Want to know why most reels DON’T get many views? Because they don’t have a hook!
A hook is essentially the first few seconds of your video that grabs the viewer’s attention and encourages them to keep watching. Given the short attention spans typical of social media users, the importance of a compelling hook cannot be overstated.
Too many people don’t use hooks at all, some use them but don’t have good ones, and a few have good hooks but don’t know where to put them.
So what exactly is a hook? What makes a good one? And where should you put them for maximum effectiveness? Let’s dive in!
A hook is an opening element of your video that is designed to capture interest immediately. It’s what makes someone stop scrolling and watch your content. A hook could be a surprising fact, an intriguing question, a visually striking (or confusing!) image, or a bold statement. The goal is to pique curiosity or offer value in a way that makes the viewer want to engage with the rest of your video.
While the average length of a reel is about 30 seconds long, if you don’t catch someone’s attention within the first 2-4 seconds, they’re going to scroll right past you.
Think about why you fully watch some reels and don’t watch others. Sometimes the content you come across just happens to be what you like (puppies, for example, get me EVERY time), but randomly you’ll intently watch an entire reel that has NOTHING to do with what you usually enjoy. Why is that? Most likely, they had a good hook. They got you invested enough in the first couple seconds to want to spend the next minute of your life with them.
A good hook is:
This seems obvious, but hooks need to “hook” your viewer. Start with an outrageous fact or story, make a claim, tell people what they are doing wrong, bring up a controversial topic or an opinion that goes against the grain, or ask a question that your audience will want the answer to. This may seem like clickbait at first, but it’s only clickbait if the rest of your video has nothing to do with how you started. The goal is to get people to stick around long enough to realize that you are offering value.
Next time you’re scrolling social media and stop on a video, take a moment to analyze it. What was it that made you stop? What hook did they use? Did they deliver on the topic and offer you value? Did you stop watching and swipe to the next video at some point? What point? Why?
There are 3 “locations” in any reel, and your hook should go in all 3!
Your hook doesn’t have to be word for word the same in each of these 3 places (it’s better if it ISN’T), but they should all tie together cohesively.
Good hooks take a lot of thought and they are not necessarily easy to come up with! You won’t get it right every time, but starting to think about it and putting more effort towards it should make a huge difference as you grow on Instagram.
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