In an age where the average attention span is just eight seconds, a tagline that your target audience can easily remember and associate with your brand is crucial.
This is why, if you want to sell anything or build a successful platform, it’s important to think of an effective marketing hook.
What Is a Marketing Hook?
A marketing hook refers to the strategy you use to entice your audience to look closer at your product. A good marketing hook will grab attention, generate interest, and make your potential audience receptive to your message.
It can be the slogan, tagline, or jingle that tells your potential customers what your brand is about. In a way, it’s an extension of the brand, because it invites customers to check out your product.
The hook not only tells customers about who you are in a quick memorable line, it also helps to distinguish you from your competitors. This in turn improves your chance of making a sale.
A marketing hook can also refer to your strategy of getting your customers to click and read your content, such as in a blog or vlog. These are more specifically known as content hooks. It can also be an offer of something that’s of value to your prospects and customers, such as a free e-book, a special report, or an informative article.
Using the fishing analogy, you might think of your marketing hook as the hook and bait in a fishing line. When the bait looks attractive, the fish might think of coming over to take a look. When they finally take a bite, you get to offer them your product and your brand promises.
How Do You Write a Good Marketing Hook?
The good thing about writing a marketing hook is that all it will cost you is brainpower! That means you can actually think of ideas wherever you are: on the road, in a queue, or sitting on a bench while waiting for a friend.
But that doesn’t mean it’s easy—you need to come up with a hook that will be memorable and effective at grabbing your customers’ interest.
Here are some top tips for thinking up a great marketing hook:
1. Think of your audience’s pain points, needs, and desires.
One important principle in marketing is presenting benefits, not features. Think about what problems your product sets out to solve by considering the needs, desires, and pain points of your customers.
Once you have that, you’re one step closer to having an effective marketing hook.
2. Craft your message as an answer to one of these needs, desires, or problems.
Brainstorm your messaging as a way to answer your customers’ needs, pain points, or desires.
Don’t worry about fixing the words and order of words just yet; at this point, think about how you can solve their problems for them.
For example, a company called At Home collected customer reviews and then sent out an e-mail with the subject line, “You rated and reviewed; we rounded up your faves.” That way, it triggered interest for the receiver to see which products were best rated and also see everyone else’s reviews!
3. Play with words by connecting them to your brand.
Next, play with different words that relate to your brand or product. For example, if you’re selling homeschool curriculum, you might play with words like learning, knowledge, exploration, and many more.
On the other hand, if you’re selling baseball gear, you would probably play with words like home run, strikes, and pitchers.
Here are some examples of effective marketing hooks using word play:
- A dentist’s office: Just relax, we know the drill.
- A plumber: We are your security plumber. No leaks anywhere.
- A car detailer: Leave the details to us.
- A cleaning service: We do your dirty work for you.
- Nike: Just Do It
- Wheaties: Breakfast of Champions
- Gillette: The Best a Man Can Get
- Taco Bell: Think Outside the Bun
- Red Bull: Red Bull gives you wings
- United Airlines: Fly the Friendly Skies
- Kay Jewelers: Every Kiss Begins with Kay
4. Choose to be different.
If your marketing campaigns have the same messaging that everyone else is using, how will you stand out?
A possible way of being different is focusing on what no one else is focusing on. You can do this by looking at your competitors and noting down the things that they’re saying and those that they’re not saying.
Once you’ve found something that your competitors aren’t saying, consider building up on this message. Or, you might even find something wrong in the industry you’re playing in and use it instead.
5. Add a “shock” factor.
When you express a message with a controversial perspective, it creates a shocking effect. This is usually more memorable for readers and viewers.
Another way of adding the shock element is by highlighting a weakness. It doesn’t have to be a glaring weakness that will put your customers at a disadvantage. Instead, you can use customer feedback, such as reviews and testimonials, and use them to grab attention. Usually, you can do this by then overcoming the objections.
But some companies use the power of weakness for its own sake for grabbing attention. For example, this is one strategy that the new film series, The Chosen, uses by posting audience reviews, even the negative ones (or should we say, especially the negative ones) on their social media. They don’t try to correct the feedback or offer solutions, and instead let their social media followers debate it out.
Here are some examples of taglines using the “shock” factor:
- MasterCard: There are some things money can’t buy. For everything else, there’s MasterCard.
- Maybelline: Maybe she’s born with it. Maybe it’s Maybelline.
- Harley Davidson: All for Freedom. Freedom for All.
- PlayStation: Live in Your World. Play in Ours.
- Adidas: Impossible is nothing.
6. Be honest.
Make sure your hook reflects the truth about your brand or about the message you want to portray. Stay away from taglines that aren’t an authentic representation of what you or your brand stand for.
7. Choose the tagline that aligns with the “feel” you want.
Lastly, when you create your tagline, make sure it matches the kind of “feel” you want. For example, if you’re branding your product as a sophisticated option, you probably should’t choose a silly tagline, and vice versa.
Creating Memorable Marketing Hooks
Although marketing hooks may seem like short lines for so much effort, don’t underestimate their power! The more catchy you can make your hooks, the greater the chances that potential customers will want to know more.
Remember, stay authentic and give the best that you can so that your audience knows what you’re offering. Hopefully, they’ll stay around long enough to make a future purchase!
Did you find this post helpful? Let us know in the comments below!
If you enjoyed this post, then you might also like:
- How to Write Story Hooks that Keep Your Readers Engaged
- 25 Great Book Opening Lines That Will Hook You from the Start
- Elements of Suspense that Will Keep Your Readers Hooked
- How to Write a Hook: 10 Ways to Capture Your Readers’ Attention
Yen Cabag is the Blog Writer of TCK Publishing. She is also a homeschooling mom, family coach, and speaker for the Charlotte Mason method, an educational philosophy that places great emphasis on classic literature and the masterpieces in art and music. She has also written several books, both fiction and nonfiction. Her passion is to see the next generation of children become lovers of reading and learning in the midst of short attention spans.
