On Meta, TikTok, YouTube, everywhere, the first 3 seconds decide whether anyone watches the rest. Hook patterns are the proven openings that earn the next 27 seconds.
"Everyone tells you to do X. They're wrong."
"I spent $47K testing 12 ad platforms. Here's what I learned."
"Are you still [old way of doing X]?"
Visual gag, weird sound, or unexpected scene in the first frame.
"I was running ads wrong for 2 years. Here's what I finally figured out."
"Meta just changed this. Here's what it means for you."
"If you're doing X, stop immediately."
"Meet Sarah. She runs a $10M DTC brand and does something weird every Monday."
"I noticed something about successful agencies you don't see anywhere else."
"What everyone calls [X] is actually [Y]."
Keep the body of the ad the same, test 5-10 different hooks. The hook is usually the single biggest variable you can A/B.
Different audiences respond to different hooks:
Your hook sets expectations. The next 10 seconds must pay them off, or viewers leave.