How to Create Thumb-Stopping Social Media Hooks w/ Jack Appleby

Summary

In this insightful session, Jack Appleby, an experienced social content strategist, emphasizes the importance of crafting compelling social hooks to capture audience attention in a content-saturated world. He shares practical strategies for creating effective hooks, such as leveraging emotional triggers and focusing on storytelling, and discusses the balance between entertainment and education in brand content. Appleby also touches on the adaptation of these techniques for different platforms and audience demographics, highlighting the universality of social hooks across generations and the value of experimentation in content creation.

Takeaways

• 🎯 The importance of social hooks in capturing audience attention is emphasized, with the time to hook now believed to be 1.7 seconds.
• 🚀 Jack Appleby's experience highlights the evolution of social media, from early Facebook campaigns to the current landscape of platforms like TikTok.
• 📈 Appleby stresses the significance of a strong hook in content creation, using examples like Mr. Beast's YouTube success and the impact of thumbnails.
• 🎥 The presentation discusses the shift from summarizing content to highlighting specific moments or emotions to create compelling social hooks.
• 📊 Appleby shares his insights on crafting social hooks by leveraging data, such as YouTube trending page analysis and brainstorming techniques.
• 💡 The concept of 'story first, product second' is introduced, urging brands to focus on storytelling to engage audiences and compete with entertainment platforms.
• 🌟 Appleby encourages looking at successful content creators for inspiration on social hook creation, rather than just observing other brands.
• 📝 The importance of volume brainstorming is underscored, with the idea that a large number of ideas should be generated to find the most effective hook.
• 🔍 Appleby advises on the use of clickbait, but with a caveat to ensure content delivery matches the hook to avoid negative reactions.
• 🎓 For B2B contexts, leveraging data and performance metrics in social hooks can be particularly effective due to the audience's interest in numbers.
• 🔗 The balance between education and entertainment in content should be tailored to the brand and audience, with a focus on providing value.

Q & A

What is the main focus of the discussion in the transcript?

The main focus of the discussion is on creating effective social hooks for content to engage and attract audiences in a highly competitive and content-saturated environment.

How has the recommended duration for a social hook changed over time?

The recommended duration for a social hook has shortened from three seconds to approximately 1.7 seconds due to the constant scrolling behavior of users on social media platforms like TikTok.

What is an example of a successful social hook used by Mr. Beast?

An example of a successful social hook used by Mr. Beast is the title of his video where he takes a dollar yacht versus a million-dollar yacht, emphasizing the value and luxury aspect through the use of contrasting figures.

How does the speaker suggest brands should approach storytelling in their social content?

The speaker suggests that brands should adopt a 'story first, product second' approach, focusing on creating engaging narratives that capture the audience's attention before integrating the product into the story.

What is the importance of volume brainstorming in creating social hooks?

Volume brainstorming is crucial as it allows for the generation of numerous ideas and potential hooks. By exploring a wide range of possibilities, creators can identify the most effective and engaging hook for their content.

How does the speaker feel about the use of clickbait in social media content?

The speaker encourages the use of clickbait tactics in brainstorming but emphasizes the importance of ensuring that the content delivers on the promise made by the hook to avoid annoyance and maintain audience trust.

What is the speaker's advice for brands targeting an older demographic with social hooks?

The speaker advises that social hooks can work for all demographics, but they should be tailored to the specific interests and preferences of the target audience, whether it's a younger or older generation.

How does the speaker suggest balancing education and entertainment in social content?

The speaker suggests that brands should primarily focus on providing educational content that adds value to the audience's lives. However, they should also experiment with incorporating humor and creativity where appropriate and in line with their brand voice.

What is the significance of understanding the emotional triggers in crafting social hooks?

Understanding emotional triggers is key in crafting social hooks because it helps creators design content that evokes a specific reaction from the audience, such as humor, surprise, or curiosity, thereby increasing engagement.

How does the speaker recommend testing and optimizing social hooks?

The speaker recommends testing different types of hooks and triggers, analyzing the audience's response, and using platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts to experiment and find the most effective hooks for the brand and its target audience.

What is the role of SEO in creating effective social hooks?

SEO plays a role in creating effective social hooks by providing insights into what topics and keywords are trending and generating interest among the audience. This data can be used to craft hooks that are more likely to engage users.

Outlines

00:00

🎤 Introduction and Welcoming Remarks

The video begins with a warm welcome from the host, Cass, who introduces herself and expresses her excitement for the upcoming session. She mentions her role in the Content and Community team at Superside and acknowledges the collective effort in finding ways to stand out. Cass introduces the keynote speaker, Jack Appleby, highlighting his extensive experience in social content, influencer campaigns, and his work with major brands like Microsoft, Beats by Dre, Verizon's, Spotify, and Minecraft. She also notes his contributions to the industry, such as his articles in Morningbrew, his own business, and his efforts in mentoring his audience. Cass then hands over the presentation to Jack, who shares his enthusiasm for discussing social media and the evolution of the field.

05:01

📈 The Importance of Social Hooks

Jack Appleby delves into the critical concept of social hooks, emphasizing their role in drawing in an audience within the first few seconds of content. He explains that a social hook can be anything from a video clip to a tweet's copy that captures attention. Jack discusses the缩短 of the time span to capture attention due to content saturation and the influence of platforms like TikTok. He stresses the importance of creating compelling hooks that lead to great content, using examples from Mr. Beast's YouTube strategy and the impact of thumbnails. Jack also advises against summarizing content in captions or thumbnails, instead highlighting a key moment or emotion to entice viewers.

10:02

🎨 Crafting Strong Social Hooks

In this section, Jack provides insights into crafting effective social hooks. He advises against merely summarizing content and instead suggests focusing on a highlight from the social content being created. Jack uses examples from popular YouTube videos, such as those featuring Hasan Minhaj and the Hot Ones show, to illustrate how highlighting specific moments can drive views. He also discusses the strategy behind Mr. Beast's content and the importance of thumbnail design in attracting viewers. Jack encourages thinking in terms of YouTube titles and editorial headlines to create strong social hooks and shares his belief in prioritizing story over product in content creation.

