A hook is the first 3 seconds of a video ad, the line or shot that decides whether someone keeps watching. In creator footage, the best hooks are usually unplanned reactions buried in the middle of a long take.
A hook is the first 3 seconds of a video ad. Sometimes 5. It's the line or the shot that makes someone stop scrolling, and it decides most of the ad's performance before the product is even shown.
Hooks come in a few shapes that show up in every category:
→ A reaction: "okay, I did not expect that" → A claim: "this replaced three products for me" → The problem in the viewer's words: "my pan was scratched to death" → A pattern interrupt: the product doing something unexpected on screen
In creator footage the hook is often not at the start of the clip. A creator films a 6-minute review and the best opening line is at minute 4. That's why a searchable library tags hooks as their own segment type, independent of where they sit in the file.
Let's say a skincare creator says "I genuinely thought this was a scam" 40 seconds into a 5-minute clip. Cut to that sentence, put the product reveal after it, and you have a hook that a planned script rarely produces.
Under 3 seconds for feed and Reels placements. If the first sentence takes longer than that, cut into the middle of it.
I usually see 3-5 hooks per body as a sane starting point. The body stays the same; only the opening changes. A hook bank built from existing footage makes this cheap because you don't need a new shoot for each round.