Hook
The hook is the first one to three seconds of a video, which decide whether someone keeps watching or scrolls on. A hook is not a title sequence and not a greeting, it drops the viewer into the middle of something: an unusual image, a question, a contradiction.
Why three seconds
In the feed a video does not compete with other videos, it competes with the thumb. Anyone scrolling has no intention of watching and needs a reason to stop. That reason has to come before the message, not after it. A logo at the start is therefore the most expensive place to give away.
What works
- Straight in: the action is already running when the video starts.
- Something unfamiliar on screen: a scale, a perspective or a colour world you do not expect.
- A problem the viewer knows: shown in one image, not explained.
- A genuinely open question: not one everybody can answer instantly.
What rarely works: a logo, a drone shot over a building, a greeting, a year. All of that can come later, once somebody is watching.
How we work with it
For ads we build several hooks for the same film. In generative production that is cheap, because only the first seconds are produced again and the rest stays. Three hooks tested against the same audience say more after a few days than any opinion in the room.
For brand films the same applies in a softer form. The opening still decides whether anyone reaches the message, only patience on a website is slightly greater than in the feed.
Frequently asked questions
What is a hook in video?
The hook is the opening of a video, usually the first one to three seconds, that secures attention. It shows something unusual, asks an open question or starts mid-action rather than opening with a logo or a greeting.
How many hooks should you test?
Two to four per film is usual. What matters is that they genuinely differ rather than varying in tone. The measure is how many viewers are still there after three seconds, not which hook is most liked internally.
Does a hook work without sound?
It has to. Most videos in the feed start muted, so the hook must sit in the image, not in a spoken line. Subtitles help but do not replace a strong first frame.
Related terms
Read on: All terms in the glossary • UGC video • Pricing
Several openings, one film
We build variants you can test against each other. What that costs takes 30 minutes to settle.
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