7+1 Commandments for Writing Irresistible Marketing Hooks
Learn how to write marketing hooks that drive clicks and engagement. Based on 6,000 hours of copywriting experience that have generated over $4 million in revenue.
Hey 👋🏼 I’m Fabian, nice to have you here. In my newsletter “Get Hooked! Marketing”, I share proven tactics from the trenches of B2B SaaS advertising every week. Built to make you a top 5% marketer.
You can spend hours refining your offer.
But your audience decides in seconds whether it’s worth their time.
This guide will teach you how to earn their initial trust.
The 7+1 Commandments are based on successful online advertising, turning $1 million in ad spend into over $4 million in revenue.
Proven copywriting tactics that enable you to write effective marketing hooks every day.
Table of contents
What is a marketing hook and why is it so important?
7+1 commandments for writing irresistible marketing hooks (with examples)
Commandment 1: Consider awareness levels
Commandment 2: Keep it short
Commandment 3: Be specific
Commandment 4: Ask or demand
Commandment 5: Make it effortless
Commandment 6: Link up with the giants
Commandment 7: Highlight benefits
+1: Remember the visuals
What is a marketing hook and why is it so important?
Your marketing content can be perfect. If the start doesn’t connect, no one will read it.
That’s why the copywriting technique of hook writing is so important.
It’s intended to be the first piece of content that people read or listen to.
Its main goal is to grab attention and spark curiosity.
That’s why the best marketing hooks don’t just stop the scroll. They encourage further engagement from the target audience.
And to achieve both, marketers don’t have much time.
Engaging with marketing content is a decision made in seconds.
According to Meta’s own research, decision time on the feed only takes 1.7 seconds on average.
For this reason, effective marketing hooks encourage engagement with just a few words.
A challenging task. But one that directly impacts performance across every channel.
7+1 commandments for writing irresistible marketing hooks
I spent over 6,000 hours testing marketing hooks on Facebook and Instagram with paid ads.
The next 7+1 commandments are the patterns I’ve seen work across hundreds of ad tests. They include examples of some of my best-performing marketing hooks of all time.
Commandment 1: Consider awareness levels
You are probably familiar with the marketing funnel.
A popular framework that divides the buying process into phases like Awareness, Consideration and Decision.
Many professionals use this framework to map channels and tactics against buying phases. The goal is to identify the right channels for improving performance.
However, there are as many critiques of the marketing funnel as there are versions of it.
For example, some say...
“The customer journey is not linear!” or...
“The customer journey doesn’t stop with the sale!”.
That’s why the best marketers and copywriters have moved to something else.
The concept of awareness levels was coined by the legendary copywriter Eugene Schwartz. In his book called Breakthrough Advertising, he refers to five distinct awareness levels that exist inside a market:
Schwartz’s approach differs in two key ways from the marketing funnel:
He targets broader market segments instead of single customer journeys
He doesn’t tie specific channels or tactics to funnel stages; instead, he matches marketing copy with various awareness levels
This means that your marketing message is what determines whether or not people will convert. Channels and tactics only distribute that message.
This also means that a channel or tactic isn’t restricted to a particular awareness level. For example, paid ads can reach both unaware and aware audiences. It all hinges on your marketing hook.
To connect with an unaware audience, the marketing hook shouldn’t begin with a problem or solution. Its main goal is to spark curiosity. After that, the copy should introduce the problem, present the solution and explain why your product is the best choice.
On the other side, an aware audience is almost ready to buy. Your hook should highlight discounts or limited-time offers to push that audience over the edge.
An effective marketing strategy incorporates all five levels of awareness.
Examples
📚 Reading Tip: Learn how to apply awareness levels to your B2B SaaS business with these 7 tactics.
Commandment 2: Keep it short
Your viewers take a few seconds to decide if they are going to engage with your content.
That’s why your hook needs to be short. But how short?
Based on my experience and the general consensus, it’s around ten words.
This is the ideal length for placing a headline on an image, on your website or within the first few seconds of a video.
You have heard that before: “Simple marketing copy beats complex copy every time.”
Because information that is easier to process for the human brain is perceived as more true, important or valuable.
This is known as the fluency heuristic: the easier something is to process, the more credible it feels.
Commandment 3: Be specific
Each target audience has its own language.
Including that language in your hook makes it more relatable and credible. Which in the end increases the likelihood of engagement.
