Video hooks

Overview

Short-form video lives or dies in the first 1.5 seconds. The hook is the only sentence in the script that matters more than the offer — if it doesn't earn the next breath, the user swipes and the rest of the work is wasted. This skill encodes the small number of hook patterns that actually convert on TikTok, Reels, and Shorts in 2025–2026, the rules each pattern follows, and the dead opens to avoid.

Instructions

Core Rules

• The hook is the first 1.5s of video, not the first sentence of the script. It is visual + audible + on-screen text together. Treat all three as the hook.
• Earn the next second, not the next minute. Each beat (1.5s, 3s, 5s) needs its own retention reason.
• Never open with the brand. Brand goes in the resolution, not the open. Brand-first opens have ~30–40% lower 3s retention.
• Never open with "Hi guys" / "In this video" / "Today I'll show you". These are skip triggers — the algorithm has trained users to expect filler after them.
• Show motion in frame 1. A still opener loses ~20% of viewers vs. a moving opener (camera shake, zoom, subject motion, or quick cut).
• Caption visible by frame 5. ~85% of feed scrolls are sound-off — the hook must read silently.
• One claim per hook. Two ideas = no idea.

Hook Pattern Catalog

Pattern	When to use	Template
Pattern-Interrupt	Cold cold audience, low awareness	[surprising visual] + "Wait — [absurd claim]"
Contrarian	Audience has heard the cliché	"Stop [common advice]. Here's why it actually [opposite outcome]."
Problem-Aware	Audience already feels the pain	"If your [tool/process] still [pain point], you're [losing X]."
Curiosity-Gap	Educational / how-to	"I tested [N] [things] for [duration]. Only [small N] [outcome]."
Stat Punch	B2B / data-driven	"[Big number] of [audience] [do thing wrong]. Here's the fix."
Identity Bait	Niche audience	"You're a [specific identity] if [oddly specific behavior]."
Listicle Promise	Information-dense	"[N] [things] [audience] should [verb] before [year/event]."
Direct Address	Existing followers / retargeting	"This is for the [specific user] who [specific pain]."
Negative Framing	Performance ads (Meta/TikTok)	"Don't [common action] until you [see this/read this]."
Confession	UGC / authentic	"I'm not supposed to say this, but [insider truth]."
Demo-Cold-Open	Product-led	Show the result first, no setup, then reverse-engineer the how.

Visual Hook Devices (stack on top of script)

• Hard cut at 0:00.5 — first frame is mid-action, not establishing.
• On-screen text larger than usual (font size 80–100pt for 1080×1920).
• Pattern-interrupt object — something visually unexpected in frame 1 (a banana, a hand, a face mid-expression).
• Speed ramp — slow-mo for 0.3s then snap to real-time.
• Camera move — zoom-in or push-in at 0.0–0.5s; static cameras lose attention.
• Caption animation — words appearing in time with speech (auto-caption-style); higher retention than burned-flat text.

Workflow

1. Read the brief — product, audience, awareness level (cold / warm / retargeting).
2. Pick 3 patterns from the catalog that fit the audience and awareness level.
3. Write 3 hook variants — one per pattern. Each ≤ 12 words on screen, ≤ 8 words spoken.
4. For each variant, specify: visual (frame 1 description), on-screen text, voiceover line, motion device.
5. Score each on: pattern-interrupt strength (1–5), claim specificity (1–5), caption readability sound-off (1–5).
6. Pick the top scorer — but ship at least 2 variants for A/B testing.

Decision Guide

Scenario	Hook pattern
Cold audience, fully unaware of the problem	Pattern-Interrupt or Confession
Audience knows the problem but not the solution	Problem-Aware or Stat Punch
Audience knows the solution category, comparing	Contrarian or Demo-Cold-Open
Audience is already a fan / past visitor	Direct Address or Identity Bait
Performance ad on TikTok / Meta	Negative Framing or Pattern-Interrupt
Educational / informational content	Curiosity-Gap or Listicle Promise

Examples

Example 1: SaaS dev tool, cold TikTok audience

Brief: Promote a CLI tool that auto-generates database migrations. Audience: Backend devs, mostly cold. Pattern picks: Pattern-Interrupt, Contrarian, Stat Punch.

Variant A — Pattern-Interrupt

• Frame 1: Terminal mid-typing, a migration error fills the screen in red.
• On-screen text: your migrations are lying to you
• Voice: Your migrations are lying to you.
• Motion: hard zoom-in on the error.

Variant B — Contrarian

• Frame 1: Hand crossing out the words "Write SQL by hand" on whiteboard.
• On-screen text: STOP writing migrations by hand
• Voice: Stop writing migrations by hand. There's a better way.
• Motion: quick whip-pan to the laptop screen.

Variant C — Stat Punch

• Frame 1: Big number 73% filling the screen.
• On-screen text: 73% of prod outages start in a migration
• Voice: Seventy-three percent of prod outages start in a migration. Here's how to stop being one of them.
• Motion: number scales up from 0 to 73 in 0.5s.

Pick: B for cold dev audience — Contrarian + clear visual, no claim that needs sourcing.

Example 2: D2C skincare, retargeting audience

Brief: Cart-abandoners who viewed the SKU but didn't buy. Pattern picks: Direct Address, Confession.

Variant A — Direct Address

• Frame 1: Mid-shot of a person looking straight to camera, finger pointing.
• On-screen text: you ← yes, you who left this in your cart
• Voice: You — yes, you, who left this in your cart yesterday.
• Motion: subject leans into camera.

Variant B — Confession

• Frame 1: Founder unboxing a return.
• On-screen text: nobody told me this would happen with [product]
• Voice: Nobody told me this would happen the second week of using it.
• Motion: hand reveals the product mid-frame.

Hooks That Are Banned

These openers measurably tank retention — never use them:

• "Hi everyone / Hi guys / What's up"
• "In this video / Today I'm going to / Let me show you"
• "Welcome back to my channel"
• Logo on screen alone
• Brand name as the first spoken word
• Any sentence that starts with "So..."
• A static product shot with no motion
• Music-only opener with no visual or text claim

References

• TikTok Creative Center — Hook patterns — actual top-performing ad teardowns by vertical.
• Meta Ads Library — search competitors and study their first 1.5s.