What's up, Marketers! This is Aazar.
This newsletter is all about giving you ad ideas to find wins and help you scale.
This newsletter includes: My learnings, insights from other performance marketers, and analysis of top internet ads (this issue).
P.S. Do you want more scalable and winning ad creatives? Book a call here. I’m open to more clients now.
You already know hooks matter. The problem is that we forget the actual hook when we write scripts.
We mention a text overlay or something visual, but we mostly think in verbal terms. The real question is what will actually grab people. From every video ad I've launched: weak hook, weak performance.
Knowing this isn't the same as fixing it.
Pure verbal hooks used to work on their own. Not anymore. Your hook has to fire on all four channels: visual, audio, text overlay, and verbal.
It has to be sharp enough for the viewer to feel it's worth their time.
You're competing with organic content, so it has to be even better just to make someone stop.
Here are 25 hooks I keep coming back to when planning videos for clients. They get attention. Spot the commonalities if you want. Use these formats next time you write a script.
Hook #1: Comment Roast + Absurd
A bizarre or insulting comment as on-screen text, layered over an absurd visual
Why it works: Social judgment plus absurdity. The brain can't file it, so it stops to decode it.
Hook #2: Specific Outcome Green Screen
Leads with a precise result the audience strongly wants
Why it works: Specificity reads as proof. Precise numbers feel earned, not invented.
Hook #3: Warning + Weird
A caution paired with a strange visual (like butter in coffee)
Why it works: The warning fires the protection instinct. The weird visual hijacks curiosity at the same time.
Hook #4: Scam Exposure
Frames the message around a scam, trap, or costly mistake
Why it works: People hate losing more than they like winning. Anything that promises protection gets watched.
Hook #5: Caught in the Moment
Feels like you walked into something awkward or private
Why it works: Incomplete context is a loop the brain wants closed. Voyeurism handles the rest.
Hook #6: Urgent Chaos
Opens in a rushed, unstable, or risky moment
Why it works: Threat hijacks attention before logic shows up. Chaos buys you the next 3 seconds.
Starts like a candid interaction between two people
Why it works: Real human moments skip the ad filter. The viewer thinks they're watching life, not media.
Thanks to Atria for supporting this newsletter so you can get my content for free.
Before, if you wanted to use Atria's context in AI workflows, you had to:
Copy-paste audience profiles into Claude manually
Screenshot competitor insights and upload them
Re-explain your brand guidelines every single time
Not anymore.
Here's what the API unlocks:
Connect your ad context to AI agents — Feed your audience profiles, competitor tracking, and brand guidelines directly into Claude, ChatGPT, or any LLM workflow. Your AI now knows your brand without you re-explaining it every time.
Surface platform data in your tools — Pull Atria's competitor insights, creative analysis, and brand context into your dashboards, Notion docs, or internal systems. No more switching tabs to find what's working in your space.
Build custom automation — Set up workflows that trigger when competitors launch new campaigns, automatically analyze creative performance against your brand guidelines, or generate briefs that already know your positioning.
The best part? It's a programmatic foundation you can plug into existing systems today.
I've been testing this with a few client workflows. It's basically giving your AI tools the context they've been missing.
What's coming next:
CLI for command-line workflows
Official SDKs for faster integration
More endpoints as the API evolves
Try it here: API docs
Hook #8: WTF Experiment
Shows something confusing, messy, or unexpected in the first second
Why it works: Novelty fires dopamine. Confusion forces a second look to decode what just happened.
Hook #9: Nostalgia Scene
Opens like an old film or retro skit
Why it works: Familiarity lowers defenses. The viewer leans in before they realize they're being sold to.
Hook #10: Reverse Psychology
Tells people not to do the thing while making it more attractive
Why it works: Reactance kicks in. The harder you push them away, the harder they lean in.
Hook #11: Emotional Whiplash
A mom yelling at her kids gets asked her job. "I'm a mom." How is it? "Love of my life."
Why it works: Emotional contrast forces a re-read. The brain can't hold two opposite states without watching more.
Hook #12: Disguised Prank
Text reads "aggressively serving my husband food prank." A wife slams food onto the table.
Why it works: Native prank format skips the ad filter. Conflict tension keeps you watching for the reaction.
Hook #13: Shock Pitch Format
Text says "the most normal Shark Tank episode." A man strips to his underwear and throws his pants at the judges.
Why it works: A familiar frame gets broken in real time. Anticipation flips to shock inside one cut.
Hook #14: Time-Warp Callout Format
Black and white shot from a 1950s film. Voiceover: "Your doctor's BV prescription is the same one they gave in 1955."
Why it works: Era mismatch is an instant pattern interrupt. The specific year smells like evidence.
Hook #15: Physical Punchline
A man asks a woman what she has. "Chips." He slaps the packet so hard it flies to the roof.
Why it works: Unexpected violence in a calm exchange. The brain rewinds to make sense of what it just saw.
Hook #16: Color Glitch
"Don't eat breakfast before watching this." Someone cuts an egg and the yolk is bright blue.
Why it works: Color is processed faster than language. A wrong-colored yolk fires a psychological alarm before logic catches up.
Hook #17: Silent Demo
Eggs being dropped onto insoles and breaking. No words, just the sound of shells cracking.
Why it works: Silence is a void the brain wants to fill. No audio means no escape from the visual.
Hook #18: Weird Crew Shouting
Close-ups of men making strange shouting faces, then drinking something in a line.
Why it works: Faces trigger mirror neurons. Strange faces hold the eye longer than normal ones do. Plus, Strange sounds create a pattern interrupt.
Hook #19: Borrowed Fame Format
"It turns out Eva Mendes and I have the same problem." Her photo sits behind the speaker.
Why it works: A celebrity name is a trust shortcut. The shared problem opens a curiosity loop in one sentence.
Caveat: Use the names of the celebrities at your risk.
Hook #20: Crude Visual Format
Text: "did you know jeans don't have to crush your nuts?" A man fits a 3-liter can inside his jeans.
Why it works: Bold claim plus instant visual shock.
Hook #21: The Stunt Format
A man holds a knife in one hand and throws cake at it with the other.
Why it works: Visual risk pulls the eye, and the voiceover pulls the heart. The mismatch keeps you locked in.
Hook #22: The Crying Hook
A woman crying hard. Voiceover: "Anxiety is one of the most isolating things to have."
Why it works: Real tears bypass the analytical brain. Anyone who has felt the same stops on contact.
Hook #23: The Shaky Cam
Shaky front-camera video that looks like a drunk recording, holding up a drink.
Why it works: Doesn’t look like an ad. And makes you curious about what’s going to come up. Also, Low production is a trust shortcut.
Hook #24: The Metaphor Hook
A man lost in his phone with headphones on. Old film reels pour out of it and pile at his feet.
Why it works: The metaphor lands before language does. The whole message is delivered in one frame.
Hook #25: Emotional Journey Reveal
Text: "I lost 3 years to my patterns until my AI twin showed me why." A woman cries against the kitchen wall.
Why it works: Vulnerability opens the door. The text overlay makes you want to walk through it.
Happy Growing with Paid Social,
Aazar Shad
Since this newsletter is free, I do it to follow my curiosity. But I’d love it if you could leave some feedback so I know if I am helping you or not.
