Need some inspo when it comes to scroll-stopping social media hooks for your TikToks, Reels, or Instagram posts? Here are just some examples of how social media creators hook their audiences, with a few easy tips on creating attention-grabbing social media hooks for your content.
Simplify Social Media
Management with One Tool
- Manage & reply to comments and DMs in one place.
- Monitor ad comments from multiple accounts.
- Automate answers to repetitive questions.
- Schedule posts to multiple accounts, on desktop.
- Analyze performance and monitor hashtags.
- Keep track of your competition.
- Create or schedule in-depth reports in seconds.
What is a social media hook?
Let’s start with the basics, shall we?
Well, first of all, the concept of a hook is nothing new. It came from literature and is – quite literally – an attention-grabbing element of a piece of content, for example, an article, an ad, or a social media post. Like a really intriguing opening line or a thought-provoking question that makes you want to read more.
Naturally, marketers adopted it to use in advertising and all sorts of marketing content to make people want to stop scrolling and read or watch it.
And on social media, a hook is exactly that – something that’s used in the first few seconds of a TikTok or a Reel to stop that thumb from swiping up to the next piece of content.
And it could be anything:
- an opening line – like a question, a controversial statement, or a promise of a big reveal at the end of the video or in the caption
- an eye-catching move, as simple as putting on lipstick
- an eye-catching image (or text) on the first image of an Instagram carousel.
And so on. In just a minute, I’ll give you some specific examples of hooks and tips for creating them.
Examples of great social media hooks
(Probably should’ve said “in just a second.” ;))
Here are some examples of how social media creators use hooks to capture attention and get people to engage with their content (or at least watch/read it instead of scrolling past it.)
Catchphrases are repeated with every piece of content
One of the simplest ways to grab people’s attention is to create a repeated hook that they recognize instantly when it pops up on their for you page. Here’s an example of what I mean – a TikTok account devoted to the real-life character of Glenda, the Squirrel. Each video starts with the same words:
“This is Glenda. She’s a squirrel. Obviously.”
And it’s enough to stop you in your tracks when you’re scrolling through TikTok. And especially once you’ve seen a couple of videos and know what’s coming just by those few lines.
The lines or phrases don’t have to start the content (though that’s how hooks usually work). They can also be words and phrases that you repeat a lot – or even create, like the “indubitably” in this creator’s content:
Questions that get answered in the content
Especially ones that are in any way interesting – for example, absurd.
Like in this TikTok of the creator that recreates vintage American recipes that can be, well, quite absurd today. Like Elvis’s Coca-Cola salad. (Yes, you heard that correctly.)
But really, any question that will make people want to stay around for the answer. That’s exactly what social media hooks are for.
Protect your social media from trolls
Automatically hide or delete comments from Facebook and Instagram trolls under your organic posts and ads, for all your profiles at once – with an all-in-one social media tool.
Creating anticipation
Some creators use phrases that make you want to watch more to learn what it is that they’re talking about. These are phrases like: “Wait until you see what…” or “You won’t believe what just happened,” etc. You get the idea.
Here’s an example of a TikTok creator who shows people around New York City apartments for sale and rent and likes to open their videos with phrases like “You won’t believe the asking price for this xyz apartment”:
A number of things you’re going to talk about
This tactic has been used in marketing content for years, so people have gotten quite used to it by now. The key here is to make it interesting again.
Like in this example, where this creator talks about things she’s learned about British culture as an American living in London.
This kind of hook instantly makes you want to know what those things are, and that “one thing she doesn’t understand” adds even more sense of curiosity.
A list split across carousel photos
Another use of numbers is to make a longer list and spread it across a few photos to make people want to swipe and read the whole thing, like in this example from Innocent Drinks. One condition – it needs to be interesting/catchy/entertaining, or fun enough so that people will actually want to read it and not just scroll away.
This also works for TikTok content, btw.
Carousel quizzes
People love quizzes, and of course, they love them on social media, too. A fun format to do them in is Instagram carousels. Your hook will, of course, be on the first photo – and you need to make it as catchy as possible to make people want to swipe through the entire carousel and interact with it.
Here’s a fun example from Innocent drinks, who are doing this in their unique style. Notice the caption, too – it contains the quiz “questions”:
Images with text only
With image-based social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram, it’s sometimes easier to stand out and grab attention with plain old text on a white background.
That’s because we’re not really expecting to see something like this among all the moving videos and colorful images, so naturally, our eye will be drawn to something that looks different.
(At least as long as it’s still rare and not super common and used by everyone.)
Images with music
Yes, songs can also act like hooks, especially with image posts, but also with Reels or TikToks that use trending sounds.
They can help keep viewers watching the content longer – unless, of course, they’re watching with sound off. Or if they immediately scroll away because the sound is not what they expected or it’s too loud for where they are (so do watch out for that.)
