For this article, we are diving into video hooks, specifically what they are, why you should use them, and examples to get started. With F1’s competitive order changing – with all of us hopefully getting hooked too – it’s going to be even harder for your content to stand out amongst the crowd. But once you master the ‘hook’ and make it your own, engagement and views will skyrocket.
To put it simply, hooks are the most important part of your short-form TikTok or Instagram videos. Having a really strong hook that grabs the viewers attention straight away can really boost viewership and help your content stand out of the crowd.
What is a hook?
A hook is something that is used to grab the viewer’s attention and make a video memorable. These hooks are used at the beginning of a video and are designed to make the viewer stick around and watch the entire video.
Why use a hook?
Hooking viewers in the first few seconds of your video is crucial if you want to keep them watching. Since there is always something fresh to watch on TikTok, this is crucial since videos may easily be skipped over if they don’t grab the user’s attention right away.
Your video’s chances of being seen and shared will rise if you use an attention-grabbing hook. Without it, people might skip over your video, so there will be no point in sharing it.
How to implement hooks in your videos?
Whenever I make a video and I can’t think of an obvious way to link in a hook, I refer to the various types of hooks that are at your disposal:
- Negative spin – frame something positive in a negative way while building intrigue from the viewer. For example, “Max Verstappen had no right doing this well…”
- Positive spin – frame something positively that would usually be negative, once again building interest to hear more.
- For example, “Logan Sargeant actually really surprised me with this…”
- Question – simply ask the audience a rhetorical question.
- For example, “Are you bored of Red Bull always winning?”
- Share a story – begin to tell a story to the audience but don’t give them all the details at once.
- For example, “Just wait to hear how many titles Max Verstappen won while karting…”
- Call out the viewer – directly address the viewer with a statement that is relatable.
- For example, “If you’re bored of Red Bull winning, listen up…”
- How-to’s – this one is pretty simple, tell the viewer straight away that you’re about to solve a problem.
- For example, “This is where you can find the best F1 merch.”
- Social proof – say something that makes the viewer want to take part because others are.
- For example, “Here’s why people can’t get enough of Stake’s new livery.”
As general good practice, I recommend having a selection of these hooks at hand that you can chop and change depending on the video topic and style. As well as this, it can be good practice to add in more hooks as the video progresses to maintain viewership as naturally it will drop off.
