10 social media hooks that aren’t cringey

Social media hooks can be sprinkled into your content plan to catch your audience’s attention and increase engagement but they can also be cringey and off-putting. Use them wisely! Here’s my top 10 social media hooks:

1. “This or that?” A)… B)…
2. “X things I learned as a … ” (Social Media Manager/Small business owner/Website Designer… etc)
3. “Things I wish I knew when…”
4. “Steal my…” (Hooks, reel edit template… etc)
5. “If X isn’t working start doing this…”
6. “How’s your weekend looking?” A)… B)…
7. “What’s your favourite?” (Don’t ask people to comment, you risk setting yourself up for a fail and people often like polls so they’re usually quite happy to answer voluntarily. People normally only respond well to being asked to comment if there’s a prize involved.)
8. State an interesting fact about your industry but don’t start with “Did you know”.
9. “Stop focussing on…”
10. “X places in the X you need to visit” (This boosts your relationship with local businesses and helps people find your business when they search for a location.)

I’m really not keen on content where every single post is a hard sell. I just feel there comes a point where people get bored and there’s nothing on your page that makes you different from the thousands of other accounts who follow this approach. It’s a saturated market and you need to stand out. I also think this lead generation only style of content is unimaginative. My approach for my own business and for my clients is to place all cards on the table and show people what you’re selling (after all, you can’t expect to make sales if you keep your services hidden) but be careful not to ram this down people’s throats. I have found a higher rate of sales is usually achieved by producing artistic media that leads people to your purchase points as opposed to ‘BUY NOW’. I infuse hard sell posts with personal day-in-the-life style content and content that celebrates the area your business is based. I also strongly advocate sharing user-generated content (but not all, make sure this carefully chosen to reflect your brand aesthetic and values) to build relatability and brand trust.

So with this in mind, I would advise you use social media hooks but not all of the time. I’d also recommend using my approach of taking hook themes and then writing the gist in your own words in a way that fits your brand tone of voice. I hope these tips help you design a unique 2024 social media plan that helps you shine above the rest! If you’d rather hire someone else to create content for you then I can certainly manage this for you at Cotswolds Content. I also offer a ‘Power Hour’ (£120) over video call where I can provide you bespoke social media advice catered specifically to your business.