15:02

🌟 Storytelling in Brand Content

Jack continues the discussion by emphasizing the importance of storytelling in brand content. He points out that brands are competing with a plethora of entertainment options, and thus, storytelling becomes a crucial tool to capture and retain the audience's attention. Jack presents examples of successful brand storytelling, such as Adobe's TikTok campaign redesigning signs in New York and a personal TikTok account documenting a journey to get back in shape. He highlights how these examples use storytelling effectively to showcase the brand's product without making it the central focus, which ultimately drives more views and engagement.

20:04

💡 Simplicity in Social Hooks and Brainstorming

Jack discusses the need for simplicity in crafting social hooks while also emphasizing the importance of extensive brainstorming. He advises against overly clever or complex copywriting, advocating for clear and concise language that resonates with the audience. Jack shares his experiences in video game marketing and how a straightforward approach outperformed a more elaborate one. He encourages embracing clickbait tactics in brainstorming but warns against not delivering on the promises made in the hook. Jack also suggests using Google to find popular content in your niche and adapting it into clickable social hooks.

25:05

🤔 Reflecting on Content Consumption

Jack encourages the audience to reflect on their own content consumption habits to better understand what makes them engage with certain content. He suggests that by analyzing why a piece of content caught their attention and kept them watching, they can apply those insights to their own content creation. Jack also shares personal experiences of building his social media presence by documenting his fitness journey and how he used storytelling to integrate a promotion for his friend's workout class. He highlights the success of this approach, which outperformed traditional advertising methods.

30:06

📊 Balancing Education and Entertainment in Content

Jack addresses the balance between educating and entertaining the audience in content creation. He suggests that while humor and entertainment can be effective, they should not be the primary goal unless it aligns with the brand's identity. Jack advises that most brands, especially B2B companies or lesser-known brands, should focus more on educating their audience. He emphasizes the importance of tailoring content to the target audience and platform, and encourages experimentation to find the right mix. Jack concludes the session by inviting the audience to connect with him on social media for further discussion.

Keywords

💡Social Hooks

Social hooks are the initial elements used in social media content to capture the attention of the audience. They are crucial for drawing viewers in and ensuring that they engage with the content. In the video, it is emphasized that a strong social hook can make the difference between a piece of content being seen or ignored in a highly saturated online environment.

💡Content Creation

Content creation refers to the process of producing and sharing various forms of content, such as videos, articles, and images, on social media platforms. It is a key aspect of digital marketing and is used to engage audiences, build brand awareness, and drive traffic. The video discusses the importance of crafting content that stands out and resonates with viewers.

💡Audience Engagement

Audience engagement refers to the interaction and involvement of viewers with content on social media platforms. It is a critical metric for measuring the success of content and is often used to gauge the effectiveness of social media strategies. The video highlights the need to create hooks that encourage engagement and keep viewers interested.

💡Brand Strategy

Brand strategy encompasses the long-term planning and actions taken by a business to build and maintain a strong brand identity. This includes content creation, marketing campaigns, and customer engagement efforts. The video touches on the importance of aligning social media content with overall brand strategy to achieve marketing goals.

💡Storytelling

Storytelling is the art of using narratives to convey information, ideas, or emotions. In the context of social media, storytelling is used to create content that is engaging, relatable, and memorable. The video emphasizes the power of storytelling in capturing the audience's attention and making content more compelling.

💡TikTok

TikTok is a social media platform known for its short-form videos. It has become a significant platform for content creators and brands to reach audiences through engaging and often viral videos. The video discusses TikTok's role in the current social media landscape and its impact on content consumption.

💡YouTube

YouTube is a video-sharing platform where users can upload, share, and view videos. It is also a platform for content creators to build audiences and generate revenue. The video mentions YouTube as a platform where strategic content creation, such as Mr. Beast's videos, can lead to significant success.

💡Mentorship

Mentorship is a relationship in which an experienced individual guides and supports a less experienced one. In the context of the video, mentorship is discussed as a way to help others in the industry and build connections. It is seen as a valuable practice that contributes to personal and professional growth.

💡NBA

The NBA (National Basketball Association) is a professional basketball league in North America and is considered the premier men's professional basketball league globally. In the video, the mention of the NBA serves to highlight Jack Appleby's personal interests, which helps to humanize him and build rapport with the audience.

💡Social Media Trends

Social media trends refer to the popular themes, topics, or styles that gain traction on social media platforms. These trends can be used by content creators and brands to increase visibility and engagement by tapping into what is currently popular among audiences. The video discusses the importance of understanding and leveraging social media trends in content creation.

💡Content Over-saturation

Content over-saturation occurs when there is an excessive amount of content available on social media, making it difficult for individual pieces to stand out. This phenomenon challenges content creators and brands to find innovative ways to capture and hold the attention of their audience. The video emphasizes the need for strong social hooks in an over-saturated content environment.

Highlights

Jack Appleby's experience in social content creation and his work with major brands like Microsoft and Spotify.

The importance of social hooks in capturing audience attention within the first 1.7 seconds of content.

The evolution of social media and the shift from 3-second hooks to shorter attention spans due to platforms like TikTok.

Mr. Beast's strategy of prioritizing strong hooks over quantity of content, leading to his massive success on YouTube.

The concept of 'story first, product second' as a method for creating engaging brand content on social media.

Adobe's TikTok campaign that focuses on redesigning signs in New York, demonstrating the power of storytelling.

The idea of using 'what if' brainstorming to generate creative social content ideas that stand out.

The importance of simplicity and clarity in social hooks, avoiding overly clever or complex language.

The effectiveness of clickbait-style hooks when they are honest and deliver on the promise of the title.

The value of volume brainstorming and experimenting with different hooks to find the most effective one.

