[0:00] I analyzed hundreds of viral short-form videos to figure out what their secret was that
[0:03] made them go viral in hopes that I could teach you their secret. After months
[0:07] of research, I discovered that 99.99999% of the videos that my team and I analyzed,
[0:12] they all used one strategy that no one else is talking about. So I'm going
[0:16] to teach it to you today. Let's see if you could identify that strategy. Watch
[0:20] just the first three seconds of these three videos to see if you could catch
[0:23] what they all have in common.
[0:33] Any guesses? The strategy we're going to
[0:39] dissect today is something every creator could benefit from mastering, and that's implementing something that
[0:44] I call hook layering, which by the way, can I just coin that term here?
[0:48] Trademark it something? Because before my viral shorts deep dive video that I did, I
[0:53] hadn't heard this term anywhere else. Just saying. Now first, this might sound familiar to
[0:57] those of you who have like scoured the internet for all sorts of how to
[1:01] go viral content tips. I mean, how many of you have heard the tip Use
[1:05] a hook in the beginning of your video to capture attention. While hook layering is
[1:10] similar to the concept of hooking somebody in in the first few seconds, it's actually
[1:14] a little bit more complicated than what most people are teaching. Because really, the best
[1:19] of the best content creators are using more than just one hook in their videos
[1:23] to capture your attention. So hook layering is when you layer multiple hooks in the
[1:28] first few seconds of your video. And by a few seconds, I literally mean like
[1:31] the first three seconds, four seconds max. only am I going to teach you how
[1:36] to do this in this video, but I'll also give you a few hook layering
[1:40] formulas that you can try in your next video. So why do you even need
[1:45] a hook at all with your videos? If you're an aspiring content creator and you
[1:49] want to grow creating short form video content, you are competing against not only
[1:55] millions of other people posting every single day, but you're also competing against people's
[2:01] attention spans. An average viewer will decide whether or not they want to keep watching
[2:05] a video within the first three seconds of that video playing. And if you're not
[2:09] taking the time to figure out how you can stop their scroll or pique their
[2:13] interest enough in those first few seconds, that's probably why you're stuck at that 200
[2:18] jail view. The first few seconds of your video are the most important. And if
[2:23] you don't recognize that, or if you don't take that seriously, unfortunately, you might spend
[2:28] the rest of your content creator career blaming an algorithm for something that you actually
[2:33] had control of the entire time. So how can you use hook layering? The most
[2:39] common and simple use of hook layering that we discovered when doing our deep dive
[2:43] analyzing viral videos is layering three different types of hooks together. And those three hooks
[2:49] are text on screen, an audible hook, and a visual hook. The text hook is
[2:54] simply the text that appears on the video in the first few seconds to capture
[2:59] somebody's attention. This text could be used in a variety of ways. It could be
[3:02] used to create immediate relatability to the viewer, communicate, hey, this is what you will
[3:07] gain by watching this video, or even just explaining what your video is about. An
[3:12] audible hook is what the viewer will hear. in the first few seconds of your
[3:17] video to capture their attention. This is typically either a trending audio that they recognize,
[3:23] a catchy audio, or even something that you verbally say, whether it's voiceover or talking
[3:29] to the camera, that will capture their attention. And then the visual hook is simply
[3:33] the first shot that they see. What's happening in the video itself in those first
[3:38] few seconds that will capture someone's attention. For this visual hook, typically we saw
[3:43] that creating a movement right away in the beginning was a very common way to
[3:48] hook somebody's attention. Two other ways we saw were adding multiple cuts, changing shots
[3:53] within those first few seconds, or starting with an aesthetic shot, something that's visually
[3:59] appealing. Let's take a look at an example together, paying attention to the text hook,
[4:05] audible hook, and visual hooks. For text, the text in this video says, not
[4:10] one or two, but five new transitions. So the viewer knows when they see this,
[4:15] they'll learn at least five different transitions to create in a video. The visual is
[4:19] matching the text. So the text is promising transitions. The visual is showing those transitions.
