07 Jul 3 Elements of a Great Short-form Video Hook
Here’s the thing – if Instagram gives you an insight to look at then it’s probably important. Not probably – it is important. They recently made an addition to the Insights section of the app – scroll to the bottom you’ll see a KPI that says “View rate past first 3 seconds”.
Your hook is what happens in the first 3 seconds, and this new charts tells you exactly how good your hooks are. Now, there’s a few aspects to hooks that are very important.
Your Hook Isn’t Just What You Say
It’s made up of three components:
The reality is not every video needs or will have a verbal hook but ALL should use a title hook and visual hook.
Let’s run through examples:
Verbal Hook – What you say in the first 3s
The key to a good verbal hook is creating clarity, providing context, and a creating curiosity gap.
In this video Alex says…
“This is why your brand needs to launch a social show”
This verbal hook does 3 things:
- Clarity > Content strategy for brands
- Context > Creating a social show
- Curiosity Gap > Why brands need to do it
These rules apply for brands and creators alike – it doesn’t matter.
Visual Hook – What you show in the first 3s
The visual hook’s job is primarily to stop the scroll.
Here Oren uses obscure heat reactive materials and a heat gun to activate them right out of the gate. This is visually interesting AND he’s doing something. They don’t all apply to every video, but you should always consider 3 elements: Angle, Aesthetics & Actions.
Here’s an example of a video that hits all 3:
- Angle: Top down, wide angle
- Action: Eating a baguette
- Aesthetic: Summer in Paris
Title Hook – What you write in the first 3s
This is back to what you write on screen – Colin’s title hook in the video below is clear as day.
A title hook isn’t only big bold titles – it’s the same element that pulls viewers in on a simple one shot. It can even be a caption – aligning with your Verbal hook.
Imagine this – someone is scrolling…fast. They’re just scanning waiting for something to catch their attention. Sound off. And they continue getting hit with videos that have no title hooks. Then your video hits their feed and they scan and read your title hook and it’s something that hooks them, provides context, and creates a small curiosity gap.
Which video do you think will garner someone’s attention? The one with the title hook.
It’s important to think about how people view content and how you can optimize for the majority who scroll without sound on.
So what does this all mean?
Nothing matters but your hook, and you should be spending your resources accordingly – scripting, editing, and testing energy should all be focused on those first 3s.
If you’re a brand investing $100k into a production to create a masterpiece but you can’t get someone’s attention – doesn’t matter. The content will perform accordingly.
Storyboard, script, find inspo, test, iterate, and religiously look at the “view rate past 3 seconds” to see if your hooks are getting better and better.
Alright – we’re out,
– The Cut30 Crew