Key Takeaways
- A hook has one job: earn the next few seconds. The best ones do it without feeling like an ad.
- Most strong hooks fall into a handful of types: curiosity, the problem, a comparison, social proof, a demo, a visual surprise or a bit of comedy.
- The hook has to lead somewhere. A great opening with nothing behind it is just clickbait.
- Different hooks reach different people, so test several types, not five versions of one.
- Judge hooks on what the ad drives, not just how many people watched the first three seconds.
Most people decide whether to keep watching an ad in the first second or two. That's the hook's whole job: give them a reason to stay.
We write about hooks in our newsletter every week, breaking down one ad at a time. Below are 15 hooks from ads we've made for clients, grouped by type, with what makes each one work and a template you can borrow.
Every ad here is our work. Hit play on any of them.
Curiosity Hooks
Curiosity hooks open a small gap the viewer wants closed. The trick is to actually close it. A hook that promises something the ad doesn't deliver is just clickbait.
1. CandleScience: Hide the Answer
"Candle makers, ready for the secret ingredient to winter candles?" A hand holds up the answer, but it's blurred out, with a couple of shushing emojis. A second or two later, the blur lifts on CandleScience's fragrance oils.
Why it works: It calls out exactly who it's for, then shows you something you can almost see. As we put it in the newsletter: "Sometimes, what you don't show is the best hook."
Steal this: "[Audience], ready for the secret to [result]?" with the product blurred for the first beat.
2. iHerb: Make Them Play Along
The ad flashes one word at a time in the center of the screen, fast, daring you to keep up. By the time you realize you're reading an iHerb ad, you're already halfway through it.
Why it works: It turns the first seconds into a little challenge. "It's native, but it's not UGC. It just feels like content."
Steal this: A challenge or game as the opener: "Try to read this," "Spot the difference," "Can you guess...?"
Problem Hooks
Name the problem better than the viewer could, and they'll trust you with the solution.
3. Every Man Jack: Pick a Rival
"Bar soap is making your beard feel rough." An animation shows beard hair next to head hair, thicker, tougher and coarser, before Every Man Jack's beard and face wash comes in as the fix.
Why it works: Instead of talking to everyone with a beard, it talks to one group: people using bar soap. "Rivalries are a wonderful sorting hat." The people it applies to know in the first second.
Steal this: "[The thing they use now] is making your [problem]."
4. Butterfly: Say What They're Thinking
"We know your challenges." Speech bubbles pop up over doctors and nurses: "How many patients are waiting in ED?" "Where's the ultrasound cart?" "I'm still waiting on radiology, but need answers now." Then Butterfly's handheld ultrasound comes in.
Why it works: The lines are pulled from where clinicians actually vent, so the audience hears their own day read back to them. "We go where customers vent."
Steal this: Collect real complaints from Reddit, reviews and comments, and open with three of them.
5. Arketa: Make Them Feel the Problem
"A bad booking software is keeping your studio weak." A booking button glitches and fails before the ad moves to Arketa's all-in-one software for fitness studios.
Why it works: You don't just hear about the problem, you experience it. "You feel how annoying it is to experience a glitch." That's exactly how the studio's clients feel when booking breaks.
Steal this: Recreate the frustration on screen: the glitch, the mess, the wait.
Comparison Hooks
A clear "before" makes the "after" obvious.
6. Eko: Old Way vs. New Way
"We've been using the same difficult-to-hear stethoscope for 200 years." Over black-and-white shots of a classic stethoscope, the ad sets up the old way, then introduces Eko as "the upgraded stethoscope for the 21st century," with research to back it up.
Why it works: "Show why the old way stinks and your product is the obvious fix." It works especially well for products replacing something people have used forever.
Steal this: "We've been [doing the old thing] for [a long time]. Here's what changed."
7. Rishi Tea: Expectation vs. Reality
A split screen: a perfect matcha latte on the left labeled "Expectation," and the same drink being made from scratch on the right. It ends when the right side matches: "Expectation met."
Why it works: You keep watching to see if it'll turn out. "You just need a little bit of tension."
Steal this: A split screen of the ideal result next to the real process, ending when they match.
Social Proof Hooks
Let other people do the talking, even the critics.
8. Huel: Flip the Haters
It opens on a real complaint: "Absolutely disgusting powder." Then it answers it: "We put nutrition first. But taste is subjective," followed by five-star reviews. Each negative comment gets a confident, slightly cheeky rebuttal.
Why it works: Negative comments stop the scroll because they're unexpected in an ad. "There's a time to let criticism roll off your back. And then there's a time to leverage it." Just make sure every negative gets answered.
Steal this: Open on your worst review, then answer it.
9. Aletha: Lead With the Comments
Real comments from the Instagram comment section stack up over footage of people using Aletha's hip flexor tool: "Totally released my hip flexor," "The hip hook is the best!"
Why it works: Comments look native and feel unscripted. Your own comment section is full of testimonials you haven't used yet.
Steal this: Screenshot your best real comments and stack them over product-in-use footage.
10. Dremel: "Show Me and I'll Buy It"
It opens as a reply to a comment: "Show this saw making a smooth bevel cut and I'll buy it right now." Then the ad does exactly that.
