Episode 57: How to Write an Instagram Hook or Scroll-stopping Headline That Gets Your Content Noticed By More People

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If you’ve created any content for Instagram… you know how important it is to capture your viewer’s attention within the first second or two. 

Today we’re diving into how to create better:

• Captions
• Hooks
• Graphics

These are the 3 keys to grabbing attention and getting more eyes on your content!

Improving your Instagram video content

Video is king of the content world, but it’s not enough to just create any old video and expect anyone will watch it. You’re competing with everyone to get attention, and your video has to be highly engaging from the first second.

The first thing you can do to get more eyes on your video? Cut any dead time at the beginning. Even if there are just milliseconds of silence before you start talking, cut it out! 

You can edit your video in the Instagram app (which I don’t recommend, it tends to be glitchy), in Canva, or in a video editing app like InShot. 

The goal is for your video to start as your mouth is opening to speak. It’s a super easy edit to make that will keep a lot more people engaged with the actual content of your video.

Important things to avoid in your videos:

• Introducing yourself. Start with a juicy hook or tidbit instead of “Hi, I’m Dr. Jane…” (We’re already bored.)
• The overused “Happy Tuesday!” or “Good morning…” 
• Assuming the person watching will wait for you to get to the good stuff 

How to create a scroll-stopping graphic

Most people are scrolling through Instagram at any given time, waiting to engage with content that grabs their attention.

If you want more of those eyes on what you’ve created, you need a strong hook!

When putting a graphic together for your post, one of the easiest ways to get someone’s attention is to add text to the image with an interesting tease of what the post is about.

Instead of something like “.4% of babies are born with hip dysplasia” try something interesting and widely applicable like “Don’t make this swaddling mistake!” 

Adding text to your graphics not only gets more attention, it makes your Instagram feed infinitely more bingeable. 

Writing an Instagram hook that works

On Instagram, you only see the first 125ish characters of a caption at first. Your reader has to click to read more – so you want to make the most of those characters!

What’s the best practice with your first line of text? Make it as juicy as possible. 

Think about what would get you interested in reading more and make sure that’s the first thing in your caption. 

You don’t have to write your hook first. In fact, many times I scroll through an entire caption to find the most interesting tidbit and move that up to the tip! It doesn’t always naturally flow, but that’s okay. You can make it work! 

Words or themes that make great hooks:

• Numbers – 3 ways to use lemon oil
• Warnings – Don’t use another drop of lemon oil until you read this
• Mistakes or myths – The biggest mistake you can make with lemon oil

Putting it all together

Remember, your captions, graphics, and videos do not need to be perfect. Yes, in an ideal world you would use all of these strategies every time. But my Instagram isn’t perfect… and yours doesn’t need to be either! 

It’s more important to share on-brand, valuable content with your audience than it is to get every single detail perfect. 

Hopefully these tips will help you get more eyes on the content you’re working so hard to create! The more people who consume your content, the bigger impact you can make. 

Now that you know how to get more people watching your videos, make sure you’re creating the best reels with my Reels Training + 101 Prompts for Health and Wellness Pros! It’s a totally free resource that will seriously elevate your reels! 

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The Holistic Marketing Simplified Podcast is brought to you by Holistic Marketing Hub, our hybrid program that supports you with personalized coaching, caption templates, and virtual classrooms. In this program, we teach health and wellness professionals how to fish, but also bait their hook!

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