What is inside
- 110 hooks across 11 mechanism categories, each with a [bracketed] slot for your product
- A mechanism note on every line explaining what it does to attention
- A map of hook category to product type to the shot you open on
- A five-pass method for rewriting any hook for a specific SKU
- A pre-flight checklist and the disclosure rule for AI creators
What the first eight seconds actually has to do
A vertical ad does not get a beginning, a middle and an end. It gets one window in which the viewer decides whether the next twenty seconds are worth their thumb. Everything in this file is written for that window.
A working hook does three jobs at once, and the order matters. It qualifies, so the right person feels addressed and the wrong person leaves early without costing you watch time. It creates a gap, so there is a specific unanswered question the rest of the video closes. And it promises a payoff that the video can actually deliver, because a hook that oversells produces a drop-off two seconds later when the viewer realises the video is not going where the line implied.
The line is only half of it. A hook is audio and picture together, and the picture has to be doing something the second the frame opens. A talking head that starts with a static face and a greeting has spent its window on nothing. Open mid-motion: hands already on the product, the mess already visible, the pour already happening. The map further down pairs every category with the shot it should open on for exactly this reason.
Three structural rules run through all 110 lines. Say the subject inside the first four words, because a clause of throat-clearing costs you the qualifier. Use one idea per hook, because two ideas read as neither. And write it to be spoken, not read: contractions, sentence fragments, the rhythm of a person talking to one other person. If you cannot say it out loud in one breath, it is too long for the window.
Use these as scaffolds, not as scripts. The bracketed slot is where your product truth goes, and a hook that names a real, specific detail of your product will always beat the generic version of the same structure.
Problem callout hooks
The most reliable category and the one most brands write badly. A problem callout works when it names a symptom so specific the viewer recognises their own week in it. It fails when it names a category instead of a moment.
If your [problem] shows up by three in the afternoon, every single day, this is why.
A time stamp turns an abstract complaint into a memory. The viewer checks their own afternoon instead of evaluating your claim.
You think [problem] is caused by [obvious suspect]. It is almost always [real cause].
Opens a correction loop. The viewer has to stay to find out whether the thing they believe is the thing being corrected.
I went through four different [product category] before I worked out what was actually wrong.
Positions the speaker as having already paid the cost of trial and error, which is the cost the viewer is trying to avoid.
It starts as [small annoyance]. Six months later it is [bigger consequence].
Stakes rise inside one sentence, so a problem the viewer had filed as tolerable gets re-filed as urgent.
[Problem]? That is [cause]. Here is the thirty second fix.
Question, answer, promise, in three fragments. The compression itself signals that the speaker knows the subject.
Look at this. This is what [problem] does to [surface or item] in one week.
Points the viewer at the frame rather than at the speaker, so the picture carries the hook and the audio only directs attention.
Third [product category] this year. Same [problem] every time.
Two fragments, no verb in the first. Reads as a person mid-frustration rather than a person delivering a line.
If you have given up on fixing [problem], do not buy anything else until you have seen this.
Addresses the people who have already failed, which is a larger and less contested audience than people still shopping.
Anyone with [specific trait or situation] knows exactly what [problem] feels like at [specific moment].
Deliberately excludes most viewers so the remaining ones feel named. Qualification is a feature, not a loss.
Stop doing [common habit] if you actually want [problem] to go away.
An instruction to stop something is processed faster than an instruction to start something, and it implies the viewer is currently getting it wrong.
Hook category, product type, opening shot
Which mechanism suits which kind of product, and what has to be happening in frame the moment the video starts. The opening shot column is the part most teams skip, and it is the half of the hook the viewer processes first.
| Hook category | Best for | Open on this shot |
|---|---|---|
| Problem callout | Anything solving a visible, recurring daily irritation: skincare, cleaning, storage, pain relief, pet care | The problem itself in close-up, already mid-frame. No face until the second line. |
| Unexpected result | Products whose outcome is hard to believe from the category: repair, restoration, stain removal, dramatic-finish beauty | The finished result first, held for a beat, before any explanation. |
| Myth correction | Crowded categories where buyers carry bad received wisdom: supplements, haircare, coffee, tools, skincare actives | Speaker mid-sentence, head shake, product held low in frame and not yet explained. |
| POV and scenario | Lifestyle, apparel, home, travel and anything bought for how it feels to own | Handheld, from the viewer's eyeline, walking or entering a space. |
| Comparison and swap | Upgrades and replacements: kitchen gear, bags, bottles, subscriptions, tools | Both items in frame at once, hands moving between them. |
| Confession | Considered purchases with social risk: fashion, fitness, finance, anything with a price objection | Tight, slightly off-centre selfie framing, poor-ish light, no product visible yet. |
| Demonstration | Anything with a physical mechanism: kitchen, tools, cleaning, gadgets, applicators | Hands and product only, action already started, no talking head at all. |
| Objection pre-empt | Higher-priced or unfamiliar formats where the first reaction is doubt | Product held up to camera, plainly, with nothing staged around it. |
| Price and value reframe | Premium positions and subscriptions competing against a cheap default | The cheap alternative in frame first, then the product entering the shot. |
| Before and after | Visible transformation over time: skin, hair, home, garden, organisation, fitness gear | Split or hard cut between two frames in the first second, then back to the before. |
| Niche callout | Products with a defined occupational or lifestyle user: nurses, runners, new parents, van lifers, hairdressers | Speaker already in the environment of that niche, in the relevant clothing or setting. |
Read the rest free.
A free Advibly account unlocks the full document and the download. No card needed, and you get 2 credits to try it on your own product.
What you unlock
- 110 hooks across 11 mechanism categories, each with a [bracketed] slot for your product
- A mechanism note on every line explaining what it does to attention
- A map of hook category to product type to the shot you open on
- A five-pass method for rewriting any hook for a specific SKU
- A pre-flight checklist and the disclosure rule for AI creators
Free to start. See what a paid plan adds
Put three of these hooks on camera today
Pick a hook, pick an AI creator, and generate the vertical cut with your brand and product already applied. Same body, three different openings, so you find out which mechanism your audience responds to instead of guessing. New accounts get 2 starter credits, and the exact cost is shown before you generate.
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