Why content strategy must go beyond words and pictures to drive impact

Once you understand what your audiences need, you can now use a whole new set of tools to give them what they want

29 September 2026
Image courtesy of the Guardian

James Gadsby Peet leads digital and strategic thinking at William Joseph

Moving past static web pages

For years, charity content strategies have relied on a familiar combination of written copy and hero images. While this approach serves basic informational needs, it often struggles to capture the complexity of the issues charities face.

As search habits change and generic information becomes easily available everywhere, standard articles risk losing impact. To stand out and build meaningful connections with audiences, content teams must look at formats that offer deeper engagement.

Developing rich, interactive experiences allows charities to bring their mission to life in ways that static text can not replicate. By combining multimedia, personalised tools and clear narrative structures, you can turn passive readers into active participants.

The power of immersive digital storytelling

Title graphic for The Guardian interactive report titled "Firestorm," featuring an orange-tinted photograph of the Holmes family taking shelter during a Tasmanian bushfire
Digital media outlets have long recognised the value of immersive storytelling. 
Header image for The New York Times interactive feature "Snow Fall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek" by John Branch, showing a wind-swept, snow-covered mountain slope under a gray sky.
Projects like The New York Times’ Snowfall and The Guardian’s Firestorm demonstrated how audio, video and interactive graphics can draw readers into a complex narrative.

Charities can adapt these same techniques to share beneficiary experiences and campaigning messages. Rather than asking users to read a long report, an immersive format allows them to explore the story at their own pace.

This level of depth builds empathy and trust. When people experience a narrative through rich visuals and interactions, they gain a clearer understanding of the issue, making them more likely to support your cause.

Chris Unitt draws the distinction between Passive and participatory experiences: 

“Sit-back experiences are passive. Reading an article, scrolling through social posts - anything where you’re counting views and impressions. A person might be engaged, but it can be hard to tell. Lean-forward experiences invite participation. With these, people are given agency to do something - zooming in on a detail, answering questions, or choosing their own adventure.”

He also highlights a number of recent cultural institutions that have leaned into more immersive pieces of storytelling content - including the new British Museum Bayeux tapestry online experience:

The British Museum’s new online exhibition for the Bayeux tapestry will see millions of people experience the story it tells without ever stepping foot in the museum
Interactive web interface showing a section of the Bayeux Tapestry depicting King Edward seated on a throne wearing a crown and holding a sceptre while speaking to figures. An overlay panel on the right provides historical information about King Edward.

Driving action with data-driven tools

Beyond narrative storytelling, data-driven tools offer a practical way to make abstract social issues feel personal and urgent.

The Church Urban Fund’s Look Up Tool is a clear example. By entering a parish name, users access localised census and deprivation data that reveals specific community needs. This can be crucial evidence for funding bids and service development. 

Web page for Church Urban Fund showing data for East Greenwich: Christ Church, St Andrew & St Michael, with a population of 30,562. Features a "Parish deprivation ranking" widget indicating the parish ranks 5,905 out of 12,134 in England, accompanied by a map outlining the parish boundaries
Table displaying social and economic statistics for a church parish compared against lowest and highest figures in the diocese and nation. Key categories covered include Child, Pensioner, and Working age poverty, Male and Female life expectancy, Education and housing qualifications, and Demographics such as lone parent households and people living alone.
Data page showing Poverty and Health metrics for East Greenwich: Christ Church, St Andrew & St Michael compared with national and diocese averages. Bar charts display Child, Pensioner, and Working age poverty rates, while timeline charts display Male and Female life expectancy numbers.
Church Urban Funds’ tool allows users to access localised census and deprivation data that reveals specific community needs

Similarly, Labour’s NHS birth number lookup tool connected individual life experiences directly to political campaigning by showing users where their birth sat in the history of the health service.

These tools transform passive information into personal insight. They allow service users, campaigners and local advocates to uncover relevant facts quickly, turning complex datasets into clear reasons for local action.

Labour’s NHS baby number campaign engaged thousands of people in an otherwise simple celebration of the NHS
Web page for a Labour Party campaign titled "Tell us your birthday, and we'll tell you which number baby you were," featuring a photo of a sleeping newborn baby in a white knitted blanket alongside interactive form fields for date of birth, name, email, and postcode.

Building the internal capability to experiment

Creating rich digital formats requires a shift in how teams collaborate. It involves bringing designers, developers, subject experts and comms specialists together early in the planning process.

You do not need massive budgets to begin exploring interactive formats. Content teams can start small by testing simple interactive components before scaling up.

Focus on a single user need

Identify one area where static text is failing to convey impact or clarity. Use that specific issue to test a simple calculator, interactive map or visual timeline.

Use structured content foundations

Ensure your underlying content is structured logically in your CMS. Building clean content models makes it easier to feed data into interactive components across multiple channels.

Use paired writing and co-design sessions to bring subject experts and digital producers together. Co-creation ensures that technical tools remain grounded in real human stories and clinical accuracy. Using the core model above, can help people work together to identify user needs and how to meet them with content. 
image_49e473.png Alt text: Diagram outlining the Core Page model framework with six gray blocks arranged in two rows beneath a black header labeled "Core page". Top row blocks read "Business goals", "User tasks", and "User context". Bottom row blocks, indicating flow, read "Inward paths", "Core content", and "Forward paths".

Creating long-term value through interactive formats

Relying solely on standard web copy limits the depth of connection you can build with your audience. By investing in immersive narratives and data exploration tools, charities can offer distinct digital experiences that algorithms can not replicate.

At William Joseph, we help organisations design digital products and content experiences that drive real understanding. Exploring rich formats helps your team move from broadcasting information to creating genuine engagement.