I will never forget my visit to New York.

Just before I entered university (many, many years ago…), my parents decided to travel somewhere where we didn’t have relatives we could stay with.

An unprecedented notion based on the cultures I was raised in (Latin and Asian).

We at least did the typical Asian thing and booked a company that would guide us through the city in a bus.

We saw the Statue of Liberty, Wall Street, Central Park, the whole shebang.

One location stood out from the rest for me. I will never forget it.

I was completely overwhelmed by it the second we got off and were told to be back at the pick up spot in a couple hours.

Times Square.

The entire place was filled with people, cars, buildings, and loud noises.

Oh, and ads. So. Many. Ads.

It was hard to think and keep up with everyone else zooming past. I swear I was in a different planet.

My family and I stood on a sidewalk and just watched life go by, awestruck and dumbfounded as to where to begin with the few hours we were given.

It was insane.

If the internet were a location you could go visit, I think it would feel like Times Square.

Busy, cramped, loud, and filled to the brim with ads.

How do you attract attention, then, in a world as busy as that? How do you set up the story you want to tell?

With something that marketers like to call, a hook.

Hook

A hook is a movie trailer for your story.

It tells you a little bit about the story but ends at some sort of cliffhanger.

This pulls your audience in, because they want to know what happens next. It makes you want to know more if the story is of interest to you.

It immediately starts separating your audience into the ones that care about the story, and the ones that don’t.

The ones that don’t care were most likely not going to become happy customers anyway so it’s okay. We want to attract the ones with potential to love what we do and tell other people about us.

The hook actively attracts and rejects people.

That’s why it’s so important to get this part right.

In the words of the father of modern advertising, David Ogilvy:

David was talking about websites in particular, which is why he calls them headlines. It goes by different names depending on what tool you’re talking about.

Yes I know, marketing is confusing.

Regardless, I like to create hooks by summarizing the entire story I’m going to tell into as few words as possible.

This naturally creates holes in the story, because you can’t possibly fit everything you are going to say in one sentence. Then you can play with the gaps that appear as the natural cliffhangers for your hook.

There’s a hundred different ways you can write a marketing hook, but I’ll highlight three popular methods.

Narrative Hooks

The bread and butter of storytellers.

Movies, TV shows, books. They all start by giving you a hook that emotionally invests you. Usually the opening scene, the first sentence of a book.

Here’s an example of a narrative hook (first sentence) from the book Persuader by Lee Child:

Wait whaaaaat!

This idea can easily be implemented in marketing. Start with a story that leads into the topic you actually want to talk about.

It may not look like it’s related to the business or the product, but the suspense of the story will draw the audience in until you reveal how it’s connected.

• Last November, Michael was unexpectedly fired from his job as a customer service rep.
• When his phone rang at 5:00 a.m. on October 1st, James ignored it.

Scroll back up to the top of this page and read the first sentence, and you’ll see this in action.

Research Hooks

Highlight fascinating findings, but not everything. You can show the actual facts or ask questions that lead into talking about said finding.

Always make sure that the information is reliable.

Nothing hurts building relationships more than lying.

• 85% of people who buy — don’t make a purchase until after 90 days.
• Can people live without chocolate?

Argument Hooks

Present a bold claim and provide the proof in the story that comes after. Almost like a conversation where you’re telling someone about your opinion on something.

• 1000 songs in your pocket.
• The way we do business has fundamentally changed.

See what’s happening? We’re not pushing product information in front of their faces, we’re pulling them in.

A proper hook must give your audience enough context to care about the rest of the story.

We’re promising that the story we’re about to tell is worth the audience’s time. The people that keep reading are now expecting you to fulfill that promise.

You now have the attention of these strangers online, it’s time to do good on the promise and develop a sense of trust in order to retain their attention.