Why it works: The comment sets up a challenge, and the demo pays it off. If your product does something you can show, this format almost writes itself.
Steal this: "Show me [the result] and I'll [buy it]," then show it.
Demo Hooks
11. Clearly Filtered: The Dramatic Demonstration
"How good is the Clearly Filtered Water Pitcher?" Dark liquid gets poured into the top. "THIS GOOD." Clear water comes out the bottom.
Why it works: One dramatic demonstration does more than a list of specs. It "shows you everything you need to know."
Steal this: "How good is [product]?" followed by the most extreme demo you can safely show.
Visual Pattern Interrupts
Sometimes the hook isn't a line at all. It's something the viewer didn't expect to see.
12. Jukebox: Cut It Open
A knife slices through a bar of Jukebox soap, and inside is a beach: palm trees, ocean, a surfer. "Jukebox soaps transport you to a scentsational wonderland."
Why it works: It borrows a trend people already know and uses it to show a feeling, not a feature. It's "a great way to visually convey the feeling the product will give you."
Steal this: Cut, open or unwrap the product to reveal the feeling it gives you.
13. Vive Organic: The Moving Still
One wide frame pans sideways across a Vive ginger shot, fresh ginger and the brand's claims, ending on "Feel the Power."
Why it works: It's somewhere between a static and a video, quick to make and different from everything else in the feed. "This horizontal slide should stop people in their vertical scrolling tracks." More on this format in GIF ads and moving stills.
Steal this: Turn your best static into one wide image and pan across it.
Skits and Humor
Comedy works when it feels like content first and an ad second.
14. SmartyPants: Banter With the Narrator
"Here's a day in the life..." A mom makes breakfast and gets the kids out the door, while a narrator teases her in the captions: "Huh..." "Is that the same shirt as yesterday?"
Why it works: It takes standard UGC and gives it a self-aware twist, so it plays "more like an organic skit vs. an ad."
Steal this: A normal UGC routine with a second voice teasing the creator.
15. Lifeguard: Let the Bit Land
"Spamming the spammer." A creator replies to a spam text ("Hello lovely friend!") and plays along, and the bit runs its course before Lifeguard comes in.
Why it works: Everyone gets these texts, so it's instantly relatable. "We let the bit play out and land before we introduced Lifeguard."
Steal this: Open with a familiar, funny everyday moment, and don't rush to the product.
How to Write Better Hooks
- Know who it's for. The best hooks call out an audience or a situation in the first line.
- Make the hook earn the ad. Whatever the opening promises, the ad has to deliver.
- Test hook types, not just hook wording. A curiosity hook and a problem hook reach different people. Five rewordings of one hook mostly reach the same people. See creative diversity on Meta.
- Mine your own material. Comments, reviews and customer complaints are the best hook writers you have.
- Judge on results. In our hook rate data, the ads that got the most spend didn't have higher hook rates than the rest. A hook that holds attention but doesn't sell isn't a good hook.
Hook Templates to Steal
| Hook type | Template |
|---|---|
| Curiosity | "[Audience], ready for the secret to [result]?" |
| Challenge | "Try to read this," "Spot the difference" |
| Rival | "[What they use now] is making your [problem]." |
| Their words | Three real complaints, read back |
| Old vs. new | "We've been [doing it the old way] for [years]." |
| Expectation vs. reality | Split screen: ideal result vs. real process |
| Flip the haters | Your worst review, then your answer |
| Comment reply | "Show me [result] and I'll buy it." |
| Demo | "How good is [product]?" then the most dramatic proof |
| Visual reveal | Cut or open the product to reveal the feeling |
More on Hooks
For hooks on YouTube, where the skip button changes everything, see how to write YouTube ads for the five-second skip. For more of our work by format, see our UGC ad examples and the ultimate guide to motion ads. And for one ad breakdown at a time, join our newsletter.
Need More Hooks?
Our creative agency for Meta ads makes UGC, motion and static ads for brands spending $100K+ a month, with a range of hooks in every batch so you can find what works for your audience. Files land every two to four weeks. Book an intro call to talk through your account.
FAQ
What is a hook in a Meta ad?
The first one to three seconds of the ad: the opening line, visual or moment that decides whether someone keeps watching or scrolls past.
What makes a good ad hook?
It's specific, it's for someone in particular, and it leads somewhere. Good hooks call out an audience or problem, create curiosity or show something unexpected, and the rest of the ad delivers on what the hook promised.
What are the main types of ad hooks?
Curiosity hooks, problem hooks, comparison hooks like old way vs. new way, social proof hooks like reviews and comments, demo hooks, visual pattern interrupts and humor or skits.
How many hooks should you test?
Test several different types, not just different wordings of one hook. Different hook types reach different people, which matters on Meta, where similar ads compete with each other.
Should you judge ads by hook rate?
Use hook rate to diagnose whether an opening grabs attention, but judge ads on what they drive, like purchases and cost per acquisition. In our data, the highest-spending ads didn't have higher hook rates than the rest.
Can a hook be visual instead of a line?
Yes. Some of the strongest hooks are visual: cutting a product open, an unusual camera angle, a split screen or a panning image. The goal is to show something the viewer didn't expect.
