Speed and saturation define the world of social media, where attention is currency. If you're not grabbing it in the first few seconds, you're losing an opportunity.

More than the visuals, it's usually the words that stop the viewers in their tracks (or scrolls, for that matter) and get them to watch or read the whole ad. Copywriters call these introductory lines "hooks."

Our article isn't about tired formulas or generic templates. Instead, we discuss the art and strategy behind creating hooks that connect instantly. We'll explore how to write hooks that cut through the scroll fatigue, backed by real examples from high-performing campaigns. You'll learn how to use psychology, language patterns, and intent to get people to stop and watch.

What Is a Social Media Hook?

First, let's clarify this concept. A hook is the first line your audience hears (or sees), often just a few words. However, it carries the weight of the entire ad.

The hook decides whether someone scrolls past or stops to look. You can think of the hook as the opening line in a conversation you didn't know you were about to have. If the line is intriguing or interesting enough, you'll likely find yourself immersed in the conversation.

On platforms like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and LinkedIn, the hook can show up in several places:

• The first line of primary text before the "see more" cut-off
• Opening words of a video voiceover
• Intro text in a carousel or image
• The first second of motion in a video ad

While the format varies, the job does not. A good hook raises a question in the viewer's mind: what's next, and why does this matter to me? It stirs curiosity, relevance, emotion, or tension.

The best hooks aren't clever for the sake of being clever. They're built on insight. They tap into desire, friction, or unmet need, often before the viewer has fully articulated it themselves. The following video covers the storytelling elements involved in creating irresistible hooks.

How to Write Attention-Grabbing Hooks for Social Media Ads?

Great hooks are engineered intentionally and strategically with a deep understanding of how people think and behave online. The following tips can help you write hooks that stop the scroll.

Start With a Trigger

A powerful hook starts with emotional or cognitive friction. You're interrupting a stream of content, so your opening line needs to trigger something, such as curiosity, surprise, urgency, or empathy.

Here are a few questions to ask yourself:

• What belief can you challenge?
• What desire can you surface?
• What frustration can you name?

Basically, you want to find a pain point or desire that your target audience can relate to and use it as the starting point for your hook. Dove's #NewYearsUnresolution campaign is a good example of this. The social post starts with the caption, "1 in 2 women's New Year's resolutions are driven by body dissatisfaction."

Immediately, this grabs the attention of their target audience: women who may have body image concerns. It challenges the belief that New Year's resolutions are solely about losing weight or getting fit. At the same time, it's a bit intriguing. It makes the reader wonder if Dove is about to provide some alternative resolutions or solutions.

Make It Personal and Precise

Your audience is more likely to stop for your ad if it's about something they're interested in. Generic hooks may have a far-reaching appeal, but they don't resonate with the audience as closely.

Personalization helps build credibility and relevance. You should use language that mirrors your audience's internal dialogue. In simple words, corporate speech needs to go. Enter the lingo your audience thinks and speaks in.

Poppi did this wonderfully well by starting their Instagram ad for a new flavor with "ready to taste the flavor of your dreams?" Since their audience is primarily young women, this language appeals to them.

Plus, Poppi didn't use uppercase letters or excessive punctuation, which further makes the hook audience-friendly. On top of that, they used a lot of fun emojis. Again, it's not just a representation of their brand's personality but also the kind of tone their audience uses in their daily conversations.

Lead with Data or Unexpected Claims

Humans are wired to notice patterns and anomalies. A surprising start or a bold claim disrupts the feed and earns curiosity. For example, if you start your ad with, "This $7 funnel outperformed a $50K ad spend," it has got to grab one's attention. Viewers will want the full story after that first line.

Take Final Round AI's social media ad's example. Their YouTube ad starts with, "I need to show you how Final Round AI helped me land my job." The target audience (job seekers) will surely be interested in knowing how she did it since they want the same for themselves.

Plus, the claim is also a bit ironic, which further adds to its appeal. In a time when people are worried about AI taking their jobs, there's a tool that actually helps you find one. You've got to learn more about it, don't you? Bingo!

Ask a Question

You've probably seen this one being done a lot. However, for it to work, you have to do this strategically. The question should be something the audience wants an answer to.

For example, it could be something smart that makes the brain pause. Or, it could be an uncomfortable question that gets your audience thinking. Instead of asking, "Want more leads?" you can say, "What if your competitor sees this ad before you do?"

The latter is bound to have a higher success rate as it provokes a need for action and urgency in the audience. However, the questions don't always have to be super-creative or thought-provoking.

Sometimes, even the simpler ones do the job. Take this example from WhatsApp's Facebook ad. The caption asks if the viewers know they can add music to their status. It's a rather simple question, but in WhatsApp's context, where people regard messaging as the primary use of the app, it's a great way to introduce and promote a new feature.

The picture of Ed Sheeran further helps make the ad more scroll-stopping.

