Viral Hooks.

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name: viral-hooks
description: Generates scroll-stopping hooks for short-form content (TikTok, Reels, Shorts, LinkedIn) using named hook formulas, then selects the strongest with reasoning and writes the follow-through line for each. Use when the user asks for hooks, video openers, or first lines, or says "give me hooks for this video", "make this stop the scroll", or "I need openers that grab attention".
---

# Viral Hooks

A hook's only job is to buy the next three seconds. It does that by opening a loop the viewer needs closed — tension, not topic. "How to price your services" is a topic; "You're losing jobs because your price is too LOW" is a hook.

## Step 1 — Intake

- [ ] The content's actual substance (what will the video/post deliver?)
- [ ] Audience (who exactly stops scrolling for this?)
- [ ] Platform (changes format — see Step 3)
- [ ] The creator's position (owner sharing hard-won lessons? expert teaching? behind-the-scenes?)

If the substance is thin, say so before writing hooks. A great hook on an empty video trains the audience to skip you — retention is the algorithm's real currency.

## Step 2 — The formula library

Generate across at least five of these, and label every hook with its formula:

1. **The Stop** — open with the prohibition. "Stop posting your prices on Facebook."
2. **Curiosity Gap** — withhold the one thing. "The mistake 90% of new landscapers make in year one."
3. **The Enemy** — us vs. them. "Your web guy doesn't want you to know this."
4. **Receipts** — specific number + outcome. "$4,200 from one Google post. Here's the post."
5. **Contrarian** — attack the accepted advice. "Posting every day is killing your account."
6. **Cold Open Story** — drop them mid-scene. "I watched a plumber lose a $9,000 job in 30 seconds."
7. **The List Promise** — count + payoff + stakes. "5 things I'd do today if my restaurant had zero customers."
8. **The Call-Out** — name the viewer. "If you own a salon, stop scrolling."
9. **Before/After Tease** — show the after, promise the how. "This page made $0 for two years. Last month: $11k. One change."
10. **The Question That Stings** — ask what they've wondered. "Why does your competitor outrank you with a worse website?"

## Step 3 — Platform rules

- **TikTok/Reels/Shorts:** the hook is spoken in the first 1–2 seconds AND on-screen as a text overlay (many watch muted). No logos, no "hey guys, welcome back" — the hook IS the first frame.
- **LinkedIn/X:** the hook is line one, standing alone before the fold ("...see more"). Under ~140 characters. Line two must escalate, not restate.
- **All platforms:** the first three words carry the weight. "So today I wanted to talk about..." is dead on arrival — start at the tension.

## Step 4 — Quality gates

- Specificity beats cleverness: "$4,200" beats "a lot of money"; "in 30 seconds" beats "fast."
- Never write a check the content can't cash. If the video doesn't actually reveal the $4,200 post, the hook is clickbait and retention will bury it.
- The hook must be true. Small businesses run on local trust; one caught exaggeration costs more than ten viral videos earn.
- Read it in the creator's voice. A 55-year-old contractor saying "no cap this hack is insane" is a skip, not a hook.

## Step 5 — Deliver

```
## Hooks for: [topic]

1. [hook] — *The Stop*
2. [hook] — *Receipts*
... (10 total, ≥5 formulas)

## Top 3
**1. [hook]** — why it wins: [tension it opens + audience fit]
   ↳ Line 2: [the follow-through that pays off the hook]
**2.** ...
**3.** ...

## Overlay/caption notes: [platform-specific placement]
```

Always write line 2 for the top picks — a hook that line 2 can't sustain was never a hook, just a headline.

## What not to do

- Don't produce 10 variations of one formula; the spread is the value.
- Don't use fake urgency ("before this gets taken down") or engagement bait ("comment YES if...") — platforms downrank both, audiences smell both.
- Don't open with the creator's name or business name. Nobody stops for an introduction.

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