Video hook

The very start of a video, the first line or picture, made to stop people scrolling so they keep watching the rest.

The opening segment of a short-form video, typically the first one to three seconds, designed to win continued viewing in an autoplaying feed. It combines a spoken line, a visual and often on-screen text, and is evaluated by early retention rather than completion.

A feed gives every video a moment of attention for free. The hook decides whether you earn the next few seconds. It doesn't have to tell the whole story; it has to open a question the viewer wants answered.

That is why a good one is specific. "This is a great moisturiser" asks nothing. "I stopped using three products after finding this one" makes the viewer wonder which three, and why.

These lines were written for this page, to show each shape:

• Result first: "This is my skin two weeks after switching cleansers."
• Call-out: "If your phone dies before lunch, watch this."
• Bold claim: "This is the only blender I haven't returned."
• Question: "Why does nobody talk about the smell of protein powder?"
• Mistake: "I used this wrong for a month."
• Reply: answering a comment on screen, "Does it really last all day? Let's see."

For many more, see UGC hook examples.

A hook can live in three places, and the strongest ones use more than one.

• Spoken: the first words out of your mouth. Start mid-thought, without a greeting.
• Visual: what the viewer sees first, such as the product in your hand, a before photo or a dramatic texture.
• On-screen text: a short line near the top of the frame, readable with the sound off.

When the three agree, the viewer gets the idea instantly. When they fight, say a line about price over a text about results, the hook gets muddy.

A hook that promises something the video never delivers works once and costs you trust. If you open with "the trick nobody tells you", the trick needs to arrive, and soon.

Write the hook last. Draft the middle and the call to action first, find the most surprising true thing in them, and turn that into the opening line. Then cut everything before it: no "hey guys", no "so today", no standing up straight before you speak.

You rarely know which first line will work best until you post. A cheap way to find out is to film two or three different openers for the same video, keeping everything after them the same.

Post one version, then another a few days later with a new first line, and compare how far people watch in each. Change only the opener, or you won't know what made the difference. Over a few videos you learn which shapes suit your voice and your niche, and writing the next hook gets much faster.

Pick a length in Auto Edit and the cut works towards it: Most ads aims for about 30 seconds, and Custom lets you choose anything from 10 seconds to 3 minutes. With a length picked, Auto Edit keeps your strongest lines, your hook and your call to action, and drops the rest until the video is near your pick.

If you filmed your script in the order you want, leave Let AI Reorder off so the opening stays where you put it. On iPhone, the teleprompter shows the video's Script field, which also guides the auto edit, so writing the hook into the script is a good habit.

• A greeting or an introduction before the point.
• A silent first second while you settle, which Auto Edit cuts but a hand edit often misses.
• B-roll over your face in the opening, when a person is what makes UGC trustworthy.
• A hook that is a question with an obvious answer, like "Do you want better skin?"
• On-screen text that sits where the app's buttons cover it. The safe-zone checker shows where those are.