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Morning, Inbox Hackers. Good to be on the right side of the dirt with you all. 

Today’s Main Thing covers an oddball but smart way to make your marketing content stand out. I found it in one of the best marketing books I’ve read over the past 10 years. 

After I hand that tactic off to you, wet your beak in This Week’s Marketing Wrap-Up.

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The Main Thing

Who Puts a Chicken Recipe in a Book About Marketing?

Sean Freaking D’Souza, that’s who.

Out of nowhere, while reading The Brain Audit, one of the best books about marketing you’ll find, out pops a recipe for Butter Chicken. 

Yes, a cookbook recipe, in case you’re confused. 

I believe an entire chapter was dedicated to the recipe. In a marketing book.

Short chapter. Still, who does that?

Goes against every principle about staying on topic. 

The book was written several years ago. Today’s marketing gurus would be clutching their pearls at such a diversion from “The Playbook”:

• Must stay on topic

• One or two main points only

• Don’t go off on tangents

There is no chiseled-in-stone playbook, folks! 

Not in marketing… or football. Else NFL teams would not be throwing forward passes.

Creativity means going off script. It keeps things interesting. 

I suspect that’s why Sean D’Souza stuck a chicken recipe in a brilliant book written for an audience of marketers and business owners. It kept readers interested. 

Made me wonder:

• Why is this part of the book?

• Is this a joke?

• Is this really the author’s recipe?

And it made me wonder more about the author because it was such an odd thing to stick in a book.

One thing to tell a story about “Aunt Trudy’s” famous chicken or green bean recipe to make a point. But to spend a few pages on the recipe as a standalone thing? Pretty unique.

Besides holding the readers’ interest, why else would an author or a content creator insert a drizzle of randomness in their writing or videos?

5 Reasons to Use Randomness & Novelty

1. Pattern interruption. Our brains are wired to notice the unexpected. When something unusual appears, it creates a memorable moment that stands out from the rest of the content.

2. Creating a "curiosity gap." The surprise element makes readers wonder "why’s this here?" which can increase engagement and memory retention.

3. Humanizing the author. Sharing something personal like a recipe shows there's a real person behind the words, not a bot that’s trained to stick to an ideal structure.

4. Providing mental rest. Complex topics benefit from occasional breaks that let readers process information.

5. Creating a "signature.” Unexpected elements become talking points readers share with others. Like I’m sharing now with you.

A recipe is one of the most oddball things you could do to add uniqueness to your content. But there are other ways to do it. 

Self-Help in a Marketing Newsletter?

For example, that’s one reason I inserted an “anti-self-help” section in Wednesday editions of Inbox Hacking over three years ago. What kind of idiot puts self-help advice and stories in a marketing newsletter?

The guy typing at you right now.

Figured it would be something no other marketing newsletter was doing. And I didn’t care if they were. I had my own takes on self-help and all the anxious folks struggling to stay afloat in today's sea of digital quicksand. 

Beware of pattern interruptions that work against you, BTW. 

You don’t want to stick an attention-grabbing image just below your main call-to-action (CTA) that has nothing to do with the CTA. Too much risk of people getting distracted and scrolling past the CTA.

Ok, I’ll end with three more elements that can make your content stand out and be more memorable. This Week’s Marketing Wrap-Up will follow.

1. In the middle of professional content, include a simple, hand-drawn sketch. The personal touch can create an intimate moment that contrasts with polished content.
   

2. Insert a brief, relevant anecdote from when you were young that connects to your main topic. This glimpse into your experiences adds a bit of emotional appeal. Makes abstract concepts more relatable too.

3. Create intrigue by mentioning a hidden resource readers can only find by following specific instructions (like going to page 73 and using the first letter of each paragraph to form a URL). This creates a treasure hunt effect that rewards attentive readers with exclusive content.

Please share Inbox Hacking with a fellow marketing genius or business owner. I appreciate you reading and sharing. 

Shane McLendon - Copy Kingpin.

“Nobody reads advertising. People read what interests them; and sometimes it’s an ad.” ~Howard Luck Gossage