I recommend using two specific keywords for each marketing hook. The first keyword should address the target audience. The second highlights the use case.
Use these sources to understand your audience’s exact language:
Examples
A non-specific hook might sound like this:
“Here’s how businesses can increase their revenue:”
To make it more specific, we first address our target audience directly:
“Here’s how marketing directors can increase their revenue:”
To maximize specificity, we also add a short use case:
“Here’s how marketing directors increase MQLs with smart landing page design:”
Commandment 4: Ask or demand
“My product increases your revenue by 20%.”
If you write your hook as a plain statement, you are wasting its potential.
Because you are creating a dead end.
Instead, you should create an open thread by writing your hook either as a question or as a demand.
Both work well because they create tension inside your audience. A question demands closure and a demand prompts action.
You can even increase the tension by using more provocative copy.
Examples
Let’s stick to the example from the previous chapter:
“Here’s how marketing directors increase MQLs with smart landing page design:”
First, we rewrite it as a demand:
“Every marketing director should increase MQLs with smart landing page design!”
And now, as a slightly provocative question:
“Dear marketing director: Is your landing page secretly killing your MQL growth?”
Commandment 5: Make it effortless
Most people don’t like doing hard things. Your marketing copy should reflect that.
Engaging with your content should feel effortless.
And the perceived effort is often determined by the verbs you use in your marketing hook.
Examples
Here are some verbs you should avoid:
Learn
Understand
Read
Work
Build
Implement
And here are some great alternatives:
Get
Receive
Copy
Steal
Grab
Pick up
Test
Commandment 6: Link up with the giants
You can increase your hook’s credibility by linking it to known brands.
Either companies or well-known individuals.
You basically tap into existing brand authority and brand trust.
The challenge here is connecting your own marketing hook to that exact brand. Without it feeling forced.
Example
I consult businesses on how to run successful ads online. One individual I like to mention in my own hooks is Alex Hormozi. Because many of these businesses know him.
My natural links are case studies I promote that analyze some of Hormozi’s most successful ads and landing pages.
Here is one of my top performing hooks of all time:
“Copy these 8 landing page tricks from Alex Hormozi to double your leads…”
Commandment 7: Highlight benefits
Great hooks communicate value to the target audience. They don’t just list features.
Especially today, with AI, many businesses struggle to communicate a clear value proposition.
“AI-powered LinkedIn outreach tool” is not a value proposition. “Increasing B2B revenue by $20,000 a month with AI” is a value proposition.
One is vague and abstract. The other is specific, benefit-driven and easy to understand.
💡 Tip: If you want to highlight results, use absolute numbers (like $20,000). Relative numbers (like 20%) are way harder to process and to put into perspective. This reduces the perceived value and trust of your hook (see Commandment 1).
Examples
SaaS homepages are full of weak and strong examples of benefit-driven messaging. Here are some of my most recent findings.
Weak examples:
Dropbox: “Get to work, with a lot less work.”
Intercom: “The only helpdesk designed for the AI Agent era.”
ElevenLabs: “Bringing technology to life.”
Zapier: “The automation layer for agentic AI.”
Strong examples:
Podium: “AI that converts leads and makes you money.”
OpusClip: “1 long video, 10 viral clips. Create 10x faster.”
Perspective: “Double Your Business with Perspective Funnels.”
n8n: “AI agents and workflows you can see and control.”
+1: Remember the visuals
We defined the marketing hook as a copywriting technique.
It uses written or spoken words to grab the attention of your target audience.
However, the human brain processes information before you even read or listen to it. For example, it can take as little as 13 milliseconds to process a visual image.
So, we need to extend our definition of marketing hooks to include visual elements.
A hook is usually a combination of both - written or spoken words backed by static or motion elements.
Examples
There are many ways to design visual hooks. These are the three I use most:
Close-ups of human faces
There is evidence in science that humans notice faces faster than objects. Especially when these faces convey emotions. Therefore, human faces are natural attention magnets.
Background colors that are bold and contrasting
Bold, contrasting colors break up patterns. Especially in busy and colorful social media feeds. To maximize the effect, I recommend using at most two colors per visual.
Dynamic camera movements
Dynamic movements break up patterns as well. Often, content you consume online is quite static. Introducing strong movement early in your video is a great way to stop the scroll.
Loved the piece! Very insightful
Great knowledge sharing and Information about Marketing hooks and commandments are so valuable for anyone in Marketing, Writing and Content Business.