Almost the entire audience drop off happens before the third second. Whatever else a video does, it does it to the people the opening kept, which makes the hook the highest leverage part of the whole production.
Start in the middle
The instinct is to introduce, contextualise and then arrive at the point. Delete the first sentence. Whatever the video was going to say at second five, say it at second zero and let the context arrive afterwards if it is needed at all.
Show the thing, do not describe it
A hook that says let me tell you about this product is asking permission. A hook that shows the product doing something surprising has already started. Visual openings outperform verbal ones consistently because they work with the sound off.
Name the person you are talking to
If a video opens with a specific situation, the people in that situation stay and everybody else leaves, which is correct. A hook that tries to hold everybody holds nobody, and narrowing the opening usually improves the result rather than shrinking it.
Write ten and film them all
Nobody can predict which opening works, including experienced people. The efficient method is filming the same video with several different first lines from the same setup and letting the platform decide, which costs almost nothing at the time of filming.
What almost never works
Slow logo reveals, ambient music before speech, a creator saying hey guys, and anything that requires the viewer to wait. Waiting is the one thing the format does not permit.
Keep reading
- Writing a UGC Brief That Works in Canada
- Cultural References That Only Work in Quebec
- Casting Quebec Creators Properly
- UGC Creators in Laval and Longueuil
- The complete UGC guide for Canada
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Frequently asked questions
Where does the drop off happen?
Almost entirely before second three.
How should a video open?
In the middle, with the point.
Is a narrow hook a problem?
No, narrowing usually improves results.
How many hooks should be filmed?
Several from the same setup.