Jack's personal experiment with a 'basketball fan fiction' TikTok account and the success of his Space Jam 2 hook.

The idea of consuming and analyzing social content to understand why certain posts go viral and how to apply those lessons.

Balancing the use of trends (trend jacking) with staying true to the brand's message and objectives.

The challenge of including CTAs in content while maintaining authenticity and the importance of providing value through entertainment or education.

Adapting the concept of social hooks for B2B content, focusing on data and performance metrics to attract a professional audience.

The potential of repurposing content across different platforms like YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels for increased reach.

The importance of tailoring social hooks to the specific audience, adjusting the style and content based on the target demographic.

Finding the right balance between education and entertainment in brand content, with a focus on providing value to the audience.

Transcripts

[Music]

thank you

hi welcome it's my third session super

excited

um I'm just gonna run through some stuff

I know everyone's waiting for you to

present but I'm Cass I'm on the content

and Community team here at superside

rest assured that even my own team is

looking for ways to stand out so we're

definitely all in this together today

I'm very excited by our keynote speaker

Jack Appleby Jack has over 10 years of

experience working in agencies with a

heavy emphasis on social content

influencers and campaigns he's LED

social aors for campaigns like Microsoft

Beats by Dre Verizon's Spotify Minecraft

the list goes on lots and lots of

awesome stuff I know I'm just gonna

embarrass you jack I'm gonna keep going

for another test I feel embarrassed yeah

let's let it set it um you might have

seen his articles in morningbrew

previously uh before starting his own

business he was a senior creative

strategist on Twitch he now runs future

social and if you don't subscribe to his

awesome Weekly Newsletter you should

we'll definitely make sure to link to

that

um Jack has also taken on so much to

help with Mentor his audience and really

just connect with people in the industry

which I really admire but aside from

that he is a big NBA fan I think I saw a

real shared by Mark Cuban

um which is pretty pretty cool yeah

yeah no big deal not a big deal at all

maybe you'll run through something

um but yeah thanks for being here today

Jack I'm super excited I can't I can't

wait to learn from you and uh with that

I think I'll just let you take over the

presentation and run with things

awesome yeah I mean thank you for having

me thank you for everybody that's here

right now I love talking about this

stuff like I've worked in Social for so

long at this point that I feel very

fortunate I like to teach it now there's

so many people interested in it uh it

was a lonely ship for a long time 10

years ago uh starting my first Facebook

campaigns before Facebook even had a

video so the space has evolved a lot um

so much has changed we're gonna get into

one of the most important parts of

social day which is how to write great

social hooks

yeah

so before we get into like all the

Tactical things there like let's let's

back up and Define what is this for

everybody again a social Hook is

whatever you're using in the first

couple of seconds of your contents to

draw in an audience that might be

something video that might be something

an audio queue that you have in the

first couple seconds you can even

consider a social hook the cap the copy

on a tweet for instance because you know

when someone's scrolling a feed they're

gonna see the copy as well as the

beginning of the video so a hook is

anything that pulls you into that

content the other day if you can't pull

someone in No One's Gonna See the

content okay

now I think for the last decade or so

we've all heard this idea that three

seconds is how long you'd have for a

hook um if you look at a lot of movie

marketing for instance you'll notice

that trailers over the last decade

suddenly have like a big Michael bayish

action sequence to start and then

actually go into the slow Build Trailer

that's because the convention was three

seconds

that has now shortened uh probably

because of tick tock and we all just

constantly scroll and thumb through the

next content we're being told that 1.7

seconds is how long you have to get some

of the tension now

um it sounds very very quick it's

actually a little longer than you

realize when you really look at what you

could accomplish 1.7 seconds but again

this is why it's so important that you

are really doing things to hook

someone's attention because we live in a

very content over saturated world at

this point

and you'll just keep seeing me beat this

like this beat this drunk continuously

go through this like the hook is all

that matters

um like Cassandra mentioned some of the

accounts that I've worked on previously

having worked on social for 10 years and

spending the last two years doing more

research and writing about the space

I've really come down to there's a

couple fundamentals that drive all of

your constant success and the most

important one is the social hook

one of my favorite examples of this uh

I'm sure we've all seen Mr Beast at this

point he is completely unavoidable one

of the biggest not YouTubers but

celebrities in the world at this phase

of his career

he has scrapped millions of dollars of

videos because he could not think of the

thumbnail to put on the YouTube channel

this is entirely true uh there's a

really great interview with his manager

Reed on the YouTube channel ran by Colin

and Samir when he talked about the inner

workings of the Mr Beast business he

will he's he will happily not post

content if he cannot come up with the

proper hook and I know for us who are on

either agency budgets or brand budgets

that seems ludicrous and I'm not telling

you to go scrap work what I am saying is

this is why it's so important to

remember the value of this and this is

why the biggest YouTuber in the world

has become so big because the hooks are

so vital

something I say to Young strategy Mentor

is I hear a lot of time like oh the

content was great but the algorithm

missed it like it's not good content if

you have a bad hook but if you get good

at creating hooks that does lead to

Great content uh because this exercise

is not just how to use some like

mechanic in the first couple seconds

that like one little Hook Line This

actually will show you how to build

stronger content as a result of hooks

so let's get into the meat of this whole

thing

we're going to go through are several

different ways for you to craft stronger

social Hooks and one of the easiest ones

right up front is to stop summarizing

when you're writing a caption or the

copy for a thumbnail what you want to do

is really hit on a highlight from the

social content that you're creating uh

when I was making this presentation the

other day one of the my favorite ways to

just check to see what people are using

for Trends and hooks is just go to the

YouTube trending page um and those

videos are getting up there for a reason

they're getting Clips they're getting

views they're getting engagements these

two examples are two of my favorites and

they're literally from the last week

uh Hassan Minaj very famous comedian

highly highly recommends he interviewed

President Obama and most of us like if

we had the chance to interview the

president we would be we would talk

about it as the President Obama

interviewer I interviewed President

Obama

at this phase

many many people have actually made that

content so the way the content was

labeled if you look at that YouTube

title Hassan's video is called I asked

