Why Best Practices Will Never Make You Stand Out
Founder and Head of Growth, White Label Comedy
Blindly following best practices means you will never stand out. Best practices are, by definition, what everyone is already doing, so copying them exactly guarantees you look like everyone else. Breakthroughs come from breaking the mould, not from obeying it. That is a big reason comedy does so well on social: a joke has to break a norm to work.
What "best practice" really means
Best practice sounds like the safe, smart path, and for avoiding disasters it often is. But be clear about what it actually describes: the agreed, average way of doing a thing. It is the middle of the road, formalised.
If your goal is to not mess up, follow it. If your goal is to stand out, notice the problem immediately. You cannot become remarkable by doing precisely what everyone already agrees is normal. The rulebook was written to produce competent, forgettable work.
Why breakthroughs need broken rules
Nothing that made people sit up and pay attention came from colouring inside the lines. The films, ads and posts that broke through did so by ignoring some rule everyone else was quietly obeying. You do not get a breakthrough without first breaking something.
That is uncomfortable, because breaking a norm feels risky. But blending in is the bigger risk. Perfectly following best practice is the most reliable way to be ignored, because there is nothing in it to notice.
Why comedy does this by nature
This is why humour is such a natural fit for standout content. Every joke is built on a playful surprise, which means it has to go against the grain. To land, it breaks an expectation, defies the norm and does something the audience did not see coming.
So comedy is standout content by design. You cannot make a joke that is entirely predictable and follows every rule, because that is just not funny. Build your content on that instinct, the willingness to break the expected pattern, and standing out stops being a happy accident and becomes the whole point.
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Breaking the mould on purpose, in a way that stands out and still sells, is exactly what our team of comedy writers does.
If you are tired of blending in with everyone following the same best practices, work with us.
Adam Hunt
Founder and Head of Growth at White Label Comedy. He spends his days convincing serious brands that funny is the most profitable thing they're not doing.
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