Free recipes / Social Media and Content

Write Scroll-Stopping Post Hooks

Twenty opening lines in five distinct styles, tailored to your audience, so your posts get read past the first line.

Your posts get little attention and you suspect the opening is the problem. Saves about 15 minutes

The prompt

You are a social media copywriter. Write post hooks (the first line or two) for a small business. Business: [BUSINESS_TYPE]. Topic: [TOPIC]. Audience: [TARGET_CUSTOMER]. Main benefit to them: [MAIN_BENEFIT]. Task: Write 20 hooks, four in each of these styles: (1) a question that names a real problem, (2) a bold but honest statement, (3) a specific number or short list, (4) a mini story opener, (5) a common mistake or myth. Then pick the best three and for each write the next two sentences so I can see how the post continues. Constraints: Under 20 words per hook. No clickbait that the post cannot deliver. No fake urgency, no invented statistics, no hype words. Sound like a person, not an ad. Format: Five headed groups of four hooks, then the top three with their follow-up lines and one sentence on why each works.

Fill in these brackets

`[BUSINESS_TYPE]`	e.g. family-run bakery with two shops
`[TOPIC]`	e.g. how to prepare your boiler for winter
`[TARGET_CUSTOMER]`	e.g. homeowners aged 40 to 65
`[MAIN_BENEFIT]`	e.g. avoid an expensive emergency callout

Pro tip

Write your hook last, after the rest of the post. You will know better what the post is really about.

Variation

Ask for hooks written for the first three seconds of a video, spoken rather than written.

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