Instax photos of La Pulga storytelling booth participants made by photojournalist Hiram Alejandro Durán hang at the El Tímpano booth at the flea market in Oakland, Calif. Photo: Katherine Nagasawa | El Tímpano
How images can increase engagement and revenue
Replicable case studies that prove the value of visuals
News organizations can gain further return on their investments in visuals by developing projects that directly increase engagement and revenue. Increased engagement helps bring readers through the audience funnel, converting them into loyal readers and/or subscribers.
Below you’ll find two case studies that increase engagement and revenue which you can replicate in your newsroom.
Case Study # 1: Visuals for an award-winning engagement project
Need: El Tímpano sought creative ways to engage with its audience: Latino and Mayan immigrant communities.
Solution: Create a month-long storytelling booth at the weekly flea market “La Pulga” – a cultural and social hub for Latino and Mayan communities at the Oakland Coliseum – resulting in the bilingual project Portraits from La Pulga produced in collaboration with the CatchLight Local Visual Desk.
How:
Promotion/Outreach:
Pre-launch
- Sent several messages to their SMS subscribers inviting them to visit their booth over three weekends, take instant photos and share their experiences of the market with El Tímpano
- Distributed flyers during in-person events and on social media
During launch
- Published a teaser Instagram reel
Process: El Tímpano’s Special Project Manager Mayra Sierra collaborated with photojournalist Hiram Alejandro Durán to develop an idea for a participatory storytelling booth that would capture portraits and audio recordings of patrons and vendors. More than 70 people participated.
Staff spent 4.5 hours each weekend over three consecutive weekends. They invited people into the booth, Hiram would take two photos of them (one for the newsroom and one for the participant), and another staff member would process their photograph and release forms while a third staff member interviewed them with a field recorder and microphone.
At the end, participants were given their photographs, told more about El Tímpano and invited to join the outlet’s SMS platform. El Tímpano’s SMS platform is the main delivery method for actionable news and information for Spanish-speaking immigrants in the Bay Area and for sourcing story ideas for their in-depth journalism.
Supplies/Cost:
- $160 – Instax Square SQ6
- $250 – Instax film
- $255 – La Pulga booth reservation/rental for three weekends
- $130 – Grid wall for displaying instant photos
- $250 – Booth decor including blue fabric photo backdrop and decorative elements to make the booth fit into the overall aesthetic of La Pulga
- $300 – Travel and food stipends
El Tímpano Special Projects Manager Mayra Sierra and photojournalist Hiram Alejandro Durán designed a pop-up storytelling booth to capture over 75 stories from patrons of La Pulga in Oakland, Calif. The booth allowed El Tímpano to engage face-to-face with community members and highlight an institution that reflects the diversity of the Bay Area. Katherine Nagasawa/El Tímpano
Impact:
New SMS subscribers: 30. This helped further their goal of growing their SMS audience to better serve Bay Area immigrants with the information they need and amplifying their stories to policymakers and other stakeholders.
Reach:
Pageviews:
- Portraits from La Pulga had about 700 pageviews between the English and Spanish versions, and the corresponding Instagram posts reached 441 and 269 people, respectively.
- Photographer Hiram Alejandro Durán also pitched the idea of documenting the flea market in general using instant film photography. That story, “Memories of the Market,” is the 7th top story of the year in terms of page views on El Tímpano’s website.
Co-publishing partners:
- KQED (online)
- El Tecolote (print and online)
High engagement on socials and from SMS subscribers:
- El Tímpano’s main Instagram post promoting the project got some of the most likes and engagement of any post in 2024
- SMS subscribers provided anecdotal responses to the story: “As a kid, I grew up going to the Pulga (both Oakland and San Jose) almost every weekend. These images and soundbites brought nostalgia.”
Awards:
Case Study # 2: Visuals for an auction with a gross profit of $26,000
Need: The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) Visual Task Force (VTF) hoped to raise funds for their photojournalism scholarship.
Solution: NABJ VTF auctioned a collection of 35 photos, including images donated by The New York Times, the Associated Press and other partners.
How:
Promotion/Outreach:
Pre-launch
- Organizers emailed past major donors to the NABJ and all of the past donors to the VTF, asking what sort of images they would be interested in bidding on
During launch
- Published a behind-the-scenes video on social media with the backstory of how one of the auctioned images was made
- Emailed specific people who organizers thought would be interested
- Posted signage throughout the NABJ convention
- Sent newsletter about the auction to the entire NABJ membership
Process:
Planning began in January to identify images and sponsors. “What sells really well for us now is joy,” Danese Kenon, Managing Editor of Visuals at the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Chair of the NABJ auction committee, said, “Black people are really tired of seeing black bodies where we are bent or broken. Black people want to hang joy on their walls.” The final selection was a mix of historic and contemporary images. About ten people worked together to gather images and promote the auction.
The auction was held at the end of July 2024 and lasted three days. For the first time, it was hybrid: You had to be in person at the NABJ convention to bid on the ten premium prints, or you could bid online for the rest.
The ten premium prints were on display throughout the convention and then moved to a room for the live auction.
Supplies/Cost:
- $2,500 – printing
- $4,000 – matting, framing and then mailing of prints*
- $0 – Images were in-kind donations by photographers/outlets
*Kenon noted that the printing, matting and framing are a possible sponsorship opportunity for the future.
Impact:
Raised $26,000
Tips:
“Your archive is your key to having success,” Lance Washington, the National Association of Black Journalists Visual Task Force Chair, said. He says local newsrooms have a leg up because they already have an extensive archive to draw from for auctions and they know which images will resonate with their community.
Additionally, “the reason you are fundraising is important,” Kenon said. She says donors want to see young black photographers out in the field so an auction that is fundraising for just that further incentivizes them.
Kenon herself was a recipient of the scholarship over 20 years ago. It helped put her through college.
Cite this article
Kanaar, Michelle; and Schukar, Alyssa (2025, Feb. 5). How images can increase engagement and revenue. Reynolds Journalism Institute. Retrieved from: https://rjionline.org/news/how-images-can-increase-engagement-and-revenue/
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