In the past 12 months, I’ve generated over 3,000,000 LinkedIn post views, 40,000 likes, and 20,000 comments.
All without paid advertising.
That gave me a chance to test 366 post openings to see what makes people click. Turns out, there’s seven quick ways to tweak your hooks, and MASSIVELY boost your posts’ performance.
Have a look.
1. Be super specific.
VAGUE: “Last month, I finally managed to lose weight.” (Appears weak, low curiosity & trust.)
SPECIFIC: “In 35 days, I lost 8lbs with this 27-min cardio routine.” (Bold claim + numbers = curiosity & trust.)
2. Stay in the present.
FUTURE: “This will help you achieve X.” (“will” puts X far away in the future, implies uncertainty.)
PRESENT: “This helps you achieve X.” (X is in the present, implies certainty.)
3. Shorten your sentences.
LONG: “There are multiple upsides to creating content everyone should know.” (Appears weak, scanners will just skip.)
SHORT: “The upsides of creating content:” (Clear, catchy, easy to digest.)
4. Use numbers.
WITHOUT NUMBERS: “We have a low unsubscribe rate.” (Weak, appears insincere.)
WITH NUMBERS: “Less than 0.5% of Authority Marketing readers unsubscribe.” (Looks legit, appears strong, builds trust.)
5. Ditch the buzzwords.
WITH BUZZWORDS: “Our innovative playbook provides the best solution for your website traffic.” (Vague, appears fake.)
WITHOUT BUZZWORDS: “Learn how to reach 100K+ page views/month in one year with our 5-step playbook.” (Specific, clear, looks legit.)
6. Speak like an Authority.
WEAK: “Using superlatives in your LinkedIn profile is not always a good idea.” (Sounds insecure, unactionable.)
AUTHORITATIVE: “Kick superlatives out of your LinkedIn profile.” (Sounds confident, direct, actionable.)
7. Intrigue the reader.
BORING: “I’m happy to announce that I’m starting a new position…” (About you, seen too many times, lacking excitement.)
INTRIGUING: “I quit my role as a 6-figure CFO to start an Online Dog Training Business.” (Unusual, exciting, appeals to the reader.)
The best part?
A strong hook is 70% of the job done.
- You have your attention-grabber. (The hardest part audience-wise.)
- It generates new post ideas. (The hardest part writing-wise.)
- Now you’ve set the tone, the post “writes itself”. (The hardest part time-wise.)
“But how do you keep coming up with good hooks?”
You don’t.
You use proven-to-work Hook Formulas instead.
And never worry about how to start your next post again.
Have fun Champ,
Stevan