President Obama if he's depressed

now I can feel you getting like is that

a little Cliff baby or is that a little

weird this is the reality of where we're

at as far as social hits goes that will

drive more views than Hassan interviews

President Obama uh you look below that a

very famous example from the last couple

of years is hot ones if you haven't seen

hot ones it's a YouTube Interview show

where celebrities eat hot wings as they

answer tough questions or even hotter

questions that they're tagline they

don't simply put the Jennifer Lawrence

interview they say Jennifer Lawrence

sobs in pain while eating spicy wings

they're trying to pull that emotion or

pull that individual highlights out of

that video because you will go in there

and watch the full video Once you know

you're looking for that highlight

okay you'll see me reference Mr Beast

quite a bit uh I mean I truly believe

that we can learn far more from creators

about creating great content for Brands

than looking sideways other brands point

and I've already mentioned like these

are the best I'm a huge fan of his work

and The Business

this is his video from the last week

which became the second fastest video to

the second highest performing video in

under 24 hours on YouTube it's something

like 50 million 70 million views in 24

hours

in the video he takes you through what

it looks like to get on a dollar yacht

which is apparently a thing a thousand

dollar yacht a hundred thousand dollar

yacht a 500 000 million three million

and then a billion dollar yacht which is

really just a cruise ship doesn't matter

for this

that video is 14 minutes long there are

multiple celebrity guests he shows you

individual tours of things but when he's

trying to hook you for his YouTube video

he's building a thumbnail that's got his

face because he's a celebrity he has

made the yacht look like it's made of

complete gold to emphasize the value of

a billion dollars and in his YouTube

title it's one dollar versus million

dollar yelt he's not trying to tell you

every single thing that happens in 14

minutes he's picking two very specific

highlights and then triggering a human

emotion by using the versus language

this is now I think it's at 170 million

views when I looked this morning it will

be one of his top performing videos of

all time

yeah

which you can kind of see I pull a lot

of information uh inspiration for social

content from YouTube titles and I

actually think one of the best ways you

can start to reframe your brain to think

of social hooks is to think in both

YouTube titles and editorial headlines

if you can come up with a YouTube title

for your content it's probably a good

idea um and this is where we get back to

even brainstorming styles for social

contents

I know we all have budgets to work in we

have limitations we know that legal

teams set into our right and just ready

to kill whatever weird idea we have but

this is where the what if type of

brainstorming really is so vital if you

want to make content that performs

because that what if gives you the crazy

ideas not irresponsibly crazy but just

interesting compelling content

if you can think of that YouTube title

for that idea it's probably going to be

content that performs and you should

really consider making that your post

copy itself

which kind of leads us into this other

concept that I use a lot is story first

product second

I'm sure many of us have wasted many

many hours per day scrolling Tick Tock

uh I don't even want to look at my

screen time at this point it's

disastrous

um but as we were now competing like

let's remember we all work for Brands we

all work for agencies and we're trying

to make content that competes with an

overwhelming scene of videos photos

essays books Netflix shows that are out

there right now

it's so so important that you're not

only trying to hook someone in through a

great like a great intro to a video but

people are looking for storytelling

content like every time some if you're

making organic content as a brand you're

fundamentally competing with Netflix and

HBO because people use these platforms

for entertainment and if you view your

own content as entertainment you're

going to start driving more views

especially in the new tip-tock world

that we're in

so two examples here

um one from a brand and then one is

oddly enough for my personal tick tock

on the left

pretty unassuming you can see from that

caption up top this is day two of

redesigning signs in New York and when

you look at the screenshot you might

think to yourself like oh it's probably

like a amateur Creator who's out there

making some fun videos this is from the

Adobe Tick Tock account and this is a

collaboration they did with a Creator

where instead of making an adobe Tick

Tock that was how to design a poster in

Adobe Photoshop they actually went out

and came up with a Content idea where

they're going around New York City

finding random size I don't know if it's

true or not how they do this but the way

it's uh framed within videos going

around New York City finding random

signs that are not great probably

someone in Microsoft paints or just word

creating something to hang up and

they're actually having this graphic

designer build them custom signs we

might have a video of it uh if I can

figure out how to this is day two of

redesigning signs in New York City

without anyone asking me to on the

community bulletin board here I

discovered man with Van just a

neighborhood man trying to turn his van

into a side hustle he's offering up his

help with Van related tasks in the

neighborhood I respect it however his

design feels a bit too straightforward

it's kind of cold and mysterious after

all he is a man in a van so to help him

come across as a bit more friendly and

trustworthy we're going to use playful

illustration and some design that feels

a bit more professional I took

inspiration from vintage label designs

and made simple bold choices that

transform man with Van into a brand

that's established look at how much more

inviting this man and his van are I

don't know who man with Van is but now

he's got a whole brand identity

so that that's one of my favorite pieces

of brand tip talking I've seen in a

while um frankly I don't think a lot of

Brands were killing it at tiktok because

they're not willing to make content like

that they start off with a great concept

I don't know if you noticed they didn't

use the word Photoshop in that video not

once I don't even think they mentioned

Adobe when they make content like this

it's clear if someone's scrolling what

account it's coming from now little

Adobe signs in the corner right there it

literally says Adobe they LED with story

first the results from this that's a

four million of you tip top that

significantly outperforms all of their

other concept so much so that this is

now a series on their Channel if you go

to the Adobe and I encourage you go to

the Adobe Tick Tock and if you look at

the top there's a playlist button that

says New York signs every time they do

one of these videos it significantly

outperforms other contents um I think

the third one in the series got about

680 000 views this is not expensive

content to produce it's something that

small teams could easily make and it's

really just about the idea of selling

this product in a way that's very

different and very entertaining that's

very Charming you're actually helping

people out in the community with your

product

on the right hand side uh this is a

little Tick Tock gag that I have going

for myself right now uh I'm pursuing so

as you can see from that screenshot

there I'm a 34 year old washed up

ex-college player who's trying to get it

back uh I'm currently trying to get back

in shape and playing some like

