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how to write a hook

A hook is whatever makes someone keep going after the first look: the first line of a caption, the cover of a carousel, the first second of a reel. Everything else in the post only works if this part does.

Guide · from our The Bait series · Updated Oct 2026

The short version

A good hook makes one promise and keeps it.

What a hook is, and what it isn't

People mix up the hook and the bait. In our framework, bait is what gets someone to look: a cover, a color, a thumbnail. The hook is what makes them stay once they're looking. A cover that stops the scroll followed by a second slide that says nothing is bait with no hook.

There's a third job, the book: the next step. We cover all three in attention marketing. This page is about the middle one.

Six hook patterns that work

These are examples we wrote to show the shape. They're not claims about real clients.

  1. Name the problem. your brand is invisible.
  2. Contradict something people believe. safe is risky.
  3. Be specific. the three posts we'd delete from your feed first.
  4. Open a loop. nobody reads the caption. here's why we write it anyway.
  5. Say who it's for. for restaurants that post when they remember.
  6. Start in the middle of the story. the owner wanted a bigger logo. we gave him a better question.

How to write one

  1. Write the post first, the hook last. Then you know what it actually promises.
  2. Write ten versions. The first three are what everyone would say.
  3. Cut until nothing else can go. Short beats clever.
  4. Read it as a stranger. Does it make sense on its own, with no context about your brand?
  5. Keep the promise. Whatever the hook says, the next slide, line or second has to deliver.

Hooks by format

  • Caption. Only the first line or two show before "more". Make them count.
  • Carousel. The cover is the hook. One idea, big type, one promise.
  • Reels and TikTok. The first second or two. Say or show the point right away. Don't open with a logo or a "hi guys".
  • Stories. The first frame. A question sticker is a hook with an answer built in.
  • Email. The subject line and the preview text, together.

How hooks fail

  • The hook promises something the post doesn't deliver. People notice, and they stop trusting the next one.
  • It's too clever to get in one read.
  • It starts with your name or your brand instead of the reader.
  • Every post uses the same pattern, so people learn to skip it.