I’ve asked some of the best creators on YouTube, “How do you write such great titles?”
And they’ve all said the same thing: “I just model what works.”
So this email will show you 5 videos worth modeling to help you write great titles and save time.
Btw, if you want to save more time and use a title generator that uses all the titles ever featured in Creator Hooks, check out Creator Hooks Pro.
This Is Love
Title: Yeah, The NFL Does NOT Like What The Green Bay Packers Are Doing.. | News (Jordan Love, Jayden Reed)
Framework: Yeah, (Group) Does NOT Like What (Individual) Are Doing…
Hook score: +317
Why this works:
Negativity – This title has a feeling of rebelliousness and sticking it to the man that people love.
Curiosity – The title opens a loop and makes you want to know what the Packers are doing. The thumbnail also opens a loop and makes you want to know what’s so genius.
How you can use this framework: Tell your audience the story of somebody sticking it to the established authority, and how the established authority won’t like it.
Examples of this framework in action:
- Yeah, YouTube Does NOT Like What Elon Musk Is Doing…
- The Government HATES What This New Tax Company Is Doing For Small Business Owners…
It’s Magic
Title: Watching Her Paint Will Change How You See Art!
Framework: Watching Her (Activity) Will Change How You See (Entity)!
Hook score: +433
Why this works:
Curiosity – This opens a loop because it makes you wonder what it is about how she paints that will make such an impact on you.
Epic – “Change How You See Art” is so powerful because it’s epic and vague (which also adds to the curiosity).
How you can use this framework: Tell your audience that watching somebody do something will change how they see your niche.
Examples of this framework in action:
- Watching Her Cook Will Change How You See Dinner!
- Watching Him Play Will Change How You See Music!
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The Top Seed
Title: Ranking the BEST Seed Companies in 2024? (#1 Shocked Me)
Framework: Ranking the BEST [Products or Product Providers] in 2024? (#1 Shocked Me)
Hook score: +1096
Why this works:
Desire – People love rankings (and this creator’s audience loves s.
Timeliness – This video uses “2024” in the title and was published in late December, right before the new year, when everybody was thinking about 2024.
Curiosity – (#1 Shocked Me) builds curiosity because it makes you wonder what #1 is. I don’t love this type of curiosity building — it feels a bit forced and clickbaity, and reminds me of 2014 BuzzFeed articles — but I feel like I’ve been seeing this a bit more recently.
How you can use this framework: Rank the best product providers in your industry for the upcoming or current year.
Examples of this framework in action:
- Ranking the BEST Running Shoe Brands in 2024? (#1 Shocked Me)
- Ranking the BEST Airlines in 2024? (#1 Shocked Me)
Chunky Monkey
Title: Make in a Day Crochet Chunky Blanket ! So EASY 🤩 🧶
Framework: Make in a Day (Object) ! So EASY [Relevant Emojis]
Hook score: +1192
Why this works:
I wouldn’t necessarily model this title exactly how it is because I don’t like how it’s worded (although “make in a day crochet” videos are popular in this niche), but there are two things we can learn from it that make this title so effective:
Desire – This creator’s audience wants to learn how to make a chunky blanket and this desire is heightened even more because it’s “So EASY”.
Time Frame – The time frame of “Make in a Day” makes this video feel more tangible and easy, and these two also increase the desire.
How you can use this framework: Tell your audience how to achieve a goal the easy way and in a short time.
Examples of this framework in action:
- Learn Spanish in a Day! So EASY 💃
- How To Make Your First Website In 1 Day! So EASY
Stoic Suggestions
Title: Marcus Aurelius’ Advice if you’re tired of life
Framework: (Authority Figure)’s Advice if you’re (Experiencing a Problem)
Hook score: +1929
Why this works:
Authority & Desire – This creator’s audience respects Marcus Aurelius and wants to hear his opinion.
Negativity – This title calls out people in pain. If this was about “Marcus Aurelius’ Advice if you’re happy as a clam,” it probably wouldn’t do as well because those people wouldn’t be looking for help.
How you can use this framework: Share the advice of an authority figure for people in your niche who are in pain.
Examples of this framework in action:
- Steve Jobs’ Advice if you hate your job
- Zendaya’s Advice if you’re sick of your acne
Flop of the Week
Title: Timothy Denevi on Hunter S Thompson and the Art of Journalism
Hook score: -96
Why this flopped: This video was published right before the video above that got 1.1M views — so why did this only get 7.8K?
First off, the title is pretty meh.
In the Marcus Aurelius video, it makes sense to drop his name because he’s so famous.
But Timothy Denevi? I don’t know much about this niche, so maybe I’m unaware, but I don’t think his name brings that much attention.
Even Hunter S Thompson might not have enough name recognition to justify using his name in the title.
And “the Art of Journalism” is a little bland.
It might do better to add some drama, fear, curiosity, or desire into this title. Something like:
- The Moment Journalism Changed History
- This Is The Only True Shortcut In Life
Ok, bland title aside — there’s a big strategy question we need to ask ourselves:
Should full podcast episodes be on the same channel as talking head videos, video essays, and podcast clips?
It seems like the best channels have one format/video length. MrBeast is all 15-20 minute entertainment videos, Diary of a CEO is all 2-hour long interview videos.
If I ran this channel, I’d probably have a separate channel for interviews like this one.
Alright, that wraps up this week’s Creator Hooks!
Hope you enjoyed this week’s edition and if you know a fellow creator who needs help writing better titles, please send them to creatorhooks.com.
– Jake
(@jthomas__ on Twitter)
P.S. Read previous editions here.
P.P.S. If you want to see all of the videos from Creator Hooks in one place, check out Creator Hooks Pro.