Turn a product into scroll-stopping video hooks

A hook is the first 2–3 seconds, and it decides whether anyone sees the rest. TikTok: say the value in 3 s, finish the hook by 6 s (90% of ad recall happens in the first 6 s). Meta: a hook delivered through both picture and sound gives 1.5× the purchase intent. Billo's H1 2026 average Meta hook rate (3 s views ÷ impressions) was 25.44%: Health & Beauty 28.1%, Apparel 22.9%, Pets 21.3%.

But a hook only has to stop the right people. Barry Hott scaled ads with hook rates under 15%, and an ad with a 39.5% hook rate but 14.3% hold still burned money. Relevant beats loud. The hook must lead into the product.

1. Inputs (ask once)

• The product and the one thing it visibly does
• The buyer and their exact words about the problem (reviews, comments, Reddit). Copy phrases word for word.
• Where it runs (TikTok Shop, TikTok ad, Meta ad, organic) and what is provable

2. Write each hook as three layers

The three must agree. "Odd visual + caption + voiceover all saying the same thing" is how operators report 50%+ hook rates.

3. Pick hook types (vary the type, not the words)

Use at least 4 different types per batch. The full bank with 60+ lines is in references/hook-bank.md.

Motion's 2026 hit-rate order on Meta (578,750 creatives; includes Black Friday, so promo hooks are inflated): newness, sale announcement, price anchor, urgency, announcement, offer only, FOMO, new product, confession, exclusivity, curiosity.

4. Check every hook

• The product or the result is visible by second 2
• It leads into the product; no unrelated stunt
• Visual, spoken and text layers agree; text ≤8 words, inside the safe zone (out of the top 14%, bottom 35%, sides 6%)
• No claim you can't prove; no price unless it matches the live product page (TikTok Shop violations); no before/after that overstates results; no "Do you have [condition]?" on Meta (personal-attribute rule)
• Not a first-person result line for an AI person
• Different first frames across the batch (Meta groups ads with the same opening)

5. Make the hook clips (optional, costs credits)

For a hook that remakes an idea already viral for this kind of product (backyard-camera fail, torture test, gift reaction) as realistic phone footage, use varg-product-hook. Otherwise:

1. Quote first with estimate_cost and wait for a yes.
2. First frame: a still from the real product photo (nano_banana_2_1) or a frame of real footage.
3. Animate 3 s: kling_v4_flash for drafts, kling_v4 or seedance_2_5 for finals, the product photo as a reference on every clip. Keep the same character reference and scene baseline as the body, or the seam shows.
4. Voice the line (eleven_v4) or record it. Not for TikTok Shop presenters (AI voices banned there).
5. Join each hook to the body: ecommerce-video-edit §6 (scripts/hook-variants.sh), one MP4 per hook, named <product>_<angle>_h<NN>-<type>_v1.mp4.

6. When to make new hooks

• New hooks go on a winning body. A new concept comes first, hook swaps second: ten hook swaps of one video read as one ad to Meta.
• One winning body + 5 new openers: "one of those five will almost always outspend the others 30 to 1" (operator report).
• Cut the hook out of any reel that clears a 50% hook rate and keep it in a hook bank with its numbers.

Related

ecommerce-video-ads (the whole plan) · varg-product-hook (viral-style hook clip from product photos) · ad-creative-testing (how many, when to kill) · ecommerce-video-edit (join hooks to a body) · tiktok-shop-video