7+1 Commandments for Writing Irresistible Marketing Hooks
Learn how to write better marketing hooks every day. Based on more than 6,000 hours of work and over $1M spent on social media ads.
Hey 👋🏼 I’m Fabian, nice to have you here. In my newsletter “Get Hooked! Marketing”, I share proven tactics from the trenches of performance advertising every week. Built to make you a top 5% marketer.
Why your hook matters so much
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.1
Your content can be perfect. If the start sucks, no one will read it. This applies to both static and video content.
That’s why the copywriting skill of crafting irresistible hooks is so crucial, not just for ads. Writing great hooks amplifies every part of your content machine, on your website, your landing page and across all your social media content, including paid ads.
Grinding and learning with social media ads
Running paid ads is the perfect playing field for honing the art of hook writing.
First, feedback on what works and what doesn’t is clear and visible in a short amount of time. You pay for reach and don’t have to wait for it to grow organically.
Second, ads and hooks need to be iterated often. Paying for reach comes with responsibility. You want to find new winners quickly to maximize your return on ad spend.
That’s exactly what I did in the last three years for fast growing software startups.
I distilled my knowledge into 7+1 short tips that you can use to write better hooks every day.
Commandment 1: Keep it short
You’ve got only a few seconds to convince your audience your content is worth clicking.
So naturally, your hook should be short rather than long.
I usually aim for around 10 words per hook.
Science also backs this up. The fluency heuristic is a mental shortcut: information that is easier to process is perceived as more true, important or valuable compared to more complex information.
Commandment 2: Make it specific
Each target audience speaks its own language.
Including that language in your hook makes it instantly more relatable and credible.
To align with tip 1, I recommend using one specific keyword per hook.
The best sources are customer reviews, topic-specific forums and your own CRM database.
If you target specific verticals, also check vertical-specific news outlets.
Commandment 3: Ask or demand
Plain statements are boring.
Try framing your hook as a question, like “Why don’t you increase revenue by mastering hook writing?” or as a command, like “Every solopreneur should master hook writing to increase revenue!”
Both approaches create tension your audience wants resolved.
Commandment 4: Display effortlessness
Most people hate doing hard things. That applies to your marketing content too.
If your hook signals too much effort, it will get skipped.
Avoid verbs like “learn” or “work”. Instead, test words like “get”, “copy” or “receive”.
Commandment 5: Name the big ones
If no one knows your brand or product, no problem.
Borrow authority from well-known brands, creators or experts for your hooks.
Example: “Copy this marketing trick from Alex Hormozi for your business!”
The challenge is connecting your offer to the named brands or individuals. Staying with my example, this could be the intro to a content piece analyzing Alex Hormozi’s most successful ads, using examples from the Facebook Ad Library.
Commandment 6: Lead with benefits
Great hooks communicate clear solutions to audience problems rather than listing features.
Especially today, with AI, many businesses struggle to communicate a clear value proposition.
Here’s a weak example from Asana’s German website:
“Humans + AI. Achieving more together - AI that understands your business and gets work done.”
And here’s a strong example from OpusClip:
“1 long video, 10 viral clips. Create 10x faster - OpusClip turns long videos into shorts and publishes them to all social platforms in one click.”
One is vague and abstract. The other is concrete, benefit-driven and easy to understand in seconds.
Commandment 7: Align on awareness
Your total addressable market has different awareness levels, a concept coined by one of Marketing’s greatest practitioners - Eugene Schwartz.
Levels range from completely unaware to ready-to-buy (once that sweet Black Friday promotion hits!).
For many businesses, the best growth lever is the former. Because the largest part of your total addressable market is usually still unaware of your product and the problem it solves.
A great example of an unaware hook, from tip 5:
“Copy this marketing trick from Alex Hormozi for your business!”
When writing a hook for an unaware audience, do not mention the problem, the solution or your product. The hook acts as a door opener. It sparks curiosity and pulls people into the next awareness stages.
The best channel and tactic for testing unaware hooks is social media video ads. Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and LinkedIn are traditional prospecting channels. Video is the ideal format because it gives you enough space to guide prospects from complete unawareness all the way to your product.
Extra +1: Don’t forget the visuals
The written hook rarely stands alone. It’s embedded into a video, paired with an image or placed on top of your website’s hero section.
Remember: your visuals support your hooks. Before anyone reads your text, they almost unconsciously process the images first.
You can apply some of your learning directly here. Keeping visuals concise, just like keeping hooks simple, improves fluency for the viewer and boosts engagement. Too many objectives or clutter can reduce the impact of each listed commandment.
My recommendation for static content
Always support your hook with these two elements:
A scroll-stopping visual, like a close-up of a human face resembling your ideal customer.
Bold and contrasting background colors – ideally no more than two.
This combination makes your content instantly recognizable, engaging and easy to process.
https://www.facebook.com/business/news/insights/capturing-attention-feed-video-creative
Clear, battle-tested principles that cut through the noise and reflect real performance advertising experience
I love this wisdom 🩷 thanks so much for sharing!