Hooks
The first three seconds: the openers that stop a scroll, when each one works, and what it costs you when it does not.
14 articles
13 TikTok hook ideas that stop the scrollTikTok hook formulas - curiosity gaps, pattern interrupts and POV openers - with examples you can adapt to any niche in minutes.The 3-beat script structure behind short videos that hold attentionHook, proof, payoff: a simple script template for TikToks, Reels and Shorts - with timing, retention tricks and a worked 30-second breakdown.Scroll stopper - the craft term for whatever wins the first frameA scroll stopper is the opening device that interrupts a feed scroll. The common devices, how we separate it from a hook, and the vocabulary Admetra records them in.Pattern interrupt hooks - the opener that breaks the scroll rhythmThe opener that stops a scroll by being visually or verbally off-pattern. What it is, the ads it suits, and the cases where it costs you the next three seconds.Question hooks - opening with the line the viewer answers in their headThe opener that makes the viewer answer before they decide to scroll. Where a question earns the next three seconds and where it reads as a survey.Bold claim hooks - leading with the number instead of the setupThe opener that states the result in the first line. When a claim or a stat carries an ad, and when it triggers the skepticism it was meant to bypass.Negative hooks - opening on the mistake rather than the benefitThe opener that leads with what goes wrong. Where leading with the cost earns the stop, and where it reads as fear-selling.Audience callout hooks - naming who the ad is for in the first lineThe opener that qualifies the viewer out loud. When calling out a segment lifts the whole funnel, and when it shrinks reach for nothing.Curiosity-gap hooks - opening a loop the viewer has to stay to closeThe opener that withholds the payoff. When a gap holds attention through the body, and when it reads as clickbait and costs you the click.Before/after tease hooks - showing the result before explaining itThe opener that leads with the transformation. When showing the outcome first carries an ad, and when it makes the rest of the video redundant.Social-proof hooks - opening in someone else’s voiceThe opener that leads with a customer, a review or a crowd. When borrowed credibility beats your own, and when it reads as an ad in the first second.Founder hooks - opening as the person who made the thingThe opener where the founder speaks first. When authorship outperforms polish, and when it becomes an ad about a person nobody asked about.Contrarian hooks - opening by contradicting what the viewer believesThe opener that argues with the audience. When contradicting the category earns the next three seconds, and when it just picks a fight.Video ad hooks - the ten openers, and how to pick oneThe ten hook patterns in Admetra’s parts taxonomy, what each one is for, and how the first three seconds are decomposed when a trend video is broken down.