. Completion rates and time spent watching tell you more than views. For photographs, look at how often they are downloaded, republished or used in reports.

The Barcelona Principles ask organisations to measure outputs, outcomes and potential impact, and state that advertising value equivalents are not the value of communication.¹

Some of the strongest evidence of impact is use. Did a minister share the film? Did a partner include the photographs in its annual report? Did a journalist pick up the story? Keep a simple log of every use.

For development organisations, a story used in a donor report or a funding proposal can be worth more than a large social media audience.

Short surveys, interviews with partners and feedback from the communities in the story add depth to the numbers. A quote from a partner explaining how a film changed a conversation is powerful evidence. The Barcelona Principles also call for both qualitative and quantitative evidence.¹

• One objective, written in plain language
• Two or three indicators linked to that objective
• A baseline, if possible, before the content is published
• A date to review results, for example after one and three months
• One place to record results and uses

• Counting only views and likes
• Measuring without a clear objective
• Forgetting to record how partners used the content
• Reviewing too early, before the content has been used