I studied 100+ hooks, this strategy will make you go viral

[00:00] This is a hook and this is a hook. I've

[00:03] spent hundreds of hours scouring the

[00:05] internet to find the best hook

[00:06] strategies and the results have taken my

[00:08] views from this to this. In today's

[00:11] video, I'm going to break down how you

[00:12] can use hooks to get the same results.

[00:14] By the way, this video is sponsored by

[00:16] Story Blocks. More on them later. There

[00:18] has been a huge shift when it comes to

[00:19] how successful creators, keyword

[00:22] successful, have been approaching their

[00:23] hooks. And the shift is this. They are

[00:25] no longer thinking about hooks as a

[00:27] catchy sentence. Instead, they're

[00:29] thinking about hooks like a moment. So,

[00:31] it's a mixture of words, visuals, and

[00:33] pacing, which is designed to grab your

[00:35] audience's attention. Now, I'm not going

[00:37] to spend loads of time talking about why

[00:38] hooks are super important, because at

[00:40] the end of the day, you know why they're

[00:41] important. They take up those precious

[00:43] first few seconds of your content that

[00:45] are designed to grab your audience's

[00:46] attention. And if you don't do it well,

[00:48] people will scroll past your content,

[00:49] and you will not get the views, the

[00:51] engagement, and genuinely the

[00:52] recognition that your content deserves.

[00:54] So, let's break down what thinking of

[00:56] your hooks as a moment actually means.

[00:59] There are now three core elements that

[01:00] make up a fantastic hook. And again, I

[01:03] say now because previously there really

[01:05] was just one element which was saying a

[01:06] really catchy sentence, which is

[01:08] definitely something I was guilty of for

[01:10] years. I'm going to show you some

[01:11] examples later. Don't you worry. We're

[01:13] moving on from it being one catchy

[01:14] sentence to it being a whole moment. And

[01:16] there are three elements which make up

[01:18] that moment. There are the words that

[01:19] your audience can hear within the first

[01:21] few seconds of your content. There are

[01:23] the visuals. So, these are the stuff

[01:24] that people see on your content. And

[01:26] there's the pacing. So, this is how

[01:28] quickly you actually get through your

[01:30] initial hook and video intro. Now, I

[01:32] want to break each of these elements

[01:33] down further so that you can truly

[01:35] understand how to utilize each to create

[01:37] an amazing hook. And later on in this

[01:39] video, I'm going to share real life

[01:40] examples of my own content when I've

[01:43] done it well and when I've done it not

[01:44] so well. So, let's talk about the words

[01:46] first. So, these are things that you're

[01:48] either saying on camera or just words

[01:50] that your audience can hear within the

[01:52] first few seconds of your video content.

[01:53] In order for the words that your

[01:55] audience are hearing to be effective,

[01:56] you want them to be specific,

[01:58] surprising, and hopefully create a bit

[02:00] of tension. For example, instead of

[02:02] saying, "Here are three tips to grow on

[02:04] Instagram, this is one that I'm pretty

[02:05] sure I've probably used in the past, and

[02:07] you know what? Maybe that worked in the

[02:08] past. I'll give myself some grace."

