In short
- Feeds are scrolled sound-off and fast; the opening frame is the whole audition
- Strong hooks lead with a problem, a bold claim, a question or a satisfying visual, never the logo
- Winning ads front-load the hook and reveal the brand late
- Testing hooks against the same body creative is the highest-leverage creative test
Why the hook decides everything
Watch time, clicks and conversions are all downstream of one moment: the instant a thumb pauses. If the first second does not earn attention, nothing after it exists. That is why the ads that keep running for months almost always open with a problem, a claim, a question or a visually satisfying moment, and put the brand last.
Hook patterns that keep winning
Problem-first lines (the backbone of PAS ads), curiosity questions, blunt before-and-after reveals, native devices like comment-reply stickers, and first-person POV footage all work for the same reason: they read as content, not advertising, for just long enough to earn the watch.
Testing hooks
Because the hook carries so much of the outcome, the standard play is to test several hooks on top of one proven body. The metric to watch is the scroll-stop rate, also called thumb-stop or hook rate: the percentage of impressions that survive the first three seconds, that is, 3-second video plays divided by impressions.
FAQ about Hooks
How long is a hook?
The first one to three seconds of a video, or the first glance at a static. On sound-off feeds that usually means the opening frame plus the first line of on-screen text.
What are proven hook formats?
Problem-first openings, curiosity questions, blunt before-and-after reveals, native devices like comment-reply stickers, and first-person POV footage. All of them read as content rather than advertising for just long enough to earn the watch.
How do I measure whether a hook works?
With the scroll-stop rate: 3-second video plays divided by impressions. Test several hooks on the same body creative and keep the opening that stops the most thumbs.