What is a social media hook?
A social media hook is anything (either an intriguing video clip, or a powerful combination of words) that acts as the bait to draw people to your content. It is whatever can make someone pause and take notice of your page, or a specific content from your page. Now, note that if this bait doesn’t land in your audience’s brain within a second or two, they’re going to keep scrolling and may never visit your page.
A recent study shows that marketers have roughly 1.5 seconds to capture someone’s attention before they scroll on. That very small time window means a powerful hook must be set in place to arrest their attention.
Why hooks work
It may seem farfetched to be able to capture someone’s attention in a mere two seconds, but it actually works! Let’s find out how:
1. The novelty:
We humans are wired to immediately detect new differences in a norm. Similarly, when something breaks the expected pattern on our social media feed, (could be a bold question or statement, or surprising video or visual), our brain stops for a moment. That jolt is simply curiosity kicking in, compelling us to slow down and pay attention to what caught our attention in the first place.
2. Curiosity
Leaving a burning question (like “What’s the biggest mistake everyone is making in their Tiktok content?”) activates curiosity for answers. Your brain would immediately tag the missing information in the hook as something that must be found. Therefore prompting one to stop and read/listen more.
3. Emotion
Content that triggers positive emotions like joy, awe, and surprise performs better in terms of engagement. Think about when you see an ad hook that triggers nostalgic feelings from your childhood. You are likely to stop scrolling, like and maybe even leave a comment or share!
4. Social Proof
On social media, when we see engagement on a post, we subconsciously assume it’s safe and worth our time. So in one way or another, we all subconsciously follow the crowd that has already taken the bait of a great content hook.
How to write captivating hooks for social media
- Start fast and punchy. Do not make it a lot of words. Make it easy enough to read it all at a glance.
- Leverage on pain points. What are the pain points your brand has a solution for?
- Use powerful words. They tend to leave an imprint on the mind and trigger emotions.
- Make it natural. Make your audience experience a natural reaction to your hook, not forced or emotional manipulation.
Why should your business use hooks?
If there is one thing you should know, it’s that hooks lead to engagement, and social media algorithms favour brand pages that have some engagement. The more users linger, watch again, share, or comment on your content, the wider your reach becomes because the algorithm automatically shares it to users who are interested in similar content. This is the advantage that using a compelling hook gives your brand.
So the next time you plan a social media post, ask yourself: Will this hook make someone stop scrolling? If not, rewrite and edit it until it does. And if you need professional help with hooks that can convert, feel free to reach out to us!