[4:25] You have movement from the very beginning, her hands moving, and of course, a cool
[4:29] effect or transition happening. So there's kind of two visual elements at play. And then
[4:33] for Audible, what the viewer hears, this was a trending audio at the time, and
[4:38] this creator gets bonus points because the visual is actually matching the audio. If
[4:44] you're able to edit your videos to the rhythm of the audio that is playing
[4:49] in the background, it just adds that much more satisfaction to the viewer. It'll feel
[4:54] way more in sync, way more cohesive, and that satisfaction will be peaked. So we
[4:59] add text, visual, and audible. That's entry-level hook layering. For you
[5:05] to implement this, Every time you post, all you have to do is ask yourself
[5:09] these three questions. What will the viewer read? What will they see?
[5:15] And what will they hear that will capture their attention? If you can identify each
[5:19] of those three things with your video and you're intentional with each of those three
[5:24] things before you post your video, that video has so much more chances to getting
[5:29] traction because you're hitting all three layers of that simple hook layering. Now, before going
[5:35] over some other hook layering formulas that you could test out in your next video
[5:39] to help you with the visual hook of your video, I want to tell you
[5:43] about today's sponsor because it could also be a hack that you could use to
[5:47] help step up your visual and aesthetic video game. If you're a longtime subscriber, you
[5:52] know who I'm about to talk about because I've been recommending them here on my
[5:55] channel since 2021. And that is one of my favorite website resources, Storyblocks.
[6:01] Storyblocks is a stock media subscription service with unlimited downloads of diverse, high-quality media for
[6:07] one predictable subscription cost. They have everything that you need to create high-quality video with
[6:12] over a million 4K HD footage, templates, music, sound effects, images, and so much more.
[6:19] For me, the thing that I love the most about having access to Storyblocks is
[6:22] how it streamlines your workflow. So for me, instead of having to spend a bunch
[6:26] of time filming all these extra things, extra shots, extra B-roll, I get to save
[6:31] time and enhance the overall look of my videos by using their stock footage with
[6:36] complete ease. Now I use them the most with my YouTube videos, like all the
[6:41] B-roll that you've seen in this video so far, Storyblocks. But if you're looking for
[6:45] clips to add to your short-form videos, what I like to do is when I'm
[6:48] searching for a specific type of B-roll or footage, I'll search for that term, and
[6:53] then I'll adjust the search filters to 4K and 30 frames per second. That way,
[6:57] if the video is horizontal, I could still add it to my vertical video and
[7:02] zoom in without compromising the quality of the shot. The best part is anything that
[7:07] you download with Storyblocks is 100% royalty free. So you don't have to worry about
[7:11] copyright strikes or anything like that. You just get to focus on creating. So to
[7:16] get started with unlimited stock media downloads at one set price, head to storyblocks.com
[7:22] slash Modern Millie, or click the link in the description. Now I wanna share with
[7:26] you two hook layering formulas that you could try in your next video. These formulas
[7:31] were common layering strategies that we saw multiple videos using when we did our deep
[7:37] dive analyzing viral videos. So formula number one is a four step formula.
[7:43] What you're going to do is you're going to start with the result, make sure
[7:46] there's text on screen, change your shot at least one time in the first three
[7:51] seconds, and lean into a trend. We're gonna look at an example together, but to
[7:56] kind of break each of these down, when starting with the result, you're going to
[8:01] start with the result of your video. So if you're making a smoothie or you're
[8:03] like, with me you show the final result that the person will see when they
[8:08] watch the whole video so you start with the end result if you're doing a
[8:12] get ready with me don't start with no makeup start the get ready with me
[8:16] with the full face saying like get ready with me for blah blah blah blah
[8:19] so you're starting with the end result second make sure there's text on screen explaining
[8:23] what the video is about thirdly you're changing shots at least once in the first
[8:27] three seconds and then for leaning into a trend this could either be a trending
[8:31] topic at that time a trending video idea at the or even a trending audio.
