Hook

A hook is the opening of an ad: the first line of copy, the first frame of an image or the first seconds of a video. Its job is to earn attention long enough for the rest of the ad to be seen. In a fast-moving social feed, an ad without a strong hook is easy to scroll past, however good the rest of it is.

Types of hooks

• Problem call-out: name a frustration your audience recognises.
• Bold claim: a specific, provable statement about the product.
• Question: something the viewer instinctively wants answered.
• Visual surprise: an unusual image, motion or demonstration, often a pattern interrupt.
• Result first: show the outcome, then explain how.
• Social proof: open with a review, a customer reaction or a popularity signal.
• Direct address: speak to a specific group, such as people with curly hair or new runners.

Hook versus angle

The ad angle is the core argument; the hook is how you open with it. One angle can be tested with many hooks, which is a relatively cheap way to find better-performing versions of an existing concept.

How to measure it

For video, hook rate or thumb-stop ratio shows how often people watch past the first seconds. For static ads, CTR gives a rough signal.

In practice

• Write several hooks for every concept and test them on the same body footage.
• Make sure the hook connects to the rest of the ad, or hold rate will suffer.
• Use the ad hook generator to brainstorm options, and browse the PixelSpyer library to see how other brands open their ads.