Hook Generator
Opening lines built to survive the first second — the part of a post that decides whether the rest of it gets read at all.
- Free plan
- No card required
- Video & text
Generating runs on your Mediux account. The free plan includes 10 AI generations a month with no card — enough to try this properly.
Example outputSample
- Unexpected number
We were binning 40,000 bottles a year — and nobody in the building had noticed.
- Contradiction
Our best-selling product was also our biggest environmental problem.
- Direct callout
If you still buy a whole new bottle every month, this one is for you.
Six patterns that keep working
The unexpected number
“We were binning 40,000 bottles a year.”
Specific, checkable, and slightly alarming.
The contradiction
“Our best-selling product was our biggest problem.”
Two things that should not both be true.
The costly mistake
“This one packaging decision cost us £18,000.”
Loss is stickier than gain.
The direct callout
“If you still buy a new bottle every month, stop.”
Names the reader and implies they are doing it wrong.
The withheld answer
“Nobody could tell us why the bottle existed.”
Opens a question the next line must close.
The status flip
“The cheapest option turned out to be the sustainable one.”
Overturns an assumption the viewer holds.
Where the hook has to land
| Surface | You have | Before |
|---|---|---|
| Reels / TikTok / Shorts | About 1 second | The thumb moves |
| Instagram caption | ~125 characters | The 'more' link |
| TikTok caption | ~100 characters | Truncation |
| LinkedIn post | ~210 characters | 'See more' |
| X post | The first line | The next post loads |
| YouTube description | ~157 characters | 'Show more' |
Writing a hook that earns the rest
- 1
Open a loop, do not summarise
'Here's how we cut our packaging plastic' describes the video. 'We were throwing away 40,000 bottles a year — and nobody had noticed' makes you need the next line. The second is a hook.
- 2
Put the number first
Specific figures stop scrolls because they are checkable. '80% less plastic' outperforms 'much less plastic' every time, and it costs you nothing to be precise.
- 3
Write it last
You cannot hook people into something you have not worked out yet. Draft the post, find the single most surprising thing in it, then build the opening around that.
- 4
Never over-promise
Watch-through is what the feed measures now. A hook that outruns the content buys one view and costs you the next ten, because the drop-off is the signal.
Questions
- What actually makes a hook work?
- It opens a gap the viewer wants closed. Curiosity, a stake, a contradiction or a promise — anything that makes stopping cheaper than scrolling. A hook that merely describes the content is a title, not a hook.
- How long should a hook be?
- Short enough to land before the thumb moves. For video, roughly the first second — three to eight words spoken. For text, the line that sits above the 'more' link: about 125 characters on Instagram, 210 on LinkedIn.
- Is it free?
- Yes, on the free plan — 10 AI generations a month, no card. Each batch of hooks is one generation.
- Should the hook match the content?
- Always. A hook that over-promises buys a view and loses a follower, and every network now measures watch-through rather than the stop itself. Bait costs more than it earns.
- Can I test several?
- That is the intended use. Generate a batch, run the same content behind two or three different openings, and keep whichever earns the watch-through. The hook is usually the highest-leverage thing to vary.
- Do hooks matter on LinkedIn too?
- Arguably more, because the truncation is more brutal. Roughly 210 characters show before 'see more', and a post whose point arrives in paragraph three never gets read.
Want this built into your workflow instead of a one-off?