[02:10] Nowadays, those words aren't going to

[02:11] cut it. Instead, you might want to say

[02:13] something like, "Here's the reason

[02:15] nobody cares about your Instagram

[02:16] posts." Do you see how much more

[02:18] dramatic that alternative option is? You

[02:20] essentially want to give all of your

[02:21] words like a bit of a drama test. Are

[02:23] they dramatic enough? Could you be a bit

[02:25] more dramatic in what you're saying and

[02:26] in your delivery? Honestly, the more

[02:27] dramatic it is, the more likely it is to

[02:29] actually capture people's attention and

[02:31] stop them scrolling. The second element

[02:32] is the visuals. This is the element

[02:34] that's the most new when it comes to how

[02:37] hooks are working on social media

[02:38] nowadays. Previously, words are enough

[02:40] and now we've got to throw in visuals,

[02:41] too. A good hook will have visual

[02:44] elements appear on the screen that are

[02:45] designed to get your audience's

[02:46] attention. So whether that's captions,

[02:48] special effects, graphics, or maybe you

[02:50] just do something really interesting in

[02:52] the first few seconds of your video that

[02:54] gets someone's attention. A really great

[02:55] example of this is the foreshadowing

[02:57] trend. Do you guys remember that? Where

[02:58] people would basically take a clip of

[03:00] them doing something really embarrassing

[03:02] like maybe they fell over or something

[03:04] and they would frontend the video with

[03:06] that clip. So the first few seconds of

[03:07] the video would be them falling over and

[03:09] the rest of the video would be snippets

[03:10] which show the events which led up to

[03:12] them falling over. This trend worked so

[03:14] well, not only because it was super

[03:16] funny and interesting, but also because

[03:17] it had a hook built into its template.

[03:20] It literally forced you to open with the

[03:22] most exciting part. And in this example,

[03:23] that was something visual. Third element

[03:25] is pacing. During the first few seconds

[03:27] of your video, you need to bring the

[03:28] energy. Okay? You need to have some

[03:31] energy and some pacing in that video. We

[03:33] do not want a slow start. We do not want

[03:35] pauses unless they're used effectively.

[03:38] And again, I'm going to show you some

[03:39] examples of a pause being used

[03:40] effectively in just a moment. What we

[03:42] don't Oh, my dog's slipping. By the way,

[03:45] my dog just got neuted, so she's in this

[03:47] little outfit so that she doesn't bother

[03:49] her scar. They wouldn't give her a cone

[03:51] because she has too long of a nose.

[03:52] Anyway, what we want to do if we're

[03:54] using pauses is we want to use them for

[03:55] dramatic effect. What we don't want to

[03:57] do is use the millennial pause. Have you

[03:59] guys heard about the millennial pause?

[04:01] It's essentially when people, usually

[04:02] millennials, take this breath before

[04:04] they film. It comes back to us not

[04:07] growing up around video technology and

[04:09] therefore us not being used to being

[04:11] able to film each other. So we take this

[04:13] breath before we film because we want to

[04:14] check that the camera is actually

[04:15] recording. Whereas younger people like

[04:17] Gen Z and Gen Alpha grew up with the

[04:19] ability to film others. So when they

[04:21] film themselves, they immediately start

[04:22] talking because they trust that their

[04:24] camera is already filming them. Isn't

[04:25] that mind-blowing? I did a video on it

[04:27] on Tik Tok. It went viral. I got in the

[04:29] sun newspaper. Also got trolled quite a

[04:31] lot. It was a whole moment. So, when you

[04:33] combine the right words, visuals, and

[04:35] pacing, you will end up with an

[04:37] incredible hook. Now, before I show you

[04:39] some real life examples of hooks that

[04:40] have worked well and haven't worked so

[04:42] well, I do want to take a quick second

[04:44] to share a resource that you should be

[04:45] using inside your hooks to level them

[04:47] up. And that resource is Story Blocks.