professional three on three basketball

and I decided to document the whole

journey and I was very realistic about

the story of who I am as a person at

this point Sorry a brand new tick tock

account fresh built 25 000 followers in

one month by Framing things through this

story lens this and this piece you're

looking at right here this is actually

an advertisement for my buddy's workout

class there's a workout class called

swish house where it combines like

basketball and hit workouts to it's way

more fun for me than running on a

treadmill

I made this piece of content about it it

actually outperforms their traditional

Instagram stories advertising so much so

that they asked me to White list it and

it's now constantly running Evergreen ad

for them it also went viral it's about

500 000 views when my account only had

ten thousand followers

again it would have been the traditional

approach would have been we've got a

basketball workout class and that

content definitely has a place within

your overall ecosystem of both paid and

organic but if you want to start to get

viewed by other audiences and have

chances of virality going with a story

first and then integrating your products

into human stories is really how you can

unlock huge new counts and larger shares

so I know we just talked a lot about

trying to be clever with our

storytelling

there's an important caveat within that

and that's why I want you to be very

simple about how you're trying to come

up with your social hooks

this is where I like to look at big

accounts like Marvel for instance you

can see this is the trailer for the uh

for the last Black Panther movie

they have a quote from the movie that's

a very famous quote that's a playoff of

a quote from the original movie then

they have very plain language watch the

brand new trailer for Marvel Studios

black panther only in theater November

11th and they have the ticket link

there is no creative copywriting here

um I come from a long list of social

agency backgrounds and we would have

social copywriters where their only job

was to write captions uh for contest

they do occasionally do some pranks one

of us as well but one of the biggest

frustrations for for me as a strategist

was

we had this focus on eloquence and

cleverness and trying to be overly smart

with our copy that honestly got in the

way a lot of the time that was actually

a structural challenge because these

people felt very responsible for being

clever within their copy with this is

the right approach what is the easiest

way to tell the information you need to

tell what is the most concise way to

tell the information you tell and

understanding what is most important to

those audiences

I worked on a uh so I come from a lot of

video game marketing I worked on a

campaign where our first trailer we used

like some sort of Home up top that had

inspired the title of the of the actual

game and on the second time I got my way

and I was able to use a new Gameplay

trailer insert game title here as the

copy it's significantly outperforms

because the audience doesn't want to

have to decipher what they're about to

see make it easy for them use as few

characters as possible like make it just

digestible and they will watch that

content

this one I could feel everyone's

hesitation since they say Embrace

clickbait on a screen

um

this is the reality of what we all do as

marketers is how are we driving clicks

to the content how are we getting you to

watch that and let's be clear I'm not

about to tell you to go make the

here's a list of Seven Things number six

will shock you type of content

um what I am encourage you though is

thinking hyperbole when you're writing

things think in the larger like how are

we driving things up

this is where I mean as I Was preparing

for this presentation as I do content

strategy book for myself and my

Consulting clients

more from tick talkers talk about how

they tip talk then I have thought

leadership from industry press and when

you Google Tick Tock hooks for instance

these are a couple results from the

first page of Google where these phrases

they probably if I know we all like to

fancy ourselves like these elevated

marketers and these probably seem like

oh why would I go like this tactical or

that language isn't really like too

different we're trying to accomplish

these kind of language triggers really

do work within social content and this

is where the amateur Creator can often

beat brand content not because brands

are boring but because the amateur

Creator is willing to make the content

that people want to see so just like a

couple screenshots from those articles

like here are blank tips to get rid of

Blank you need this product in your life

stop scrolling if you want to you can

still make the brand content that I know

you're all making but if you insert this

type of language up front it will not

only pull in your hook differently but

it'll color your story differently where

you'll build things that are more native

to the current social environments like

the why are why are there not more

people talking about blank you can frame

that around the human reaction that one

of your product features uh actually

produces for somebody there's all kinds

of things you can do with this and I

encourage you like do the basics like

obstacle like as long as I've been doing

this before I start every project I and

all Google reading out the fundamentals

over and over again because so much of

social success are those fundamentals

Google Tick Tock hooks you'd be amazed

what comes up and you should be trying

it within your brand content

uh this is an unfun one this is the one

that I think especially as you work in

Social uh is one we often forget about

which is be willing to do the work with

volume brainstorming

I I mean I'm as guilty as anybody uh we

want the dopamine hits of the from the

brands we work on we want to pump out as

much content as possible our first ideas

often make into the decks which is

partially a result of all of our

expertise what we've all learned across

the years but it's also because we're

not doing nearly as much work as we

should be to make sure that we're coming

up with the best ideas possible uh I'm

gonna reference Mr Beast one more time

and one of the interview Series where he

talks about the creation process they

spent two months in idea generation and

planning out the contents they spend

more time in idea generation than they

do filming these multi-million dollar

videos because again the ideas all that

matters and they don't have the right

idea they won't go to filming

I'm gonna pull another silly one for my

you'll find I have a lot of tick-tock

experiments and Adventures uh I started

this very silly account called alternate

reality at one point where I was doing I

call it like basketball fan fiction and

what ifs uh and back whenever Space Jam

2 came out I have my own idea for what

the plot of that movie should have been

uh so I filmed the tick tock for it very

silly uh man I look young there but uh

filmed this very silly concept for it

and I knew I needed an upfront hook that

was going to be really really strong to

make people watch this and I knew here's

what I think Space Jam 2 should be about

isn't that compelling

so I actually look at a Google

spreadsheet and I wrote 50 different

versions of the headline and I tried

everything and eventually what I landed

on was the one you see on the screen

here which again you can see there's no

production value to this I don't I have

the green screen kind of intentionally

set to be awkward and to the left I'm

using the native text tool just with red

well red background behind it

but you can see here the hook is LeBron

should be the villain in Space Jam 2.

