A mistake I made as a rookie copywriter that I’m glad I’ve got straightened up quickly.

If I’m completely honest, for a while I thought a hook was basically just a headline.

I was a rookie copywriter then, so unfortunately, I picked up some bad habits and followed some bad advice, because I don’t know any better… yet. 

One of the misconceptions I picked up early on was to think of a hook as just a headline.

Is a hook just a headline?

A headline is important, of course. It’s the first interruption, the moment that stops someone mid-scroll and makes them look twice. A hook absolutely has a role to play there.

But…

A headline only gets someone to read the first line.

But I don’t just need them to start reading.

I need them to read the second line, then the third, then everything that follows.

The hook can’t be a headline-only performance. It has to carry through the copy itself. Sentence after sentence, pulling the reader forward and not letting them off the hook (pun intended) until the end.

So what is a hook then?

It’s a force that makes stopping feel harder than continuing.

Something so intriguing, surprising, unexpected, shocking, etc., that there is no way a prospect will stop on a headline.

Let me show you what I mean.

This is from an ad written by John Bevins:

Suspicious, critical or distrustful of people who invented words?

Suspicious, critical and distrustful were all invented by the one person.

He also invented lonely, assassination, baseless and bumps. Disgraceful? He invented that too.

The person’s name: William Shakespeare.

In fact, as unbelievable as it may seem, every italicised word in this text was invented by Shakespeare. […]

Do you see it?

The headline catches you, but the real hook is what happens after.

Each sentence pulls you in further. You keep reading because your brain wants to know what else is coming. You are curious to know what other words he invented, and I’m willing to bet that you would have continued reading this advert for that very reason. 

That’s the power of a hook that works through headline and copy.

How do you find hooks like this? 

That’s an art in itself.

Every copywriter has their own way in.

I tend to lean on stories, though I’ve got a few other tricks in the bag too.

I’d love to hear how you think about them when you’re writing. Let me know here.