[04:50] Now, one of my favorite videos that I

[04:51] shared within the last few months is

[04:53] this one. And what you'll notice about

[04:54] this post is that I really nailed the

[04:56] visual element of this hook. All right,

[04:58] within the first few seconds of this

[04:59] post, you'll see some incredible videos

[05:01] pop up on the screen. Now, it may or may

[05:03] not surprise you to know that I did not

[05:05] capture that video footage. That video

[05:07] footage is actually stock media that I

[05:09] obtained from Story Blocks. Now, if you

[05:11] don't know about Story Blocks already,

[05:12] it's a stock media subscription service

[05:14] which gives you unlimited access to

[05:16] highquality videos, images, sound

[05:18] effects, audio, templates, and so much

[05:20] more. They're all about helping creators

[05:22] and businesses enhance their projects

[05:23] without any extra costs and with more

[05:25] peace of mind. Now, there's a couple

[05:27] ways that they do this, right? The first

[05:28] is by offering unlimited stock media

[05:30] downloads at one set price. So, this

[05:33] means that you have everything you need

[05:34] in one place. 4K video, HD video,

[05:37] templates, sound effects, images, and

[05:39] more. And this is all available to you

[05:41] at one predictable monthly cost. So, you

[05:43] don't have to worry about pay-per-click

[05:45] pricing or any hidden fees. Another way

[05:47] that they do this is by offering

[05:49] clearcut licensing. So, any of the

[05:51] assets that you use are actually covered

[05:53] by the highest legal coverage in the

[05:55] industry. so you can really focus on

[05:56] creating and not having to worry about

[05:58] things like copyright strikes. Their

[06:00] stock library is also frequently

[06:01] refreshed, which means it always

[06:03] contains high-quality, diverse content,

[06:05] which really reflects the human

[06:06] experience, which is very important when

[06:08] it comes to storytelling in the world of

[06:10] AI. I do actually have a special treat

[06:12] for you when it comes to joining

[06:13] Storyblocks. You can get three extra

[06:15] months for free when you sign up to

[06:17] their annual plan. Head to

[06:18] storyblocks.com/jadebon

[06:20] to take advantage of this limited time

[06:22] offer. Thank me later. All right, let's

[06:24] do some case studies. Let's compare some

[06:26] good hooks that I've used and some bad

[06:28] hooks that I've used. I'm actually

[06:29] really excited for this section cuz it's

[06:31] going to be incredibly exposing. Let's

[06:33] ease myself into this by starting off

[06:34] with an example of a good hook. This is

[06:36] a hook that I used on a recent post that

[06:38] performed really well for me. I cried

[06:40] over social media this morning.

[06:42] Embarrassing, I know, but I was going

[06:43] through my content and I was struck with

[06:45] this sudden thought. I'm flopping. Now,

[06:47] let's use the three core elements of a

[06:49] successful hook to actually break down

[06:51] why this worked. The first is the words.

[06:53] I actually started this video by talking

[06:55] about something that's quite emotional.

[06:56] Like I was talking about the fact that I

[06:57] had been crying over my content, which

[06:59] is embarrassing, but watch the full

[07:01] video for context. If you open a video

[07:02] with emotional words, exposing words,

[07:05] very vulnerable words, that is a great

[07:08] use of that element of your hook. It's

[07:09] going to grab people's attention. Now,

[07:11] let's look at the visuals, cuz there was

[07:12] a few things going on here. I was

[07:14] walking towards the camera, which

[07:15] created some movement. I had my captions

[07:17] appear on the screen in a very specific

[07:19] style, right? And you'll see this as a

[07:20] pattern. I basically had every word

[07:22] appear as I said it because this

[07:24] encourages my audience to read and

[07:26] listen along. Great for engagement,

[07:28] great for attention. I also had some

[07:29] screenshots and some graphics appear on

[07:31] the screen as well. In terms of the

[07:32] pacing, it was fast. There was no dead

[07:34] air. If I'm being honest, my pacing for

[07:36] all of these examples are pretty much

[07:38] the same. I feel like when you create

[07:39] content for 5 years, you do get to a

[07:41] point where you nail the pace of your

[07:42] content. So, that's pretty consistent

[07:43] across the board. A quick tip for me

[07:45] here before I give you an example of a

[07:46] hook that didn't work so well is I tend

[07:48] to do my hooks multiple times. So, I

[07:50] tend to film at least three different

[07:52] takes of my hooks, and usually the third

[07:54] take is the best take. I don't do that

[07:56] for the rest of my video content, but

[07:57] the hook is so important that I like to

[07:59] give it a little bit extra practice. All

[08:00] right, here's one that didn't work very

[08:02] well. Instagram is constantly changing.

