9 Meta Ad Hooks That Are Printing $$$ Right Now (45%+ Hook Rates) transcript

The nine hook types actually converting on meta right now. What's converting on meta ads today is a little diabolical if I'm being honest. There's never been more noise, more creative volume, and more really smart people doing this work than ever before. So, how are brands expected to actually stand out? And if you don't know me, my name is Dara Denney, and I've been a part of creating over 20,000 ads and analyzing over a billion dollars in ad spend for my clients.

And in this video, I'm going to walk you through the nine hooks that are truly driving performance right now. We have pressure tested all of them at the agency. But here's something that I want you to understand before we dive deep into this. Your hook is not just the first line of a script. Your hook is actually the full combination of what the viewer reads on the screen, what they hear, and what they see in frame zero, and the overall vibe that the package communicates.

That combination is ultimately going to determine who your ad is going to target, and eventually how profitable you are. So, let's start with the first hook that is driving results again and again. By the way, be sure to stay to the last two because my team actually requested that I take them out, but I decided to keep them in for you. Sorry, team. And that is the trigger word hook. In fact, both of these had hook rates that were above 45%.

And now this is the trick that we actually use with our direct-to-consumer brands at the agency. Now essentially what you're doing here is you are going to be adding a trigger word or phrase to your hooks. Now the most common version of this hook is with the phrase ruining my life. But what I actually like to do is upload the current top five hooks for a brand that I'm working with, run it through Claude, and have it inject trigger words into a hook structure that I already know is converting.

In case you needed some more ideas here, are of my favorite trigger words right now. And now hook number two, the why is it important hook. Now for those of you that saw my video with Pax's chief digital officer, you already know that this ad was one of their top performers in the last year. And that learning is actually something that we pressure tested quite a bit at the agency and got amazing results from. This hook is one of our favorite ways to inject more education into the creative ecosystem by it feeling a little bit more social first or native and a lot less stuffy than something like this.

So what I would do if I were you is I would take your biggest or most impactful value prop and use this hook to really cut through the noise. This hook is really smart because I often find that actually a lot of times customers aren't directly asking this question, but they're definitely thinking it. And all you're doing is simply making it easier for them to say yes if they're already on the fence. So a really good middle of funnel ad.

And the third hook, which is what I like to call a day without pain. Now what a lot of meta advertisers will do is they will state the problem and then go right into the solution. And this hook really flips that traditional idea on its head by really leading more with the transformation. So if you've noticed that leading with your failed attempts or things that your customers have done to try to alleviate their pain before they found you, if you notice that those type of things tend to work, then this is one that is also likely to be really successful for you.

My favorite brand to watch for this type of ad actually is Brex because they tend to do it in a ton of different formats. Take note and study their ad account for this one. They've crushed it. And number four, how to hooks, but do not scroll away because I know this one sounds really boring, but I have three really distinct ways that I've zeroed in on this year that I love using. And hear me out, most brands need more education in their funnel.

This is just a fact. And how to content absolutely signals more education and learning and a lot less selling. So, the three different ways that I'm doing this right now is actually hitting people at different parts of the funnel. Let me show you. The first hook is how to know if. Now, this really hits someone a little bit more top of funnel in that problem aware stage when they're still trying to understand, "Hey, do I actually have a problem?" This hook really plays on those fears or, you know, if you want to feel a little bit more ethical and cushy about it, letting them know that they're in the right place to get that problem solved.

Now, the second way that I like to use this hook is actually quite a bit further down in the funnel when they are trying to decide which solution they're going to go with. And this one is going to be the how do I pick or how do I choose hook. In fact, this one has worked really, really well for my home decor and apparel clients and for one of them it was actually the top performer for the last 6 months. And so, again, even though how to hooks might not make amazing YouTube content, I want to be transparent that it's really still crushing for my brands.

