When I analyzed and compared the marketing messages of the fat cats I discovered that they all had a similar underlying structure, sort of like many movies have the same script, the same underlying storyline, (like in the movie Gladiator for example, he starts as a big general, something changes and he loses that and now has to fight as a lowly gladiator, but in the end he overcomes the challenges and is reunited with his family, the story of Loss and Redemption is very common in many movies) but different pictures and content, and the part all big movies and marketing messages start with was something to “hook” the person viewing/reading into wanting to view/read more

The “hook” was something to catch their attention, make them interested and wanting to continue to watch/read the marketing message

And in order to be able to create a Marketing Hook, something that grabs their attention and pulls them in we need to be able to empathize with, and know our customer well, what interests and excites them

The information a hook in a marketing message most often conveys is:

•What is this all about?
•Who is this ideal for?
•What will they learn/what is the benefit of this?

Example:

This is a way of creating a ‘hook’ created by the late copywriter Gary Halbert, I call it “The Halbert Hook”

It works sort of like this

“Attention _______! <– something that makes your IC go, “hey, that’s me!”
If you’ve ever wanted to _________(, without _________)
Then this might be the MOST IMPORTANT video/message you’ll EVER watch/read” and in this _________, you’re going to learn ________ & _______ & _______”

Now that is a really powerful hook

We can also to create a hook say something like this:

“If you’re ___________, and would like to _________, then you’re in the right place at the right time”

The purpose of the ‘hook’ is to get people to at the start feel if this is something for them, and not a waste of their time, essentially selling them on continuing watching/reading

The hooks also upfront filters out people who are not our ideal customer, since they don’t identify with what we use to call our Ideal Customer out

It’s sort of like taking a look at the menu at a good restaurant, either you get excited about the amazing food that is about to be served, or you feel that this restaurant is not for you, and go to the door