Use Trends in Your Niche

When you tap into what's already capturing attention in your niche, your hooks don't have to work as hard to earn interest. They ride the wave but with purpose.

The key is timing. Social trends have a short shelf life, especially in fast-moving industries like tech or creator services. If you're referencing a cultural moment, a meme, or even a shift in how your audience talks about a topic, move quickly or move on.

But don't chase trends blindly. The best marketers apply them through the lens of their offer. Ask: How does this trend intersect with your customer's goals, fears, or aspirations?

For example, a B2B SaaS company might riff off a viral "quiet quitting" conversation, not for the likes, but to introduce a tool that boosts team engagement. That's how you create hooks that feel both topical and strategic.

It's hard to find a company that does this better than Duolingo on TikTok and Instagram. The company is always first to hop on existing trends and use them in its social video ads. For example, before the "How to Train Your Dragon" sequel came out in 2025, Duolingo created social posts asking their audience if they had done their "Dragonese" lessons.

Since the hype around the movie was already high due to the existing fanbase, Duolingo could ride this trend and attract new users. Not only that, the hook "best hiccup pfp gets free Duolingo max for a year" gave the audience an incentive to interact with the post, which further improved engagement.

Use Social Listening Tools

Your next high-converting hook might already exist in your audience's own words. Social listening tools give you direct access to the language, frustrations, questions, and desires your market is already expressing online.

Tools like Brandwatch, Sprout Social, or even free platforms like Reddit and Quora are treasure troves. Search your niche, your competitors, and your product category.

Look for patterns. What's being said again and again? Where are people stuck? What language do they use?

When you reflect on the real words your audience uses to describe their problem or goal, your hook instantly feels more personal and more trustworthy. Take Slack as an example. There's a common running meme that "this meeting could have been an email," which reflects a common frustration with traditional office meetings.

Slack saw this pattern and used it to its advantage. Their Facebook ad hook was "What it feels like to sit in 25% fewer meetings," accompanied by a picture of a girl riding a unicorn in a rainbow. The hook immediately grabs attention and lets people know that Slack has something to do with this reduction.

5 Types of Hooks Effective for Social Media Ads

Now that we've shared the psychology behind why certain hooks work, let's discuss some tried-and-tested hook structures that you can use to get the best results. Here's our list.

Statistical Hook

We've already given Dove's example earlier, where the company shares that 50% of women's resolutions have something to do with body image. These hooks use data to grab the attention of viewers and provide a factual basis for their claims.

You can use eye-opening statistics or even ask a question. For example, "Did you know that 80% of people struggle with anxiety at work?" It has to be something that really makes the reader stop and think.

FOMO Hook

The fear of missing out (FOMO) is real, and people don't exactly like it. These hooks play on urgency, exclusivity, or the sense that others know something you don't.

Here's an example: "Top marketers are already using this—are you?" If you saw this statement as a marketer, you'd obviously want to know more. You don't want to be left behind, especially when it comes to your profession or industry.

FOMO hooks perform well in limited-time campaigns, product launches, or when you're positioning something as a rising trend. Just be sure the urgency is authentic because audiences can sense hype without substance.

Emotional Hook

Emotionally charged hooks connect on a human level, especially when they tap into shared experiences or internal battles. Emotions like empowerment and vulnerability are largely used by beauty and personal care brands, while fear and anger invoke a response in the political arena.

Use emotional hooks when trust and relatability are critical, like personal brands, mental health offers, or mission-driven campaigns.

Contrarian Hook

Contrarian hooks break expectations and challenge the status quo. They position your message as a counter-narrative.

These hooks work because they flip the script. They give people permission to question the norms they've been taught, and they naturally spark engagement from those who agree and those who don't.

Dollar Shave Club did this in their 2016 Facebook ad. Their hook read: "Who says a lady's razor has to be pink?" They challenged the existing belief that women's items have to be a certain color.

Result-Oriented Hook

A certain type of hook that usually works is when you offer your audience a clear benefit or solution for their problem. For example, Semrush's YouTube ad starts with, "Our goal was to increase organic traffic by 10% month-on-month, but Semrush helped us achieve 1,000% in only three months."

The first sentence already gets viewers interested because they want to know how Semrush did this and how they can also benefit from the tool in the same way. When you throw in actual figures, the claim becomes much stronger.

Create Stellar Social Media Video Ads With INDIRAP

If your brand is serious about cutting through the noise, you need more than just content. That's where INDIRAP, a leading Chicago video production company, comes in. With over 11,000 videos delivered to 900+ brands worldwide, INDIRAP isn't just a video production agency but our growth partner for building a scroll-stopping brand presence that converts.

Our process? Strategy, scripting, creative direction, production, and distribution are all wrapped in one cohesive system. From the hook to CTAs, our video production services involve making videos that will keep your audience watching the social ads till the end. Book a free, no obligation Discovery Call today to share your vision with our team.