reason I went with that after doing 50

different trials on what that headline

could have been I wanted to hit as many

emotional triggers as possible LeBron is

a celebrity getting his name in the

title by video wouldn't matter calling

saying that he should be the villain the

plot I wrote was about him as the bad

guy

that would immediately go like wait

that's different I don't know what to

expect from that I would want to watch

that and then obviously in the name of

the IP in there

this ended up going viral from I built

an account at like 30 40 000 at that

point uh this did a couple million views

the first time I posted it and then got

shared around by pretty much every

basketball shoe blog that exists it's

probably got a combine 10 million views

now uh and it wouldn't have mattered if

I didn't spend that time coming up with

The Upfront hooks this is where the

actual for you guys I realize this is a

Creator take as we look at how to do

this for brands

there's a Mad Men scene where God has to

go and do 25 tag lines as he's trying to

work his way back into advertising you

really need to spend the time looking

into what are the different ways to word

this what adjective should I be using

how can I shortly how can I lengthen it

what triggers am I looking for in this

you'd be amazed and if we're being

honest with ourselves it's something in

the it will be something in like the

tens and 20s of that brainstorming

exercise that you'll realize like oh

that's better than my first idea so I

know this isn't fun I know we're all

extremely busy but you will get better

results with all of your content if

you're willing to do the volume brain

falling work

uh that was a less small one let's talk

about the more fun side of understanding

how to build social hooks I am giving

you permission like I I Knight you

go consume content scroll your for you

page like spend time watching stuff and

while you're watching it really theorize

as to why it's made it into your feed

tick tock's the best I mean you're gonna

get from you're a personal for you Pages

you're gonna get a mixer up things that

have gone viral globally that's where if

we all Talk Amongst ourselves you know

we all have different preferences many

of us have seen the same video because

there are Global viral videos then we're

also all involved in certain niches like

I have friends who uh read a ton so

their Tick Tock feed it's almost all

book talk uh mine tends to be more of a

basketball and I come from a long line

of emo music so that that's talk for

another day my four year page is

different than yours it's different than

someone else different someone else's

but even though that's not marketing

content when I get that stuff served in

my feed I can spend a second thinking

about what was that hook what was the

first sentence they said what was the

text on screen why did they get me to

finish that video

so whenever you're scrolling your Tick

Tock feed whether you're scrolling

Twitter if you're on YouTube when you

finish a video go back to the beginning

and think to yourself like why did I

actually care to complete this content

this is how I built my own muscles the

only way I got I wasn't taught social

from traditional sense had some great

mentors working some great agencies but

we were all making it up like I started

in Social in 2010 2011. there were no

best practices this is how we all got

good at this just consuming as much

confidence as possible and theorizing

what worked looking at what videos went

viral look at what videos performed in

our Niche and making guesses and then

trying our own versions of those things

foreign

I'm super passionate about

um but it's so important like I hope you

took something excited to hear what what

questions you might have

yeah there's a lot of uh conversations

going on in chat we have a bunch of

questions to go through

um but first I was just curious there's

there's a couple things going on in chat

about clickbait I knew that when you

said that you're gonna get some comments

and I can feel like the brand and

content please coming for you

um but yeah is there like some sort of

threshold to avoid like knowing okay

clickbait works I want to lean into that

but I don't want to go too far where

maybe it's like giving the wrong brand

impression like how do you kind of

balance that as their you have tips for

you know making sure you don't pass that

threshold sure

yeah I think our reactions like when we

have like a negative reaction clickbait

it's usually because we think that the

content doesn't pay off the title so

when I say to embrace clickbait doing is

encourage you to do a bait and switch

that's never a good idea you're gonna

really annoy people if the content

doesn't rough up the title what I

encourage you to do is in your

brainstorming think in more clickable

more clickbait approaches of things and

then actually deliver that content so

the point I see like mentions in the

chat

if you can't deliver on your title like

you've already lost in the content World

anyway so make sure your click bait

matches the content but do brainstorms

where you think in clickbait um I mean

another way I'd encourage you to do this

stuff is with whatever product you work

on just start googling what articles are

written about your product and what

articles people in your Niche are

talking about

SEO can be inspiration for social all

over the place there's a reason people

have written those articles those are

data-based articles and then come

through with the clickbait version of

that for content

yeah okay that makes a lot of sense and

I think someone Chase uh was spitting

some truth into the comments I think he

said something similar so yeah I totally

agree there

um something I guess on the same kind of

thought would be around chat like Trend

jacking

um so you know a lot of platforms like

Tick Tock encourage this Behavior I've

talked to different content folks and

social media folks who may be like they

can see it as an easy way to get views

an easy way to get in front of people

um but like should it be the main thing

that you do on social like how do you

balance that especially when you're you

know maybe a social media manager who is

like measured on reach and engagement

it's tough

um so an exercise that I encourage

everyone in Social do and it's not a

popular exercise is do a month worth of

social content without doing any trends

zero Trends

um I think something I've seen we've

seen like since I started this industry

we've seen the space grow and grow and

grow there are more entry and mid-level

social media positions than there have

ever been

um and as a result of that like we're

all getting to experiment and we're

seeing such cool content come out of how

young our faith is I do think one of the

challenges that we have now is we get so

excited about Trends and parodies and

like trying to blend off of what's

happening in the social sphere that we

actually have lost most of the brands we

work for in the process

so

I think the reality of great like of one

version of great content

is if you can make something that ties

to a trend while showing off your

product in the way that you hope someone

understands your products that's a dream

situation

I think if we're being honest with

ourselves a lot of Trends social content

from Brands spends a lot more time on

the trend and has absolutely no hook to

the actual product that's from or if

there is a hook it's not one that would

ever actually drive awareness or follows

or sales of the products yeah yeah

completely and you know like I've I'm

doing a bit of social myself if you go

to our Channel you'll see some

embarrassing videos that I've been uh

creating but yeah like it's so easy to

get into that world of like wow I got so

