what is a hook?
a hook is the opening line (or lines) of a piece of content that grabs attention and creates enough curiosity to keep someone reading. it's the difference between a post that gets scrolled past and one that stops thumbs.
in a feed moving at the speed of boredom, your hook is everything.
the science of the scroll-stop
the average person scrolls through hundreds of posts per day. each one gets a fraction of a second of evaluation time. your hook has to:
- interrupt the pattern - look or sound different from everything around it
- create a gap - open a question the reader needs answered
- promise value - signal that the rest is worth their time
miss any of these and you're wallpaper.
hook types that work
the contradiction: "the best advice i ever got was wrong"
the specificity: "i made $0 for 11 months, then $47,000 in month 12"
the confession: "i've been lying about my morning routine"
the observation: "nobody talks about the worst part of getting promoted"
the challenge: "everything you know about engagement is backwards"
hook types that don't work
the vague inspirational: "today i want to talk about something important"
the preamble: "so i've been thinking a lot lately about this topic and i figured i'd share some thoughts"
the dictionary definition: "Webster's dictionary defines leadership as..."
the passive-aggressive: "some people need to hear this"
the hook test
read your hook out loud. then ask: "would i stop scrolling for this?"
if the answer is no, rewrite it. keep rewriting until the answer is yes.
the rest of your content can be brilliant. nobody will know if the hook doesn't earn their attention first.
hooks vs clickbait
hook: promises something and delivers it clickbait: promises something and delivers disappointment
the difference isn't in the hook itself. it's in what comes after. a good hook creates genuine curiosity. clickbait creates curiosity it has no intention of satisfying.
write hooks that your content can cash.