[8:36] So let's take a look at this example together. Slave bells ring. Are you
[8:42] listening? As you can see, this creator, they're starting with the end result. They're starting
[8:46] with the latte that you will learn to make by the end of the video.
[8:49] And the text on screen is matching what you will gain by the end of
[8:53] the video. This creator changes shots multiple times in those first few seconds. You see
[8:57] it's like back to back three to four different cuts happening relatively quickly. And this
[9:02] creator leaned into two trends. One is a topical trend. So at this time, this
[9:08] video is posted. The holidays are a trending topic. They posted this a month
[9:14] before Christmas, which gives it plenty of time to ride the holiday trend, and of
[9:18] course, a trending audio. That is just one formula that you can try to implement
[9:22] in your next video. If you've learned something new so far, be sure to like
[9:25] this video so YouTube can show it to other creators like yourself that might need
[9:29] these tips. If you learn two new things by the end of this video, consider
[9:32] subscribing because it's a free way to support my channel. It allows me to continue
[9:37] to make weekly content like this for you. Let's break down our formula number two.
[9:41] This is going to be a five step process. Step one, start with a question.
[9:46] Two, make sure text is on screen. Three, incorporate some sort of quick
[9:52] movement. Four, change your shot at least once in those first few seconds. And five,
[9:57] add trending music to the background of your video. This formula is best fit for
[10:01] if you're talking to the camera or doing a voiceover and then layering that with
[10:05] background trending music. Let's take a look at an example together. Is it faster to
[10:10] use your left foot or your right foot when touching first base? Growing up, I
[10:13] was always told right foot. With this example, the creator verbally starts with the questions.
[10:17] They ask the question as the audible hook and the text on screen is like
[10:22] the simplified, short, quick, easy to read version of that question. Now, when it comes
[10:27] to incorporating movement, there's actually two things happening here that I think the creator does
[10:33] really well. So the first obvious movement is they're running. towards the camera. That is
[10:38] definitely going to capture somebody's attention. But the second less obvious movement, if you play
[10:42] back the video to the very first frame, the very first shot, you notice the
[10:46] video actually starts like zoomed in on the creator's face. So there was a zoom
[10:51] effect that was added in post or while they were editing to have kind of
[10:56] like two contrasting movements happening. So not only is he running towards the camera, but
[11:00] the camera's also like zooming out and away from the creator at the same time.
[11:04] So it creates a really cool contrast of movement happening. So zoom effects in editing
[11:10] can be considered a movement. This creator does cut at least once in those first
[11:15] few seconds, and they have a trending music as the backtrack, not overpowering the
[11:21] voice too much, but because they use a trending audio, it helps boost that video's
[11:25] visibility. Hook layering is something that totally fascinates me, and I could just talk about
[11:31] it in all the different formulas for forever. So if it's something that fascinates you
[11:35] as well, and you want to learn more advanced strategies for how you as a
[11:40] creator could finally grow to 100,000 followers, no matter what platform you're on, Instagram, YouTube,
[11:44] TikTok, I do have a one hour masterclass that I'll link down below. I've been
[11:50] fortunate enough to be able to work with hundreds of content creators, helping them blow
[11:54] up on social media and turn content creation into their full-time job. And a lot
[11:57] of the mindset shifts and strategy adjustments that they had to make are things that
[12:02] I'm teaching in this masterclass. So make sure you save your seat for that if
[12:06] you're serious about growing as a content creator and you want to learn some more
[12:10] advanced practices. And if you want to see more about what I discovered when doing
[12:15] my deep dive analyzing viral short-form videos, be sure to watch this video next. Thank
[12:20] you so much for watching and I will see you in the next one. Follow
[12:22] your joy. Bye.