TikTok hook best practices

TikTok is really three hooks working at once: what you say in the first two seconds, the text on screen, and the caption underneath. If any one of them is weak, the swipe is instant. The best performing videos front-load the promise so hard it almost feels rude.

• Say the most interesting thing first. Not "hey guys, welcome back." The actual point, in the first breath.
• Talk directly to the viewer. "You’re charging your phone wrong" beats "many people charge their phones wrong."
• Match your on-screen text to your spoken hook. Two different messages in the first second splits attention.
• Pattern interrupts work. An unexpected statement, a bold claim, or starting mid-action all beat a slow intro.
• Never bury the promise. If the payoff is at second 40, tease it at second 1 or nobody stays for it.

The fatal TikTok mistake is the intro. Any intro. Greetings, channel welcomes, "before we start" housekeeping, all of it trains the viewer's thumb to swipe. The video should feel like it started slightly before they arrived. The other one is mismatched hooks, where the caption promises one thing and the first spoken line delivers another. Pick one promise and hit it three ways at once.