In June, I read 279 church bulletins to prep for a Bulletin Bootcamp I'm running this summer.

That number wasn't random. I specifically picked that number ahead of time as my goal.

You see, I had already planned a YouTube video in my mind: "I read 279 Catholic church bulletins."

Not 280. Not 300.

279.

Why?

Because using weirdly specific, extravagant, and odd numbers is one of my "oddest" but favorite marketing tricks.

Weirdly specific

At this point, we're kind of hard wired to be skeptical of literally everything we see online.

Between bot accounts, fake stories, AI generated content, and click bait, everything has to go through our brain's authenticity filter.

So while whole "clean" numbers can seem less believable, weirdly specific numbers help to cut through that doubt.

For example, if I'd said I read 300 bulletins, you might be more prone to believe that I rounded up or estimated.

But 279? That's so specific that why would I make it up?

It's like my favorite detail from John's Resurrection account (aside from, you know, Jesus being alive):

The cloth that had been covering Jesus' face was folded up and put in a different area than the rest of the shroud.

And the stone was moved all the way out of the way, not just a little bit.

As I used to tell my college students: Pro tip, if you've been buried alive and you're trying to escape (which is one of the conspiracy theories surrounding the Resurrection) -

Don't do the laundry first.

And moving the stone just enough to squeeze out is enough, now's not the time to show off how you've been working out at the gym.

All that to say - the inclusion of these hyper-specific details help prove the authenticity of the accounts and make them more believable.

Extremely specific numbers do the same for your marketing.

Extravagant numbers

The bigger the number, the bigger the intrigue.

All we have to do is go back to last week's Gospel to see this one in action.

Jesus feeding 50 people from 5 loaves and 2 fish would still be impressive, but hardly as memorable.

But 5,000+? Now that's unforgettable.

Likewise, if I'd read less than 100 bulletins, it just wouldn't have had the same impact.

But reading literally hundreds of bulletins not only cements my authority and dedication to the topic, it also raises immediate questions of "why" and "how" simply because of the sheer number.

And those "why" and "how" questions? They drive intrigue, which drives engagement.

Odd numbers

Speaking of weirdly specific, there have actually been psychological studies done on how our brains compute even versus odd numbers.

The result? Odd numbers are more intriguing.

In fact, they are literally more thought-provoking, because they take our brains more time to process.

We naturally try to group things as we process them, and since odd numbers will always have an odd one out, they require more thought to register.

Now, you want to use this one carefully. Odd numbers could make things more complicated, and for some marketing purposes, you want things to be more simple and less taking on the brain, not more.

But if you're creating content that you want to draw people in - for example, a listicle format for a blog post - try to use odd numbers (so "5 unique times to pray the Rosary throughout your day" would drive more curiosity and intrigue than "6 unique times").

As for a Biblical example? Rule of Seven. Number of the covenant. Mic drop.

(If you're new here and don't know about my obsession with the Rule of Seven, read this blog post.)

So this week, if you're creating content that includes a number, try making it specific, extravagant, or an odd number (or all 3!) and see if it increases engagement!

For His greater glory,

Emily