Contextualizing Screams - Using Photo, Video, and Text to Share Your Business Passion

Sometimes, in business, the best way to express yourself isn't through words, but through a 'scream.'

My music tastes run in cycles. Currently, I'm firmly in the midst of a soul/funk revival – think 60s Motown and 70s Parliament/Funkadelic – and as I was listening, it hit me that there are valuable communications and marketing lessons to be learned.

Hear me out. Honestly.

Take Otis Redding's song "Try a Little Tenderness." Otis builds slowly, imploring the listener to be there for her, reminding the listener that 'she' has troubles, grief, and cares. And as he builds up the urgency, as the music picks up tempo, as his imploring builds to a crescendo, he sings:

"You've got to love her, tease her, don't squeeze her/Gotta try unh, nah nah nah, try, try a little tenderness."

On its own, "uhn nah nah nah" means nothing. But in the context, we get it. It's a feeling, a passion that can't be expressed in words, but only rendered in sound.

James Brown made a career of that, because sometimes we feel so good, so passionate, and so strongly about something, that all you can do is scream, "Yeeeaahhh!!!" "Hah!" or "Heeeeeeyyyy!"

We spend so much time worrying about finding the right word or making sure that we're not excluding with our language that we can run the risk of losing the message – especially when that message is a feeling. Worse, by droning on in a format that doesn't speak to our readers, we risk putting them to sleep and turning them off of our brand completely.

Content strategy is not just about site architecture and copy; it's about working with all the elements at your disposal to convey a feeling or a message to a customer base. You want to motivate your customers to take action. Words may not be the best way to stoke those flames.

So how do you go from words on a screen to building up to a 'scream?'

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

As a word guy, it can pain me to say that, but sometimes it's true. As evocative as language can be, sometimes the direct line to a person's heart is a visual. Quality counts so make sure that the thousand words are the right ones.

We've told you which photos to avoid in the past. And just because everyone can take photos (the technology is so cheap and accessible now), it doesn't mean they all should. Amateurs stage photos and it shows; professionals stage photos in ways that make it seem natural. That's a talent and it's worth the investment should you want to properly represent your business.

Show... and Tell

In a two-minute video you can share so much about your company, your culture, and your philosophy. For example, we created a video for Digital Echidna to help people understand who we are and what we do. We could have written out this content and posted it on a Web site, but the use of video allows us to tell multiple stories, share multiple experiences, and provide a visual context for our message.

Words, on their own, are ambiguous. They lack nuance and context; they can be open for interpretation because we don't see the body language or hear the tenor of the speaker's voice. An innocent comment can be taken completely the wrong way, based on nothing more than a combination of ambiguity and the recipient's state of mind.

Get On the Road

It's easy, it's cheap, and it's convenient to stay behind a keyboard to conduct business. It's also dehumanizing and limiting. There's tremendous value in getting out, meeting people face to face (or even by phone), and humanizing our interactions in the business community.

People who only know you by a Web site or a Twitter handle can build your persona based on false foundations, generally constructed upon their own sensitivities. By meeting a person in the flesh, it allows them to review the context of their experience, now viewed within a framework of truth and understanding, as opposed to inference.

Relationship-building plays a key role in much of what we do – regardless of your industry or location. I've worked for Canadian subsidiaries of American corporations and saw first hand the value of heading south of the 49th to meet with colleagues. When you're nothing more than a name or a position, you can be overlooked – but when you're a living, breathing person with whom they now have a positive relationship, it's amazing how much more helpful and receptive people can be.

For customers, it's the same thing. There's a reason that many brands try to attach a human face to the corporate structure, whether it's through advertising or sponsorships – people like people.

Use the Whole Toolbox

In the end, we have to realize that there's no one be-all-and-end-all way to get our message out. Different people respond to different stimuli; some people treat social media as gospel, while others are glued to their TVs; and some won't trust anything unless they can attach a name and a face to it.

As a business owner or communications professional, you have your passions and you want to scream as loud as you can for it to be heard -- but without context that scream will mean nothing.

So when considering how to best deliver your message, don't limit yourself to just one method. Remember, you're always dealing with people: people who can interpret a whole host of auditory and visual cues; people who can effectively understand even the briefest of messages – a shrug, a raised eyebrow, a hearty smile – when given the right context.

Simply put, people who know what "unh, nah nah nah" means.

Now I turn it over to you. How do you respond to textual ambiguity? Are certain communications methods more effective when it comes to delivering a message to you?