How to write a hook for Reels, TikToks and Shorts that makes people stay
On Reels, TikTok and Shorts, people decide in the first second or two whether to keep watching. What they get in that moment is the hook: the first words, the first picture and the line written on screen. This is how to write one, seven kinds that work with an example of each, and how to find out from your own numbers which hooks your audience stays for.
Rodolfo MotaFounder of SPREVA
The short version
Put the reason to keep watching in the first second: a result, a problem, a question, a surprise. Say it, show it, and write it on screen in four to seven words, because many people watch without sound. Then make the rest of the video keep the hook's promise, and judge your hooks by how long people watch, not only by views.
What a hook is
A hook has three layers: what is said in the first words, what is shown in the first frame, and what is written on screen. The strongest hooks use all three, and all three say the same thing.
A hook is a promise. It earns the next few seconds, and the video has to pay it back: a hook that promises more than the video gives only moves the swipe a few seconds later.
Seven kinds of hook that work
Most good hooks are one of these. Pick the one that fits what the video really delivers:
| Kind | Example |
|---|---|
| The result first | This is the same room, before and after one weekend. |
| A common mistake | You are holding your phone wrong for video. |
| A question they already ask | How long should a Reel really be? |
| A number | Three things I would never buy again for my kitchen. |
| Something unexpected | Our best-selling cake started as a mistake. |
| Their situation | If you post every day and nothing grows, watch this. |
| Behind the scenes | What a restaurant kitchen looks like one minute before opening. |
Writing one, step by step
- 1
Start from the end. Write down the one thing the viewer gets from the video, then turn it into the first line.
- 2
Cut the written line to four to seven words. The spoken line can be a little longer; the one on screen has to be read at a glance.
- 3
Open on the strongest picture, not on a logo, a greeting or a slow start: the first frame is part of the hook.
- 4
Make it work without sound. The text on screen should carry the hook alone, and the captions should start with the first word.
- 5
Write three, keep one. Write three versions of the hook and keep the most specific: a number, a name or a place beats a general promise.
Hooks that lose people
The usual reasons a video loses people in the first second:
- A greeting such as “Hi everyone, welcome back”: the reason to stay comes too late.
- A promise the video does not keep: people leave a few seconds later, and they remember next time.
- A logo or an intro before anything happens.
- A hook only in the caption: on Reels, TikTok and Shorts, people see the video before they read anything under it.
The caption's first line is a second hook
Under the video, the caption shows only its beginning until someone taps to read more. Write that first line as a second hook, not a repeat of the first: the detail, the question, the reason to save. How to write captions with AI that don't sound like AI.
Hooks in SPREVA
On Pro and Business, a script in Scripts starts with its Hook: the line shown in the first second, which must read without sound. SPREVA counts its words and asks for four to seven. The vertical clip templates in Studio put a hook line on top of the picture, still or animated. And before an export, Check quality first adds a hook if the video has none.
Find out which hooks work for you
For a month, give every short video a campaign named after the kind of hook it opens with, such as Result, Mistake and Question. Then open Analytics, filter by each campaign and compare the Video tab: views, and above all the average watched per view. The kind of hook that keeps people watching longest is the one to use more, even if another got more views.
Rewrite one hook today
Take the video you are about to post, write three hooks for it, keep the most specific, and put it on screen in the first second. Every plan starts with a 7-day trial. How to turn a script into a video: write the words, get an editable first cut.
Questions
How long should a hook be?
Four to seven words on screen, in the first second or two of the video. The spoken line can run a little longer if the picture already makes the point.
Does every video need a hook?
Every short one. A longer YouTube video needs one too, in its first seconds, and its title and thumbnail do the same job before the click.
Is a hook just clickbait?
Only when the video does not deliver it. A good hook promises something true, and the video gives it.
Should the hook be spoken or written?
Both. Many people watch without sound, so the written line has to work alone; the spoken one gives it a voice.
How do I know if a hook works?
Look at the average watched per view in the Video tab of Analytics. Views also depend on how far each network decides to show a video; the time people stay is closer to what the hook did.
Written by
Rodolfo Mota
Founder of SPREVA
Makes SPREVA in Portugal: the Studio, the tools an agent works with, and the publishing behind them.
Keep reading
- How to turn a script into a video: write the words, get an editable first cutTurn a script into a video in SPREVA: write the hook and the lines, choose the voice and the pictures, and get a first cut with captions you can still edit.
- How to schedule Instagram Reels, from the video to the coverSchedule Instagram Reels from your computer: the video, the cover frame, the caption and a first comment, at a time or in a queue, and what SPREVA checks first.
- How to write captions with AI that don't sound like AIAI captions sound like AI when the machine is asked to invent. How to start from your own words, steer the rewrite, and adapt one caption per network in SPREVA.