The first second is the only part of your video that everyone sees. What comes after it, the offer or the tip, only reaches the people who didn’t scroll past, and the hook is what gives them a reason not to.
A hook is not a clever line. It is three things landing together: what you say, the words on screen and the first picture. Below are twelve kinds of hook, 40 examples for eight kinds of business, a way to write your own and a simple test for two openings on the same video.
Say it, write it, show it
The pizzeria clip below opens on “Two for one every Tuesday.” No hello, no intro sting. The words on screen say 2-FOR-1 TUESDAY, and the first picture is a pizza held up in front of the wood oven. Three signals carry one message, so the video works with the sound off as well as on.
- The spoken line starts on the point. The first five words carry the offer, the question or the number. Leave out “hi everyone”, your name and “today I want to talk about”.
- The words on screen say it again. Four words or fewer, big, and clear of the app’s buttons.
- The first picture proves it. Show the thing itself: the pizza, the bathroom, the lashes. A shopfront or a logo proves nothing.
Twelve kinds of hook
These are the twelve moulds this post and the PDF below are built from. Pick the one that suits what you want to say, then fill the gaps.
| Kind | The mould |
|---|---|
| Number | Three things I check before a moment. |
| Question | The question your customers ask most? |
| Mistake | The topic mistake I see, and the quick fix. |
| Myth | Myth: you need something big to do the thing. |
| Before and after | This thing on Monday. This thing on Friday. |
| Local | Suburb people: what is new or useful. |
| POV | POV: you’re in a moment your customer knows. |
| List | Five questions to ask before you make the decision. |
| Stop doing | Stop a habit. Do this instead. |
| Value | An offer until a day. |
| Behind the scenes | What actually happens when a customer books. |
| Comment reply | You asked their question. Here’s my honest answer. |
Forty hooks to borrow
Five hooks for each of eight businesses. The italic word after each hook is its kind. Swap in your own details, and keep a hook only if it is true for you.
Café
- Any coffee and a banana bread until ten. Value
- It’s 5 a.m. and the first tray of banana bread is going in. Behind the scenes
- Fitzroy commuters: we’re open from six. Local
- Why does your coffee taste different at home? Question
- Three milks, three coffees, one blind taste test. Number
Gym
- First class is free. Bring water. Bring a mate. Value
- Myth: you have to be fit before you walk into a gym. Myth
- Stop skipping the warm-up. Here’s one that takes five minutes. Stop doing
- You asked if a class is too much for a beginner. Here’s the first ten minutes. Comment reply
- POV: it’s your first class and nobody is watching you. POV
Dentist
- Nervous about the dentist? Same. Question
- Myth: if it doesn’t hurt, you don’t need a check-up. Myth
- What actually happens in the first ten minutes of a check-up. Behind the scenes
- Four questions to ask at every dental check-up. List
- POV: you’re in the chair and the dentist says “all done”. POV
Real estate agent
- This is what your budget buys in your suburb. Local
- Three things I check before every open home. Number
- Same living room: empty on Monday, styled on Friday. Before and after
- The mistake I see in the first week of a sale campaign. Mistake
- You asked: should I wait for rates to fall? Here’s what I tell buyers. Comment reply
Mortgage broker
- Myth: you need 20% down. Myth
- Fixed or variable? Honestly, it depends. Question
- Stop comparing home loans by the interest rate alone. Stop doing
- Six things to bring to your first meeting with a broker. List
- You asked how much deposit you really need. Here’s how to work it out. Comment reply
Salon
- Lash lift and tint: forty-five minutes, and you wake up like this. Before and after
- The shampoo mistake I see at the basin, and the ten-second fix. Mistake
- Stop trimming your own fringe the night before the wedding. Stop doing
- Three things to tell your hairdresser before she picks up the scissors. Number
- You asked how often to get a trim. Here’s my honest answer. Comment reply
Trades
- This bathroom two weeks ago. This bathroom now. Before and after
- The mistake that makes a fixed tap start dripping again. Mistake
- Five questions to ask before you hire any tradie. List
- Homeowners in suburb: check this before the next big rain. Local
- What I found behind this wall. Behind the scenes
Online shop
- POV: your candle order arrives and the whole box smells like fig and cedar. POV
- Free gift wrap on every order this week. Value
- How one order gets packed, from the shelf to your doorstep. Behind the scenes
- Which scent is yours: fig and cedar, or sea salt? Question
- Four scents, one for every room in your house. Number
Write your own in a minute
A hook is a kind plus one detail only you can add: a suburb, a dish, a number, a time. Start from the mould, add the detail and say it out loud. If it doesn’t fit in one breath, cut it.
- Pick the kind
Not sure? Start with a number or a question, the two easiest to write.
- Add one detail only you can add
“Three things I check before every open home” beats “Some property tips”. The detail makes it yours.
- Cut the warm-up
Delete “hi everyone”, your name and “today I want to talk about”. Start on the point.
- Match the words on screen
The same idea in four words or fewer: 2-FOR-1 TUESDAY, MYTH: 20% DOWN.
- Choose a first picture that proves it
The oven, the bathroom, the lashes. If you can’t picture it, change the hook.
When the hook is ready, give all three parts to your AI agent in one sentence:
Make a 30-second vertical video about our Tuesday two-for-one. Open on the line “Two for one every Tuesday.” with 2-FOR-1 TUESDAY on screen from the first frame and a pizza coming out of the oven as the first picture.
Your AI agent writes the script around that opening and shows it to you before it makes anything. You approve it, or comment on a line and press Fix.
Test two hooks on the same video
You don’t have to guess which hook is better. Make the same video twice with a different opening, post both and read the numbers. Your AI agent makes the second version for you, and OmniReel keeps both.
Make a second version of the Tuesday video. Keep everything after the first three seconds, but open with the question “Is it Tuesday yet?” and put IS IT TUESDAY? on screen.
- Change only the opening
Same script after the first three seconds, same captions, same ending, same cover. If two things change you won’t know which one worked.
- Post them under the same conditions
The same time of day, on two different days, with the same caption and the same hashtags.
- Give each a few days
Early numbers move around. Let both videos settle before you read them.
- Compare what the platform shows you
Average watch time, and how many people kept watching past the opening. Likes tell you less.
- Keep the winner and write a challenger
The better opening becomes your default. Next week, write a new hook to beat it.
Two videos are a nudge, not proof. Small accounts have noisy numbers, so run the same test a few times before you change how you open every video.
Your next step
The PDF below has 100 hooks in twelve groups, a page for writing your own and a table that swaps one hook across five industries. Print it, pick one hook for this week’s video and say it in the first second. If you would rather see it made first, we make your first video free.
Free swipe file · 8 pages100 hooks for short business videosTwelve kinds of hook, 100 examples, a page to write your own and a swap table for five industries.Get the free PDF