much engagement oh my God I got like

more likes than my usual posts do but

like is it the right type of content for

the brand and so I think it is important

to reflect on that

um yeah doing that myself

um but kind of on this like similar

thought we have a question from brain

around like how to include ctas in our

content while still remaining genuine

and prioritizing that hook do you have

any advice

so I think the whole I think when

someone's watching your content

for the most part they either want to be

entertained or educated so if we're

talking figure out a social hookup front

build content that provides value to

their life in some way shape or form

if you hit both of those things

including a CTA within like if it's a

video content towards the end

they're happy to contribute to you as a

brand because you have entertained them

or educated them or provided some sort

of guide to their life uh I think within

copy it's slightly trickier like we know

every study ever has shown us that

content with links in it perform worse

than content without links and that's

not to say don't post a content with

link that's something else I see young

social media managers do and complain

about like no we all gotta drive

business at some point during this we

have to be part of the full funnel

um within video content

don't be afraid to include ctas at the

end follow for more click here to view

things um I do it within all of my

personal and the brand I consult with at

the end of those videos if it's

storytelling content follow me for more

like this click to go find this piece

um that stuff works and I would say on

like an Instagram if you're not doing

video content

um I wrote an article

uh if you Google Google my name and

dinosaur Comics I know that sounds

really random

um there's a habit in uh that I found in

the webcomic sphere of Instagram where

they post a lot of Carousel content and

the final Carousel image will be a CTA

to purchase merchandise usually based on

the comment we just watched so on

Instagram think about that last

character as a moment to also enter CPS

yeah one thing that um we're actually

changing up at superside is the

journeying like where we want to send

people next we've fallen into the Trap

of like creating a really awesome top of

the funnel YouTube video and then ending

with like and book a call and it's like

that doesn't make sense right like

someone's not gonna watch that video and

want to book a call so I think it's like

thinking about what naturally fits there

and maybe almost templatizing that in

some shape or forms you know like if

it's top of funnel maybe these are some

of your ctas or offerings to lead

someone to versus something more bottom

of funnel

um we have lots more questions so let me

dive into the next one

um Miriam's asking what does this type

of concept look like in a B2B context

and how can you adopt that entertainment

focus and like storytelling ideas for

you know very specific Industries

sure um so I'm functionally a B2B

Creator myself now like my newsletter

has written four marketers um I love if

you subscribe to Future social give it a

Google

um so I'm having to do this on a daily

basis now with my own contents

um

this is where I think as you look at the

we talk about emotional triggers

I would say people consuming B2B content

they tend to be a little more interested

in numbers and data as hooks

um so like I wrote a thread I I need to

stop mentioning Mr Beast uh I wrote a

thread about his last video

um they got picked up by Time magazine

for an article where the hooks that I

used up front for that were about the

velocity of the content how quickly it

got to a certain view count because I

wanted marketers to recognize that it's

not just some like kid in a straw hat

it's driving real value there and that

Twitter thread ended up with two million

views so I would say in the B2B space

hit numbers a little harder like data

increases performance tend to work well

um I mean this is where like the

fundamentals of B2B become really really

important like what encourages someone

to buy your service if you're if pricing

is part of that you may need to include

some version of Roi in the type of stuff

for only x amount of dollars you can

drive this type of result

um and don't be wrong like it's always

going to be harder to go like viral for

B2B content and for most of us that

shouldn't be the goal like the goal

should be to hit our audience because if

you're a if you're a product that costs

ten thousand dollars a month to use like

you don't want everyone seeing that

because not everyone has the budget to

use that

totally

yeah I think that's like um that's

forever a challenge I I experienced that

in content where I mean especially when

you're in this this realm of social

media you do want to get in front of

more people but you want to get in front

of the right people and so you always

kind of have to shift your strategy

there but there might be room for some

of those more like I guess experimental

things that are a bit they might have

virality kind of baked into them you

obviously can't guarantee that but

um sure I mean like a big portion of my

content are Twitter threads that are

like social media case breakdowns and

I'm constantly looking at like what is

how long is my like this is the level of

detailed I get to when I write my first

tweet I will actually write up a 13

tweet thread and not write the intro and

I'll do an entirely different brainstorm

session to figure out what that intro is

um I wrote Michelob Ultra have this

amazing moment where a guy got

photographed uh during a key shot every

one of their phones out to film the

golfer except for this one guy who was

holding a Michelob Ultra and it became

like it went viral organ exactly they

got he got called Beer Guy and they

turned into an entire social campaign

the thread that I wrote about it like

I'm someone who's like I'm just I'm 34

years old not a big Emoji guy personally

but I was like okay you know what my

little bulleted list like let's play

with like little drop down arrow emoji

to show like when things decrease or

when things increased and that thread

performs 30 better than my other threads

is it because of that you tell me but

constantly experimenting with this those

different type of triggers is really

important totally yeah I love that let

me surface another question here there's

a couple around

um kind of like compliances and not

being able to use tick tock so there's a

couple industries that aren't able to

get on there do you think it's worth

diving into YouTube shorts and will good

hooks gain through Impressions on

YouTube shorts and you know reels and so

forth compared to tick tock

so I have friends that work at Tick Tock

YouTube and Instagram and they've all

explained to me how reals is so

different than Tick Tock and it's so

different than YouTube shorts and they

are all doing their job they're all

really really smart and fantastic I love

them all to death those things are all

exactly the same each platform

definitely has like some cultural Trends

to it but ninety percent of the content

that works on Tick Tock would also work

on Instagram would also work on YouTube

and that's true like split those up

however you want so even if you're not

on tick tock

I really believe you should be testing

your Instagram reels as a YouTube shows

um one of my good friends who I met at

laundry service was an agency I worked

at where I mean we ran piece by Dre we

ran the uh the Olympic bid social Jordan

brand many many like very cool uh

cultural brands

after working in strategy for a long

time his new partner has a dog that she

thought it could I think he could be

like Tick-Tock and Instagram famous they

built that dog to a half million

followers on Tech talk his name is Lord

