A hook isn't just for Instagram
Introverts, jugglers of business and family, burnt-out creators... breathe a sigh of relief:
You don’t have to be the loudest in the room to be unforgettable.
Yep. Put the content planner down. Sign out of LinkedIn. Close that Work Smarter, Not Harder webinar (let me guess: it was on 1.5x speed, right?). Let your shoulders drop for a second.
You don't need to be the loudest, or all over the internet, to build a business with strong foundations and repeat clients.
What you do need is to be considered and intentional about when and how you do choose to show up to the marketing party.
When I say the word "hook" to you, you probably think about those things you used to agonise over in the first few years of business whenever you posted on social media.
Because a hook, we're taught, is that introductory sentence whose job is to grab attention from the get-go. It has to "stop the scroll."
Well, we're not talking about those today.
Because a hook isn’t just the first line of a Reel, or the headline on a TikTok video (I'm gonna put my hands up and say I've never used TikTok – is headline even the right word?!)
When I talk about hooks, it goes so much deeper than that.
A great hook is your deeper message. Your True North.
It says the thing that only you can. It's the way people remember you. The reason someone sees two tabs open, and picks yours.
In other words: Your hook is the moment your work clicks for the right people.
It’s not a carousel intro slide. It's a whole ethos for you, your work and the world you're building with it.
A hook is the thread that ties everything together, and runs through the marrow of your business.
It's the overaching message you want to be known for – because you can’t be a thought leader, or a TED talker, or a published author without having an industry-defining perspective for people to attach to your name.
Do you know what that is for your business? Perhaps you have a sense of it. A feeling of the depth and possiblity your brand holds. But perhaps the words to fully encapsulate it are just out of reach.
I'm willing to bet they're there sometimes, though.
In the shower, or out for a walk, when the mind monkeys stop and the clarity starts to settle in.
When you get really fired up chatting about what you love, it's a whisper in the corner of your brain, lying just out of reach.
When you share a spicy take on Threads that goes viral.
Or, when you get super hyped up and jump on Stories to chat and end up fielding the reams of “Get out of my brain!” DMs for days afterwards.
But pinning it down and turning it into something that gets you not only noticed, but remembered?
That’s a task the masterminds, piecemeal consults and AI models can’t solve for you.
Let me tell you: in my 10+ year career as a copywriter, I've learnt a thing or two about where to look for a hook.
Trust me, if I can find a new marketing hook for a brand that only sells white stuff season after season, year after year (looking at you, The White Company), I can find a sticky marketing message anywhere.
Thing is, it's hard to summarise what my brain is doing when I'm coming up with this stuff. When I tried to pin down my exact hook strategy process last year, I pretty much drew a blank.
Because so much of what I do is happening on a subconscious level. There's a whole bunch of pistons firing, and one thing I know for sure is that a great hook will never land in my lap when I'm tapping away at a brand strategy doc. But it will land at a time where my laptop is firmly shut and I'm doing something else completely.
The inspiration I've been gathering for weeks will eventually assemble itself into a little phrase that's pleasingly right. And it might even -- squeals -- alliterate a bit.
However, there are some things I'm always looking at when I get to duck under the hood of a new business.
As I'm talking to you, snooping on you and others in your niche, and gathering data from all the goodies you've shared with me, I'll always be looking to pin down these three things:
Your Style (what’s unique about the way you do things?)
Your Story (what’s unique about the things that brought you here?)
Your Strategy (what does this tell me about what we need to say, and how we need to say it, to show your perfect people you're the real deal?)
So, my invitation to you today is to try that on for size and see how you get on.
AAAND IF YOU WANT ALL THAT SERVED UP TO YOU ON A SILVER PLATTER...
...Have you heard about my Hook & Homepage package?
This is where I spend weeks in my copy coven, developing your stand-out hook and weaving it into the first thing your people see -- your Homepage.
You'll get a comprehensive brand hook guide, including:
The core focus of the hook
How that ties into your story, style and overall marketing strategy -- ensuring every word you say or write is furthering your mission and message.
A deep dive into who is in your ideal audience
A guide on how we want to talk to them in a way that will help the hook resonate
Examples showing how the hook and messaging strategy work in action, from elevator pitches to mission statements (never stumble over your words when you’re networking again).
Plus SEO Homepage copy so you can see and feel how this messaging lands IRL, and reel in those dream clients from the get-go.
Find out more about all that here. Thinking of working with me, but not sure what option is the best fit? Fill out this short form and I'll be in touch with a time to chat.