100 Hook Templates From Videos With Millions of Views

Read Time: 6 Minutes

The video with the most views in my swipe library opens with this line:

“You spend all this time making content and filming these videos to get new followers. And when you finally get new followers, they ghost your content and that’s hurting your brand. So let’s fix that with this.”

That’s 35.5 million views from @gannon.meyer, and the whole hook is 3 sentences.

I went through the 109 videos in my swipe library in Melda, pulled each view count and turned every opening line into a fill-in-the-blank template. I kept the words that make the hook work and replaced the topic with X and Y.

The full list is a Google Doc, ranked from most views to least:

Get all 100 hook templates

Here’s how I use it, and 6 of my favorite families from the list.

How to use a template

Pick 3 templates that fit your topic.

Say each one out loud before you write anything else.

Keep the fixed words exactly as written and only swap X, Y and Z.

Here’s one filled in. The template is “If you’re not doing X now, then don’t expect Y later.” My version is “If you’re not practicing out loud, then don’t expect to sound confident in your next meeting.”

The original has 2.4 million views from @tailoredfit. Mine is the same shape with a different topic.

Credential and result

You state what you’ve done, then promise what the viewer will get.

“I’ve done X over a thousand times. Here are three things I’d never do.”

That one opened a kitchen designer’s video with 5.3 million views (@blackrokkitchendesign).

“I’m a X. It took me 10 years to learn this, and I’m going to teach you in 60 seconds.”

A psychologist (@the.pocket.psychologist) got 7.6 million views with that one.

Use these when you have a real number or a real title to put in the blank. If you don’t have one, skip to the next family.

List promise

You tell the viewer exactly how many things they’ll get.

“Here are three absurdly cheap ways to make your X absurdly Y.”

5.9 million views from @socialcapofficial.

“Here are six things you should never say in X.”

1.8 million views from @danmartell, in a video that runs 24 seconds. That’s a good fit when your tips are short.

How-to promise

You name a skill and say you’ll show it.

“Everyone tells you to X, but no one actually shows you how. Here’s a step-by-step you can save.”

4.5 million views from @calltoleap. The “you can save” line gives the viewer a reason to hit save before they’ve seen the steps.

“This is how to X like a pro.”

1.6 million views from @jessijeanhome, and the original line is only 9 words. It works best when the skill sounds hard and you can make it look easy.

If-then conditions

You describe a person and a result, and the viewer decides if that’s them.

“If you’re not doing X now, then don’t expect Y later.”

If your topic has a long-term payoff, this is the one to try first.

Questions

You open with a question the viewer can’t answer yet.

“Do you know what the strongest predictor of X is?”

1.9 million views from @vivetalobomd. The question takes the first 4 seconds by itself, and then the video goes straight into the study.

“How do you know if someone has low X?”

1.4 million views from @bryanlowwww.

Before and after

You tell the viewer you changed something and it worked.

“I stopped X, and everything got better. Here’s what I figured out.”

8.8 million views from @takecontrol_stef. It’s the shortest path from a real change in your life to a hook.

What to do next

Open the doc and read the first 20 templates out loud. A few will feel natural in your voice and a few won’t, and that tells you which ones to use.

Then watch the original video behind each template you pick. The doc links every one, so you can hear how the creator says it.

If you want these hooks written for your own topics, the Melda waitlist at the top of this page is where I’m building that.

Preston

Get more resources from me

• Get all 100 hook templates, ranked by views.
• Work with me to build a content system around your business, footage and production workflow.
• Join the Melda OS waitlist for the content system I’m building for creators.