Leo he's the the playing dead Pomeranian

it's worth a look it's adorable uh the

reason I mention it

he's like I should probably be testing

YouTube shouldn't I he built 30 000

followers in three days by posting the

exact same tick tocks and reels that

they use on that platform because right

now YouTube shorts has incredible

organic reach so I recognize I met you a

lot of Creator examples but your YouTube

for your brand is probably sitting there

with like whatever 60 you guys put on TV

two years ago like most brand YouTubes

are really underserved you've already

made this content go put it on there

especially for an agency wouldn't you

love to like go show like we got X

performance just by being smart and

putting this confidence somewhere else

and then reporting that as additional

views go toss the content everywhere

totally yeah we've just been

experimenting with this actually and

kind of like starting on Tick Tock and

trying to apply it across the different

platforms and we get the most amount of

views on and like reach on linked on

sorry not linked to Instagram but on

YouTube shorts like it's performing

really well and we've tried a variation

of cuts there like from our regular more

polished videos and by far like these

more organic looking tick tocks

outperform so I think that says

something about the platform and yeah

it's I think a really good spot for

people to test and grow there since it

isn't quite as active just yet yeah I I

think we're something I found over the

last decade is there's always one

platform that if you can only do one

thing build for that platform then

repurpose that content elsewhere like

when I started social like Facebook was

the only platform so we prioritized

Facebook

when Instagram became big something was

like well make Instagram style content

and then even if it's not perfect for

what else it'll still perform pretty

good so post that everywhere now it

feels like that's Tick Tock like I

believe you can make more Tick Tock

style content and post it on most

platforms like I've seen tick tocks go

viral on Twitter just as like downloaded

videos

yeah I think because it's like it makes

it easier for you to create on the

platform it does kind of make sense to

start there sometimes

um but yeah we have more questions let

me run through I want to get to as many

as we can

um

so yeah we kind of answered that one I

guess like some yeah no that's similar I

was gonna say someone also asked there's

lots of questions about like approaching

the different platforms but I think we

touched on that a little bit

um

you mentioned triggers a few times can

you talk a bit more about the different

types of triggers

yeah we've culturally used that for

something else it just if what I've

always come up using um

when I say triggers what I'm doing what

I'm getting towards is like what is the

reaction that you're trying to get out

of Contour or making content and hooks

that inspires a reaction like when I

make my silly like trying to get in

shape contents me saying washed up like

it's like me admitting that like I'm

past my Prime and that gives you an

emotional reaction maybe it's funny

maybe it's relatable to you if you're

the same spot as me but it's it's

language like some strong character to

it that's where like if you like like I

heard someone mentioned B2B earlier this

is like how to

is a very important type of content and

use the how-to language in your caption

in your video make it as clean and clear

as possible because when someone's

searching out that content it's because

they're looking to learn something so

when I say trigger this is where as you

can move with Azure brainstorm content

just think about what reaction you're

trying to get out of someone and think

through what language would get you to

that reaction yeah yeah really good

point we have another question for

Monica around

um like do you think social hooks work

on an older generation say your company

is targeting

um more of an older generation would you

provide the same advice to those folks

creating for those audiences

so so your moms aren't sending you stuff

on Instagram because I get sent

something for my mom on Instagram no I I

think social looks work for everybody I

mean there's always a lot of debate on

which platforms people are hanging out

on based on which generation they are

um I would argue if you look at the big

five social networks every generation is

across all five of those including tick

tock tick tock because has plenty of

older users at this points

um but yes social hooks are important

for no matter who your target audience

is they'll just change depending on who

that audience is um that's where there's

a reason why I'm not giving you

something like this is the golden social

up and you can all try this stuff you

should all filter it through what your

product offers and like what your

audience is looking for from a product

um and if you're targeting like a 60

plus group it's gonna be very different

like it's gonna it's probably not gonna

be

this is where something something really

bothers me is when we say all brands

should speak like internet speak like

McDonald's or Wendy's like no that's

right for their demographics my parents

don't respond to that type of language

but there is language they do respond to

yeah I guess similarly

um we only have probably one minute left

but on a balance of like education and

entertainment like how do you think

brands should approach social and how do

they kind of figure out what that mix is

for them and for each yeah scenario

um so before I get to that I'm going to

plug real quick uh if you want to follow

me after this or ask me like ask me

questions like I am just on social

constantly uh look me up on Twitter at

Jack will be find me on LinkedIn it's my

name is Jack Appleby it's very

ridiculous and fictional googleable

um and my newsletter's future so far I

write about this stuff every week so if

you have additional questions after this

come find me on the internet happy to

answer more

um and I totally lost my train of

thought within that remind me remind me

that last question education

entertainment like how did that balance

um I know we're all very excited to be

entertaining and funny and creative as

possible

you better be really really really funny

if you're gonna pull it off and there

better be a reason that you should be

using humor as your grand Tone If I'm

being honest most brands shouldn't most

brand like most brands should find humor

to insert within their content but the

goal shouldn't be humor uh that's where

I mentioned like McDonald's or Wendy's

or Duolingo all incredible social media

strategies all appropriate for them for

a lot of full funnel marketing type of

business reasons most of us don't work

for Brands like that but also let's work

for B2B companies or smaller brands

people haven't heard of where we have no

brand recognition

yeah more often than not you should

probably be educating more than

entertaining and that's where you can do

some version of like if you're working

for a fitness client understanding like

the before and after or how you get to

like these places of Fitness that's not

entertaining that's educational content

if you're working for some sort of SAS

company what is the value you provide

that's going to take you a lot further

usually than entertainment but I will

always encourage you to experiment and

just look at the data see what performs

best try everything

absolutely and we're at time so I think

we have to hop off thanks so much Jack

it's been awesome I think we could talk

for like hours and so could the Audience

by the level of questions coming through

but I appreciate you joining us today

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