Stitched content
Yep, stitched content on TikTok can also act as a hook – especially if it contains a question or a controversial statement. And then the following original content can be a hot take or a humorous response.
Popular trends
Trends can also work as hooks – provided that your take on them is in any way unique or interesting to the viewer.
Here’s an example of a trend that got recently revived after going quiet for a long time. The reason why trends like this are so effective is because the first few seconds already tell you what trend it is.
5 tips on how to create thumb-stopping social media hooks
1. Relate to other creators’ content
Especially on TikTok, stitching is an effective way to draw attention and get people interested in what you have to say about a particular topic.
And phrases used by other creators that you want to refer to in your content can make really good hooks. Especially if they fit the criteria of a good hook – for example, sound controversial or ask a question that you’re going to answer in your video.
2. Ask questions
Questions are always a great way to grab attention. But not just any question. Look for ones that your target audience will want to know the answer to (which, of course, you’ll provide in your video or carousel.)
3. Open a loop
In copywriting, there’s a tactic called an “open loop”, which is essentially pointing at something that you’re only explaining later on in your content, making people want to watch or read it.
For example, you could start your TikTok saying, “This is the best way to do XYZ,” and now people will have to watch on to know what “this” is.
Other examples of the open loop technique could be “Do this one thing to XYZ” or “This is how I did XYZ.”
You get the idea.
4. Find “your” prop
This could be anything – a piece of clothing or headwear, a lipstick, an element of your backdrop or even a hairstyle. It could be as simple as holding your microphone to your face or stirring an iced drink with a metal straw.
Something that tells people’s brains to focus for a second there – that precious second you can use to then keep the attention with something worth their while (because, in the long run, the iced drink or microphone alone won’t be enough.)
5. Find your opening phrase
Just like in the example of the squirrel from earlier on in the article, finding a catchy phrase that is uniquely yours and opens your videos or posts will let scrolling people know immediately that it’s you and your content. And as the squirrel example shows, it can be really simple (albeit clever).
It doesn’t have to be anything super sophisticated. It can even be as simple as “Did you know?”
How to create engaging social media hooks with NapoleonCat
If copywriting is not your strongest suit, or if you’re simply feeling uninspired and ran out of content ideas (which I totally get), it’s THE time to be a marketer. And, of course, I mean generative AI and all the tools that use it to make creating an effective social media hook and other kinds of content quicker and easier, whether you hate writing or are temporarily suffering from writer’s block.
Here’s how to use NapoleonCat’s AI Assistant to come up with catchy hooks for your social media content.
The AI Assistant is available in the Publisher where you can plan your Instagram posts, Reels, and TikToks and create captions for them. And it’s a true game changer for marketers, social media managers, and content creators.
You can use it to:
- generate social media copy from scratch
- edit the copy you wrote (but maybe felt like it was ‘meh’)
- and create different versions of posts for different platforms without spending too much time on them.
Here’s how it works:
- Go to Publisher in NapoleonCat and select the social media platform(s) you want to post to.
- Click on the AI icon and select Generate post to create a completely new one or Enhance post to polish existing copy.
- You’ll be taken to the AI Assistant where you can use one of the preexisting prompts or create your own. For thumb-stopping social media hooks, definitely make it super clear to the AI that that’s what you’re looking for (and what kind – you can use above examples as inspiration) and define the social media platform.
Here’s what I wrote as an example:
- Select the tone of voice and length of the post.
- You can also ask the AI Assistant to generate relevant hashtags and include emojis.
- Then click “Generate post.” Here’s what my prompt gave me (I’m actually pretty impressed, to be honest):
- You can then use the copy directly in your scheduled post (and edit/adjust it if you want.)
- If you have copy and want to edit it, after you click “Enhance copy” in step #2, type or paste your content and select the tone of voice and length. The AI assistant will edit your copy accordingly.
Looks easy, right? That’s because it is. So, I’ll leave you to it – have fun, and let me know how it goes!
We highly recommend you test NapoleonCat for free – no credit card required 😉
Simplify Social Media
Management with One Tool
- Manage & reply to comments and DMs in one place.
- Monitor ad comments from multiple accounts.
- Automate answers to repetitive questions.
- Schedule posts to multiple accounts, on desktop.
- Analyze performance and monitor hashtags.
- Keep track of your competition.
- Create or schedule in-depth reports in seconds.
You may also like:
- 260 Aesthetic Username Ideas to Use Across the Internet
- Social Media Acronyms: Your Quick Reference Guide
- Top 10 YouTube Influencers To Follow
- KOLs in Marketing: Who They Are & How to Partner
- How to Create a Social Media Strategy
- Meta Business Suite Message Scam – How to Avoid Getting Tricked
- Ready-To-Use Social Media Marketing Strategy for Small Business
- How to Use LinkedIn SEO to Reach the Right Audience
- The 8 Best Marketing YouTube Channels To Follow
