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Hook (short video)

A hook is the opening of a short video, roughly its first one to three seconds, made to stop a viewer from swiping to the next one.

1 version

5 sections 7 versions kept 1 owner changed 11 Oct 2026

History

The 3-second testInteractive

Length: First 1 to 3 seconds
TikTok ad guidance: Proposition in the first 3 s
TikTok ad guidance: Hook within the first 6 s
YouTube Shorts metric: Viewed vs swiped away
On-screen text (TikTok ads): 5 to 10 words per second

In words

What platforms say about the first seconds

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TikTok's guidance for advertisers says to introduce a video's proposition in the first 3 seconds ¹ and to put the hook in the first 6 seconds to boost engagement and watch time ². YouTube reports, for each Short, the percentage of times viewers viewed it versus swiped away ³. For longer videos, its intro metric is the share of viewers still watching after 30 seconds ⁴. See YouTube Shorts recommendations.

4 of 4 quotes found in their sources

Creative best practices for performance ads (TikTok Ads Help) ads.tiktok.com Introduce your content proposition in the first 3 seconds for better recall and awareness Quote found in the source
Creative best practices for performance ads (TikTok Ads Help) ads.tiktok.com Prioritize your hook in the first 6 seconds to boost engagement and increase watch time Quote found in the source
Content tab analytics tips, Shorts (YouTube Help) support.google.com Highlights the percentage of times that viewers viewed your Shorts versus swiped away Quote found in the source
Measure key moments for audience retention (YouTube Help) support.google.com Intro tells you what percentage of your audience still watched your video after the first 30 seconds Quote found in the source

Why the opening affects ranking

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Feeds reward viewers who stay. TikTok counts finishing a longer video as a strong indicator of interest ¹, and Instagram predicts how likely you are to watch a reel all the way through ²; a viewer who swipes in the first seconds does neither. YouTube adds that a strong intro can mean the opening matched what the thumbnail and title promised ³. See Watch time and TikTok For You feed.

3 of 3 quotes found in their sources

How TikTok recommends videos #ForYou (TikTok Newsroom, June 2020) newsroom.tiktok.com A strong indicator of interest, such as whether a user finishes watching a longer video from beginning to end, would receive greater weight Quote found in the source
Instagram Ranking Explained (Instagram, 2023) about.instagram.com The most important predictions we make are how likely you are to reshare a reel, watch a reel all the way through Quote found in the source
Measure key moments for audience retention (YouTube Help) support.google.com The content in the first 30 seconds matched the viewer’s expectation of the video’s thumbnail and title Quote found in the source

What a hook is made of

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TikTok's ad guidance names the parts: suspense, surprise or other emotions ¹, captions or text overlays for context, at 5 to 10 words per second ²³, and transitions, stickers and graphics to hold attention ⁴. YouTube's advice for a weak intro is to make the thumbnail and title match the video and to experiment with the first 30 seconds ⁵. The figure below groups these into four kinds of opening.

5 of 5 quotes found in their sources

Creative best practices for performance ads (TikTok Ads Help) ads.tiktok.com You can do so by creating suspense, surprise, or other emotions Quote found in the source
Creative best practices for performance ads (TikTok Ads Help) ads.tiktok.com Use captions or text overlays to provide context to your ad Quote found in the source
Creative best practices for performance ads (TikTok Ads Help) ads.tiktok.com We recommend displaying 5-10 words per second when using text Quote found in the source
Creative best practices for performance ads (TikTok Ads Help) ads.tiktok.com Utilize transitions, stickers, and graphics in your creative to retain engagement and view time Quote found in the source
Measure key moments for audience retention (YouTube Help) support.google.com Modify the first 30 seconds of your video and experiment with different styles Quote found in the source