How to Make Your Hooks Better

As the saying goes, first impressions matter.

Think of the last time that you went on a date. How long into the date did you decide whether you were interested in that person or not? Chances are, it was very early on. The same goes for your business. When someone interacts with your brand, they form an opinion about what kind of company you are within the first few seconds.

The big agencies know this. When making their webpages, emails, and videos, where do you think they spend the most money? I'll give you a clue...it's not hashtags or making sure they have a high production value.

Agencies spend 80 cents on the dollar on one area...the hook!

So you don't have a lot of time to get their attention...but did you realize how short a timespan you actually have.

5 seconds.

That's it.

You have five seconds to get - and keep - your audience's attention. To put that into perspective, that's roughly how long it takes to read this sentence.

How to Not Start Off Your Next TikTok

Are you making the most out of those first 5 seconds? If you're like many people out there, you're wasting those first few precious seconds with information that your audience doesn't want to hear!

For example, let's say you're making a video about video marketing mistakes.

Here's how you DON'T want to start your video...

1. Introducing yourself (aka Hey, I'm Sam, The TikTok Coach")

2. Saying what you're going to talk about. (aka Today, I want to tell you about mistakes that many businesses make in video marketing.)

3. Talk about your product immediately - you haven't convinced them why they should care yet! (aka Here's why you should take my program.)

You're not going to get people watching your videos with intros like these. You haven't given them a reason to stick around yet!  Instead, your first 5 seconds should be spent establishing why what you have to say is valuable and why they should keep watching.

Am I getting their attention?

Maybe you suspect you can do better with your videos but aren't sure. How do you know if you have a  good hook?

Here are three suggestions:

1. Look at your analytics. How long are people watching? Are they skipping past or sticking around to watch the whole thing?

2. Watch your videos objectively. Would you keep watching if you saw this for the first time? Get feedback from friends, family, and colleagues. Ask them what they thought about your video in the first 5 seconds.

3. Think about the last few videos that got your attention.  What kind of hook did they use? How does it compare to your videos?

How to Hook Your Audience

So you know you need to get your audience's attention...but how? Here are my three favorite strategies:

#1. Make it about your audience.

In 5 seconds, your audience should be able to answer three questions: Is this video for me? Is this helping me solve a specific pain point? And is this person an expert? (This last question is answered by the way that you show up on camera - confident and knowledgeable).

For example, your video hook could be, "Entrepreneurs, these three video marketing mistakes may be stopping you from getting leads."

If you're a business that wants leads, then you're going to stop scrolling!

#2. Make it a little bit more controversial

Instead of making it straightforward, you can add a little controversy to your hook. For example, instead of "Stop making these video marketing mistakes," you could say, "Your business will never succeed unless you stop making these mistakes."

That stops people in their tracks, thinking, "I don't want my business to fail...I had better pay attention."  

#3. Add some power words!

The words that you use matter.  Instead of "These mistakes are bad for your business," you could say, "Surprising secret why a lot of entrepreneurs fail at video marketing".

Powerful words tap into emotions like curiosity and urgency, making your audience more likely to stay. Some examples of power words are : Surprising, Shocking, Secret, Breakthrough, Revolutionary,  Explosive, Rapid, and Unbelievable.

Now It's Your Turn!

So there you have it - three ways to hook your audience in the first 5 seconds of your video. Make sure that you're giving your audience a reason to keep watching and use those five precious seconds wisely. If you aren't sure what this looks like, check out some of my videos here. I can help you craft and film the perfect hooks to get your audience engaged.