5 Ways to Create a Powerful Hook for Your Video
Your customer is inundated by hundreds of ads and marketing messages every day. This phenomenon has trained their brains to become so good at tuning them out.
To make matters worse, people’s attention spans are getting even shorter according to a new study from Microsoft Corp.
Simply put, if you fail to captivate your video’s viewers within the first 5-8 seconds of your video, you’ve lost them forever—no matter how good the rest of your video may be.
5 Ways to Create a Strong Hook
Aim to create a gravitational pull so strong that it forces your customer to stop and pay attention to the video ad. Here are a few to consider.
Instantly identify with your target customer
Bring attention to your customer's greatest pain points
Open with your most attention-grabbing visuals
Start with a storyline
Use a credible, recognizable influencer
Now let’s quickly dive into each of them and show you examples and tips.
Instantly identify with your target customer
Use visuals and characters that reflect the people and the environment your customer sees themselves in so they take immediate notice of your content.
Example →
Grammarly is a cloud-based typing assistant that reviews your spelling and grammar while you type.
This video ad uses a teacher and an obvious academic environment to instantly identify with the target customer.
2. Bring attention to your customer’s greatest pain point
When you were researching your ideal customer you should have discovered the more significant emotional grievance that your product solves. This pain point often becomes a powerful attention-grabber.
Example →
ClickCease sells online software that helps advertisers block fraudulent Google Ads traffic.
The video instantly brings attention to their customer's greatest pain—their competitor incessantly clicking on their ad to cost them money for each click. It also exploits that pain brilliantly throughout the ad.
3. Open with attention-grabbing action or visuals
Open with a breathtaking landscape shot or skillfully edited action sequence. Brands spend 100s of thousands of dollars to create this effect because it works. But nowadays, this has become easier and more accessible.
The scale of how you can do this is infinite. You can do it with a small budget using stock footage, or hire professional production companies to produce a video that creates an authentic environment for your video ad.
Generally speaking, the more you invest into the production value of your visuals, the more credible your brand is perceived, and the more your customer will trust what you’re selling them.
Pro Tip:
There are dozens of online sources where you can find cinematic-quality footage for cheap. Check out MotionArray | Dissolve | FilmSupply | ShutterStock | Artgrid | StoryBlocks
4. Hook with a storyline
Humans are drawn to stories by nature. We just can’t help but get pulled into stories.
Example
Say you’re a brand that sells an innovative new robotic prosthetic limb that responds to brain neurons and helps the user move it effortlessly. Opening your video with a narrator telling a story of how they lost their leg at 17 years old in a tragic accident is much more likely to make the viewer stop and pay attention.
5. Use a credible, recognizable figure/influencer
You can instantly draw your customer in by using a credible influencer known to them. Granted, this can be challenging and expensive to do. But it's worth your while if you have the money and connections.
Important: be sure your customer actually perceives your chosen influencer as a credible expert on the product you're selling. You could face negative brand image ramifications if you don't.
Example →
YPO Canada is a global leadership community of 30,000 chief executives.
Our team produced this video ad featuring Dragon's Den star Brett Wilson—a very recognizable business leader in Canada.
This video ad helped YPO Canada sell out their conference tickets in Example Video in a matter of days.
