What is a hook?

Most good hooks fall into a few familiar patterns.

• The result first: show the finished cake, the clean car, the fitted suit.
• A problem your customer has: "Tired of your plants dying in winter?"
• A surprising fact from your trade, as long as it's true.
• A direct question: "Do you really need to service your boiler every year?"
• A number: "3 mistakes people make when choosing a sofa".
• A myth: "You don't need to wash chicken before cooking it."
• A behind-the-scenes promise: "What happens to your order after you click buy".

Write the rest of the post first, then come back to the opening.

1. Find the single most interesting thing in your post.
2. Move it to the very start.
3. Cut every word before it, such as greetings, introductions and "so".
4. Make it specific: numbers, places and concrete details beat general claims.
5. Check that the rest of the post delivers what the hook promises.
6. For video, show it as well as say it: open on movement or the result, and add the hook as on-screen text inside the safe zone.

Hooks fail when they waste the first moment or make a promise the post can't keep.

• Opening with your logo, a slow intro or "Hey guys".
• Clickbait that the post doesn't pay off, which makes people trust you less next time.
• Using the same hook formula on every post until followers tune it out.
• Saving the best part for the end, where few people get to.

The idea is the same everywhere, but the form changes. On Instagram and LinkedIn, the hook is usually the first line of the caption, before the "more" cut-off, and the first slide of a carousel. On X and Threads, it's the first post of a thread or the whole of a single post. On TikTok, Reels and Shorts, it's what people see and hear in the first moment, plus any on-screen text. On YouTube, the thumbnail and title do the hooking before the video even starts, and the opening seconds must confirm the viewer clicked the right thing.