25 hook formulas for TikTok and Reels, with examples

On TikTok, Reels and Shorts, you have about one second. If the first frame and first line do not earn the next second, nothing else in the video matters. The good news: hooks are not magic. Most successful ones follow a small number of patterns.

Below are 25 formulas grouped by the reaction they trigger. Each has an example for a product-based brand. Use the pattern, not the exact words.

Recognition hooks: "that's literally me"

These work because the viewer sees themselves.

1. "pov: you [relatable struggle]" — "pov: you open the 40-page reading at 1am"
2. "me trying to [struggle]" — "me trying to find a flight under $500 for the group trip"
3. "[audience] will understand" — "freelancers will understand this one"
4. "when [annoying moment]" — "when the client says 'quick call?' at 5:58pm"
5. "the [niche] starter pack" — "the first-year med student starter pack"

Curiosity hooks: "wait, what?"

These open a loop the viewer wants closed.

1. "why did nobody tell me this sooner" — works on slideshows and talking heads alike.
2. "things nobody tells you about [topic]" — "things nobody tells you about booking flights"
3. "I found out why [surprising thing]" — "I found out why flight prices change when you refresh"
4. "this is your sign to [action]" — "this is your sign to stop making flashcards by hand"
5. "don't [common action] until you watch this" — "don't renew that subscription until you see this"

Result hooks: "I want that"

These lead with an outcome.

1. "how I [result] in [short time]" — "how I learned 3 months of lectures in one weekend"
2. "I tried [thing] for [time], here's what happened" — great for honest experiments.
3. "[before] to [after]" — "$1,200 flight to $480, same dates"
4. "the [adjective] way to [result]" — "the lazy way to meal prep for a week"
5. "I cracked the code to [result]" — "I cracked the code to studying less"

Contrarian hooks: "that can't be right"

These provoke a reaction.

1. "unpopular opinion: [claim]" — "unpopular opinion: most study techniques are a waste of time"
2. "stop [common advice]" — "stop booking flights on Tuesdays"
3. "[thing] is overrated, here's why" — "color-coded notes are overrated"
4. "you're doing [task] wrong" — say it with evidence, or it reads as clickbait.
5. "nobody talks about this but [truth]"

Format hooks: the structure is the hook

These borrow a recognizable format.

1. "how to [goal] in [n] easy steps, explained by [character]" — the mascot explainer format.
2. "breaking: [niche news parody]" — "breaking: students still taking notes by hand in 2026"
3. "rating [things] as a [identity]" — "rating study apps as someone who failed chem twice"
4. "day [n] of [challenge]" — builds a series people follow.
5. "[number] signs you [situation]" — "5 signs your calendar is running your life"

Making hooks work

Match the visual to the line. The first frame should show the situation the text describes. A hook about a messy desk needs a messy desk.

Say it and show it. If there is voice, the spoken line and on-screen text should match in the first second.

Cut the warm-up. No "hey guys," no logo intro, no "so today I want to talk about."

Test in batches. Make three to five versions of the same video with different hooks. The winner tells you what your audience responds to. Slideshows make this cheap; see TikTok slideshows.

Pay off the hook. A hook that promises something the video does not deliver gets views and then kills your account's reach, because people stop watching and stop trusting you.

Where hooks come from

The best source of hooks is what is working in your niche right now. Scroll your niche for 20 minutes, screenshot every post with unusually high views for the account size, and note the hook pattern. After a week you will have a swipe file.

PostRush does this automatically: it scouts short-form posts in your niche daily, groups them by format, and uses the hook patterns that are currently getting views when it writes your posts. You can browse the same library yourself in the Inspiration tab.