Hooks
What viewers see, hear, and read in the first 3 seconds. Explore hook types, strategies, templates, and thousands of real examples.
How video hooks work
A hook is the opening signal that gives a viewer a reason to keep watching. Strong hooks establish relevance, tension, novelty, or a promised payoff in the first moments of a short-form video.
Hook types describe how the opening reaches the viewer: through title text, spoken language, or the first visual. Hook strategies describe why that opening earns attention. A single video can combine more than one type and strategy.
Three hook types
- Title hooks - On-screen words that frame the promise before a viewer scrolls away.
- Verbal hooks - The opening words, question, claim, or story beat delivered by the creator.
- Visual hooks - The first image, action, reveal, or contrast that earns attention without relying on copy.
Seven hook strategies
- Curiosity and open loops
- Transformation and payoff
- Secrets and shortcuts
- Relatability and contrast
- Credibility
- Opinions and polarization
- Identity and specificity
Use the examples, reusable templates, and trend data on each page to compare openings by mechanism instead of copying surface-level wording.