And then the last one is how to start. Now, this one could actually be super top of funnel like, "How do I start to eat a carnivore diet?" Or it can be a lot lower most aware type if you want them to get started with your brand. That one is actually really good for service-based businesses or for someone who's really deep in the consideration phase. And number five, the if you hook. And I'm going to keep it 100 with you.

I actually mentioned this one in my last hook video. But it still cranks and is actually contributing to a ton of top performers right now, which is why I wanted to include it. Now, what I will say is I actually love using this one specifically to signal to certain demographics to really zero in on that persona targeting. You can also use it to dig into a really specific pain point, so leading in with that problem solution angle.

Or you can even lead with the transformation like this. And the reason why this works is super simple. You're really driving home that curiosity. I would say that it's probably impossible to not increase your hook rates using something like this. So again, this is another really good one where if you take a look at your top five, top 10 hooks and see how you can reformat that with this specific hook, that's something that we've done over and over again with our brands that tends to always result in winners.

And number six, the this one thing hook. This one is a psychological killer if I'm being [clears throat] honest. And the reason why is because our world is vast and complex, but our brains really crave simplicity and ease. And this hook promises that. It promises that we are going to get some clarity and some alleviation from our pain with just one thing. And what's actually kind of interesting is there's also some cognitive dissonance that goes on with this hook.

But even if it could get me 30, 40, 50% of the way there, it is absolutely something that I want to be paying attention to. Number six, actually, if you saw my format video a few weeks ago, you already know this one. I hate these. These print, I think these are like the bottom of the barrel in terms of like creative strategy and like truly empathizing with your customer. It is actually just a psychological trick because people want and are interested in this act of apologizing.

It's um ooh, someone did something wrong. Like I'm going to pay attention to it. It's But what I will say actually is yes, while we have seen these work, even though I'm kind of like, uh, I don't love it and I always give that disclaimer, we've also tried the opposite of that, which is using the phrase you're welcome in the hook and that has also contributed to top performers. Thinking about it more, I feel like there's just like a certain type of intimacy that is happening from these ads.

But it's a trick. It's a cheap trick. But try it, particularly for a sale. And the last two are actually not even phrases or words at all, which is why I really wanted to include them. Now, the first one of these is actually a visual hook. This is something that we've pressure tested a lot and have seen great results out of, which is by using a Snapchat filter. And what's so funny is you might think, "Oh, this is really just delivering more to Gen Z." It's absolutely not.

It is sometimes delivering to like 45 50 plus men, hilariously enough. But there's just something about this that signals more of that native behind-the-scenes organic type of content. So, you know, you don't have to be targeting 45 plus men, but this is one that, hey, as like a visual hook, especially if you like testing the TikTok response bubbles, this Snapchat filter one, give it a try. Let me know how it converts.

It's going to do well. But use it as like a new variation or an iteration for something that's already top performing, it's going to crush for you. And then the last one is actually this. So, something that we've tested in a few different accounts that has seen great results is actually taking the top-performing voice-over and turning it into a whisper, particularly in the hook. Now, it's giving a little ASMR, and I will say that we have actually done a number of voice-over tests recently that have done particularly well, but I wanted to include the whisper one because this is the one that we have seen convert the most across all of our clients and the brands that I'm working with.

So, this is an easy one that I think can apply to most of y'all out there. Now, if you're going through these hooks and you're like, "Oh my gosh, how do I test all these?" Definitely let me know if you guys are interested in another creative testing video. But for hooks particularly, I am always testing anywhere from three to six hook variations in all of my creative tests for videos specifically. And another common question that I get asked is, "Hey, like should we only change one word so that we know the variable?" And absolutely not.

I am actually taking much bigger swings in my variation testing. In fact, I would say if you have a few top-performing ads, I would actually take those top performers and take all of these hooks and reformat them to test this as one big test. That's absolutely something that I've done and seen great results out of. So, those are the nine hooks that are actually printing cash on Meta ads right now. And that's it. Let me know which one of these hooks you're most excited to test, and I'll see you in next week's video.

Love you. Bye.