[08:04] Here are a few things that you should be

[08:05] doing to make sure that you don't fall

[08:07] behind. This is actually a really good

[08:08] video. Like, all these videos are

[08:10] probably equally as valuable. One of the

[08:12] main reasons why it doesn't perform as

[08:13] well is simply because the hook wasn't

[08:14] as effective. Now, the words and the

[08:16] pacing of this video was totally fine. I

[08:18] think where this video fell down was on

[08:20] the visuals. There wasn't much going on

[08:22] apart from when I had the big words

[08:23] appear behind my face. Now, whilst

[08:25] that's engaging and interesting, we

[08:27] actually highlighted the wrong words.

[08:29] What we should have highlighted was

[08:30] Instagram because that's the thing that

[08:32] would have grabbed our audience's

[08:33] attention, right? So, I guess a pro tip

[08:34] for me on this one is to make sure when

[08:36] you're crafting your hook, you're doing

[08:37] it with your audience in mind. Another

[08:39] example of a video that worked really

[08:41] well, I had to share this one because at

[08:42] the time of filming, this one has over

[08:44] 11,000 likes. I have never had that many

[08:46] likes on an Instagram video before.

[08:48] Like, that's insane. And it's actually

[08:49] part of a new series that I'm doing

[08:51] because it was so wellreceived.

[08:52] Something weird is happening on

[08:54] Instagram right now. Trends are emerging

[08:55] which are helping creators blow up. Now,

[08:57] all three elements of this hook were

[08:59] just nailed if I do say so myself. The

[09:02] words, me starting off by saying,

[09:04] "Something weird is happening on

[09:05] Instagram right now." 10 out of 10. That

[09:07] is going to immediately grab my

[09:09] audience's attention. It sparks so much

[09:10] curiosity. It makes them think, "Hold

[09:12] on, what's happening on Instagram?"

[09:13] Right? That paired with the visuals, we

[09:16] had a fast zoom. We had the text which

[09:18] was synced with my speech. We had a

[09:20] quick snapshot of all the trends that I

[09:22] was about to break down. And we had the

[09:23] strong headline. This was all within the

[09:24] space of a few seconds, guys. And as I

[09:27] mentioned, the pacing is pretty much

[09:28] standard across the board, but this was

[09:30] a great example of a hook. Now, I feel

[09:32] responsible for sharing this final

[09:33] example because I'm pretty sure I would

[09:35] have given advice to create a hook like

[09:37] this in the past. And look, I'm not

[09:39] going to say I was wrong because this

[09:40] worked at one point in time. It just

[09:42] doesn't work anymore. 80% of adults

[09:44] consume content across multiple formats.

[09:46] This video is actually a cut down of a

[09:48] longer form video. And what that means

[09:50] as a result is that the initial words

[09:52] that were being said weren't that

[09:53] engaging. I led with a stat like 80%.

[09:56] Who cares about a stat? That's not

[09:57] interesting. There was virtually no

[09:59] visuals outside of my captions. And as

[10:01] always, the pacing was pretty decent.

[10:03] But the other two elements were not

[10:04] hitting. And I wanted to share this one

[10:05] because it brings up a really important

[10:07] tip. If you are going to repurpose your

[10:09] long- form videos into reals, you will

[10:11] probably need to film a separate hook

[10:13] for them. And that's okay. They're still

[10:15] worth repurposing. Do not get me wrong.

[10:17] It's just that most of the time when

[10:18] you're repurposing a long form video,

[10:19] you are going to find it incredibly

[10:21] difficult to find a snippet which

[10:22] actually starts with something that will

[10:24] actually be an effective hook in this

[10:26] day and age. Like, you're just going to

[10:28] find it difficult. So, you might need to

[10:29] film a separate one which nails those

[10:31] three elements. All right, I think we've

[10:33] gone pretty deep already, but I'm not

[10:34] going to leave you there. I do want to

[10:35] share some very specific hacks that you

[10:37] can copy from those hooks that I shared

[10:39] that will help you level up your content

[10:41] instantly. Hack one is probably the

[10:43] easiest of all of these hacks and it's

[10:44] to use pauses effectively. You know how

[10:47] earlier on in this video I spoke about

[10:48] not wanting to do the millennial pause.

