That’s all the time you have to capture someone’s attention, I mean, we’re all busy. Your hook has about 1.5 seconds to stop the scroll and reel them in (Hooked on Writing Hooks, 2025). With 5.17 billion social media users scrolling through an endless stream of posts (Vista Social, 2025), creating content that breaks through the noise has never been more critical.
Research shows that 8 out of 10 people will read a headline, but only 2 out of 10 will click through to read the rest (Vista Social, 2025). Your hook isn’t just an opening line; it’s a critical point of contact.
This isn’t another generic “write better hooks” blog post. We’re diving deep into the psychology behind what motivates people to stop scrolling, how to apply this knowledge ethically, and providing practical templates you can use today to transform your content.
Curiosity drives people, and quite honestly, the discomfort of not knowing entices them to stay engaged and find their answer (Buffer, 2025). This psychological trigger is called the “curiosity gap”; our brains are hardwired to seek closure when presented with incomplete information.
When you create an open loop in your content, you’re essentially hijacking your reader’s neural pathways. Their brain registers the incomplete information as a problem that needs solving, creating a cognitive itch that can only be scratched by continuing to read.
Hooks that evoke emotions, such as curiosity, surprise, joy, or even fear, are particularly effective in evoking a response. This is effectively clickbait – the trick, of course, is not to be cheap or tacky with your topic (see below on why ethics matter). Emotional triggers can compel users to stop scrolling and interact with your content. In fact, research shows that the success rate of emotional marketing campaigns is 31% (Social Champ, 2025).
The key psychological triggers that make hooks irresistible include:
Manipulative strategies, such as misleading advertisements, exploiting consumer emotions, or employing dark patterns to drive engagement, often create short-term gains but erode long-term credibility (European Journal of Business and Management Research, 2024). In 2024, consumers are more discerning than ever, and customers today are more discerning, valuing transparency and fairness in brand interactions (European Journal of Business and Management Research, 2024).
70% of consumers, across different age groups, genders, and income levels, believe that trusting a brand is more important today than it was in the past (ANA, 2024). This shift means that ethical hook-writing is good business as well as the right thing to do.
1. Truth in Advertising: All advertising claims must be accurate, supported by evidence, and not exaggerated (TrinityP3, 2024). Your hooks should create curiosity without making false promises.
2. Transparency Over Trickery: Transparency is about having nothing to hide. It involves being clear and open about all aspects of your business practices (Shopify, 2024). Be upfront about what your content will and won’t deliver.
3. Respect for Your Audience: Employing empathy in your ethical marketing means creating messages that affirmatively resonate with real human experiences, rather than exploiting vulnerabilities (Shopify, 2024).
4. Value-First Approach: A good hook should quickly communicate the value or benefit of engaging with your content (Social Champ, 2025). Always lead with what your audience will gain, not what you want them to do.
We know this is what you have been wanting to get to – examples of hooks for different types of content. It’s ok, we don’t take offence. Let’s get to it!
The Question Hook: Questions immediately engage the reader’s problem-solving brain. They work because our minds can’t help but start formulating answers.
Templates:
“What if [common belief] is completely wrong?”
“Why do [percentage] of [target audience] still struggle with [problem]?”
“How did [person/company] achieve [impressive result] in [timeframe]?”
The Statistic Shock: Numbers provide credibility and often reveal surprising truths that demand explanation.
Templates:
“[Surprising percentage] of [audience] don’t know [important fact]”
“The [number] minute rule that changed [industry/outcome]”
“Why [specific number] companies failed at [task] last year”
The Contradiction Hook: Challenge conventional wisdom or present seemingly contradictory information.
Templates:
“The [adjective] truth about [topic] that [authority figures] don’t want you to know”
“Why doing [opposite action] actually helps you [achieve goal]”
“The [industry] secret that makes [conventional wisdom] obsolete”
The Pattern Interrupt: Start with something unexpected that breaks the scroll pattern.
Templates:
“Unpopular opinion: [controversial but defensible statement]”
“Plot twist: [unexpected revelation about common situation]”
“Stop doing [common practice]. Here’s why:”
The Story Hook: Humans are hardwired for narrative. Stories create immediate emotional investment.
Templates:
“Last week, [relatable situation] happened to me…”
“My [time period] mistake that cost me [consequence]”
“The conversation that changed how I think about [topic]”
The List Promise: Lists promise organised, digestible information—exactly what busy social media users want (yes, people still love lists!).
Templates:
“[Number] things I wish I knew before [milestone/experience]”
“The [number] signs you’re [situation/problem]”
“[Number] [time period] hacks for [goal/outcome]”
The number of domains receiving traffic from ChatGPT increased from 10,000 to over 30,000 in just a few months during 2024 (Semrush, 2025), and this trend is expected to continue rising as it becomes as normal for people to use as asking Alexa to add items to a shopping list. This shift means hooks need to work not just for human readers, but for AI systems that curate and recommend content.
Voice search is expected to surpass typed queries significantly during and beyond 2025 (Textuar, 2025) as we continue to treat Alexa like a PA and Gemini like the annoying co-worker we never asked for. This means hooks need to work across different formats:
Despite AI advancement, the pressure to produce, distribute, and manage brand-led content will force compromises throughout marketing budgets (Semrush, 2025). The brands that succeed will be those that combine AI efficiency with genuine human insight and creativity.
Do we need to remind you that audiences can spot generic outputs from a mile off (Monetag, 2025). Websites are being dropped from search results due to overly AI-produced content. Even social media is shifting its focus towards uniquely created content due to the emergence of lifeless, dull, and robotic content in response to AI prompts (Textuar, 2025).
In 2025, authentic hooks that feel genuinely human will outperform polished, AI-generated alternatives. This means:
(typos and sarcasm are basically in – I knew I would have my time again!)
This takes your Hook Game to the next level, as advanced data analytics and AI enable more precise customer targeting. Hyper-personalisation tools enable marketers to offer content that adapts to user behaviour in real-time (ActualTech Media, 2025). It is pretty mind-blowing as the future of hooks will lie in dynamic personalisation, aka hooks that adapt based on:
This might all sound quite overwhelming at this point, but don’t worry, here is how you can start to build it into your natural workflow.
1. Create Hook Templates: Use our hook template and test it out for your business, and develop 10-15 proven templates for your audience. This reduces creative pressure while maintaining effectiveness.
2. Batch Hook Writing: Set aside a specific time for hook creation rather than starting from scratch each time. We recommend doing this during the content ideation process and then at the end of each article created, so you have them all there, ready to test.
3. Community Collaboration: Self-regulation and ethical marketing are at the core of building consumer trust and loyalty (ANA, 2024). Share effective hooks with your community and see which one they like. Good ideas work better when everyone succeeds.
4. Repurpose and Adapt: Content repurposing involves transforming content from one form to another (HubSpot, 2025). A well-crafted hook can be effective across multiple platforms with slight modifications.
The key thing to do is to test, measure and then replicate until another hot trend comes along. So, use A/B testing to learn what it is that gets your audience hooked!
Test variations of:
We’re not chasing vanity metrics here; measure the success of your ‘hook strategy’ by the number of meaningful conversations they start.
Your hook is a promise to your reader. Make it a promise you can keep, and you’ll earn respect, build relationships, and create content that truly matters.
Remember: You’re trying to start a relationship. Make it count.
