Video Hooks for Business
Did you know that the average attention span is only 8.25 seconds? That's why you should be using hooks at the beginning of every single one of your videos. Especially with the algorithm really paying attention to watch time as a determining factor of how well your content performs, it's really important to use hooks which can make the difference between reaching a bigger audience and getting stuck with low views.
My name is Megan and I help business owners go from confused to confident on social media. I help you build a loyal community, get quality clients, and build a more profitable business.
So first, what is a hook? I'm sure most of us know what that is but the actual definition is: a video hook is the first few seconds of a video that grabs the viewers attention and encourages them to keep watching. Some common themes you want to think about when you're going to create these hooks would be using unpopular opinions, offering up bite-sized pieces of educational content, using curiosity like exposing a secret you have about your industry, something that will actually surprise your audience so maybe a fact that no one really knows about, or you could use the solution to a problem that someone's having and then in that video you would explain how to get to that solution. The key to make a great hook is that you want to keep it short and sweet, you want to make sure to grab the viewers attention within the first 2 to 3 seconds of the video, you want to use clear and easy to understand language so nothing that's really going to confuse them right off the bat, and lastly you want to avoid large chunks of texts that are harder to read right away. I'm going to walk you through four really great hooks that you can use for your business today. I'm going to walk you through the hook with fill in the blank sections that you can apply your own industry and knowledge to, I'll tell you why it's a successful hook, and then I'll give you an example you can get a feel for what you'd plug in.
When I'm scrolling through my feed I definitely notice when people are trying to hook my attention in and some people do this so well that I'm 30 seconds into a video without even realizing that I've been watching for so long. And I definitely think this can be a game changer because a lot of us are really knowledgeable in the things that we're doing every single day right a lot of us created a business around what we're good at doing every single day, but if you can't portray that in the first few seconds of a video no one's going to keep watching people are just going to keep scrolling away because they don't know how it's going to benefit them without you directly telling them that in the first few seconds.
Hook number one is 'ever wondered how insert industry expert achieve insert desirable outcome?' This hook really plays on the curiosity of your audience so just like the theme I was mentioning earlier, people are going to keep watching if they think that you're going to be spilling all these secrets. The promise of Insider knowledge is what's going to get people to be watching this video so the more specific you are with your industry and the desired outcome, the higher quality of the niche you're going to be reaching. So the broader the industry you choose the broader the audience is going to be watching the more specific industry you choose there might be less people watching however they'll be more specific to what you are offering. So it's up to you if you want more quality versus quantity. An example for this hook would be 'ever wondered how Fitness Experts achieve Peak Performance?' and then you would follow up with your video and explain how these people do what they do.
The second Hook is 'five secrets every insert industry professional needs to know!' Using a numbered list of tips here promises valuable and concise information and actually encourages the viewers to keep watching. If they know they can get a few tips from you in a really short amount of time, in their brain it seems like a valuable use of their time to keep watching. An example for this type of hook is 'five secrets every photographer needs to know!'
The third hook I'm going to go into is 'don't make these insert number common mistakes in insert industry' So highlighting the really common mistakes that these people are going to be making in your industry will be in a sense calling them out. You're going to be catching their interest because they're going to be associating themselves with the mistakes that you're calling out. They're going to want to hear what you have to say so they can avoid these mistakes and improve their own practices. So for example this hook could be 'don't make these five common mistakes in real estate' Then you'd list out the five mistakes and then explain how to avoid each one. I like this one because a lot of people prefer to hear what not to do versus what they should be doing.
And the last hook I'm going to go through, number four is 'transform your insert aspect with these simple steps' This hook is offering a solution to a problem and also highlighting a transformation. This will draw in those specific people who are looking for that solution or looking for some type of transformation in their lives. So for example, if you are a meditation expert, your example could be 'transform your morning routine with these simple steps'
So these four examples really covered a wide range of industries that can use them. Obviously the more specific your hooks are, the better they will be but that really differs industry to industry so I really urge you to get creative here and think outside the box if you have a really common misconception about what you do or some unpopular opinion that shows how you stand out from your competition I would really go for those types of hooks. So simply stating a sentence that is an unpopular opinion then you spend that video explaining to your audience why you think that way. Overall hooks are really going to improve the performance of your videos as long as you keep the actual quality of your videos in the process.
If you're struggling to come up with content ideas for your business I do have a free 40 content ideas you can download today. And if you want to talk directly with me I also have a link where you can do just that. I'd love to hear more about your business and your goals and share how I can further support you from there. Thank you so much for watching all the way until the end, and watch this one next to see what to do on social media if you think you have a boring industry. I'll see you guys in the next video!