[10:50] We don't want that. But at times you can

[10:52] actually pause for effect and it can

[10:53] work wonders for your content. I

[10:55] actually have not one but two examples

[10:56] of me doing this. I got ghosted like

[11:00] hundreds of times. We need to talk about

[11:01] Becca Bloom.

[11:03] As you can see, I very much use pauses

[11:05] for effects in both of those videos, and

[11:07] it helps me land what I was trying to

[11:09] say better, right? So, try using pauses

[11:11] in your next hook and see if it works

[11:13] for you. The next hack is definitely the

[11:15] most creatively challenging hack. And

[11:16] this one is about dynamic editing. Now,

[11:19] this one is honestly one of the hardest

[11:20] ones to implement because it requires a

[11:22] lot of time and effort. And that is

[11:24] coming from me, someone who only does

[11:26] the pre-production and the production of

[11:28] my content. I don't do the post-p

[11:30] production. So, I have different

[11:31] editors. I have an editor for my long

[11:33] form, an editor for my short form. I

[11:34] even have someone who helps me schedule

[11:36] and post all of my content as well. So,

[11:37] keep in mind that if I'm saying this is

[11:39] difficult to do, then if you are doing

[11:41] every element of your content creation,

[11:43] please know that this is probably going

[11:44] to be challenging, too. But it is

[11:46] creatively fulfilling. I will say that

[11:47] dynamic editing basically requires you

[11:49] to do something unexpected with the way

[11:51] that you're editing your content. And to

[11:53] be fair, this can also include your

[11:55] filming. For example, you could open

[11:57] with a unique angle like this one,

[11:59] right? This is not an angle that you

[12:01] often see on short form content,

[12:03] although you are seeing it more lately,

[12:04] and that increases the likelihood of it

[12:06] capturing people's attention because

[12:07] it's not something they're used to

[12:08] seeing. Another example, and one that

[12:10] can sometimes take a while to get your

[12:11] head around, is when you mix B-roll and

[12:13] a voice over to make you speaking to the

[12:16] camera a bit more interesting. Here's an

[12:17] example. I'm Jon. I became a full-time

[12:19] content creator in just 6 months. And

[12:21] this is my content to cash series

[12:23] episode 3. Did you notice how I opened

[12:25] with B-roll and then a voice over and

[12:28] then I opened my laptop and spoke

[12:29] directly to the camera? That is dynamic

[12:31] editing. That is something that is

[12:32] unexpected and that is something that is

[12:34] going to make your hook better. That

[12:35] video itself performed so well. It got

[12:37] tens of thousands of views. The final

[12:39] hack I want to share with you is about

[12:40] creative text. Now, I did mention this

[12:42] one previously, but it is worth saying

[12:44] again because it is one of the most

[12:45] effective ways to create an effective

[12:47] hook. This is basically when you get

[12:48] creative with your captions. So, it's

[12:50] about taking your autogenerated captions

[12:52] one step further and actually writing

[12:54] out every word that you say so that it

[12:56] appears on the screen as you say it.

[12:58] What this does is encourage your

[13:00] audience to read the words on the screen

[13:02] as they're appearing, which means that

[13:04] they're reading along as you're

[13:05] speaking. It is incredible when it comes

[13:07] to engagement. Like, think about how

[13:09] much more likely you are to soak in what

[13:11] someone's saying if you're reading what

[13:12] they're saying whilst you're hearing

[13:13] them speak those words to you. Like,

[13:15] it's just a different experience. Great

[13:17] for attention, great for engagement. I

[13:18] really recommend that you try it. If you

[13:20] found this video useful, I recommend

[13:21] watching this one. It's all about the

[13:23] five habits that every creator should do

[13:25] every single week if they want to grow

[13:26] their audience on any platform. Do not

[13:28] forget that you can get three whole

[13:30] months for free when you sign up to

[13:32] Storyblocks on their annual plan. Just

[13:33] head to storyblocks.com/jadebon

[13:36] or click the link in my description to

[13:37] make the most of this limited time

[13:39] offer. Thank you so much for watching.

[13:40] As always, I cannot wait to see you in

[13:42] my next video.