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.
P.S. If you want to save more time and use a title generator that uses all the titles from this newsletter, check out Creator Hooks Pro.
Paper Planning
Title: The Top 1% Think on Paper. Here’s How To Do It.
Framework: The Top 1% (Specific activity). Here’s How To Do It.
Hook score: +373
Why this works:
Authority – This builds trust and credibility by sharing what the top 1% do.
Desire – This creator’s audience would love to think like the 1%.
Specificity – “Think on Paper” is specific and a little different, so it adds curiosity and hope (if you’re not in the top 1% and you haven’t tried to think on paper, maybe this is the thing that’ll get you there).
How you can use this framework: Tell your audience that the top 1% do something slightly unique and how to do it.
Examples of this framework in action:
- The Top 1% Have Endless Energy. Here’s To Get It.
- The Top 1% Don’t Apply For Jobs. Here’s How They Get Their Dream Careers.
5 Minute Fix
Title: If I Only Had 5 Minutes With Most Golfers, I’d Change This
Framework: If I Only Had 5 Minutes With Most (Group of people), I’d Change This
Hook score: +695
Why this works:
Curiosity – This opens a loop and makes you wonder what he’d change.
Constraint & Time Frame – The short time frame of “5 minutes” makes this video feel more tangible and interesting, and this constraint makes what he’s gonna tell you feel more important.
Desire – This doens’t explicitly say the viewers will improve their golf by watching this video, but it’s implied.
Specific Audience – This calls out Golfers in the title to make sure they know this video is for them.
How you can use this framework: Tell your audience that if you had a short amount of time with them, here’s what you’d change.
Examples of this framework in action:
- If I Only Had 5 Minutes With Most Guitar Players, I’d Change This
- If I Only Had 1 Day In Italy, I’d Go Here
- Write better YouTube titles
- Grow your channel
- Save time
“Creator Hooks Pro’s title generator helped with this title and this one video has made $3,000 in Adsense alone.”
– Gjeebs, 209K subscribers
Freak Athletes
Title: The 5 Scariest Athletes in Sports History
Framework: The 5 Scariest (Entities) in (Category) History
Hook score: +725
Why this works:
List – Lists make videos feel more tangible (you know exactly what the video will be about), and they add some curiosity.
Fear – People love dramatic, scary things like “Scariest Athletes”.
Epic & Extreme – “Scariest” and “in Sports History” make this title feel epic, extreme, and interesting.
How you can use this framework: Tell your audience about the scariest things in your niche’s history.
Examples of this framework in action:
- The 5 Scariest Movies In History
- The 5 Scariest Police Chases in History
2 Steps Back
Title: This Obsession Is RUINING Your Photo
Framework: This Obsession Is RUINING Your (Possessions)!
Hook score: +1166
Why this works:
Curiosity – This opens a loop and makes you want to know what this obsession is. It’s also slightly counterintuitive because it implies that you probably think your obsession is actually good for your photos.
Fear – Nobody wants to accidentally ruin their photos, and this title leverages that fear to get people to click.
How you can use this framework: Tell your audience about how something they think is good is actually ruining their progress.
Examples of this framework in action:
- This Obsession Is RUINING Your Sourdough Bread
- This Obsession Is RUINING Your House
Publicly Private
Title: These iPhone Features Are HIDDEN In Plain Sight
Framework: These (Entities) Are HIDDEN In Plain Sight
Hook score: +175046
Why this works:
Curiosity – This builds curiosity in three ways:
- It opens a loop and makes you want to know what these features are.
- “HIDDEN In Plain Sight” uses secrecy to get you interested in this video.
- “HIDDEN In Plain Sight” is an oxymoron.
Tangible – People love tangible, specific things, like features, settings, specific words, etc.
How you can use this framework: Tell your audience about things that are hidden in plain sight.
Examples of this framework in action:
- These Avengers Easter Eggs Are HIDDEN In Plain Sight
- These Sony A7 Features Are HIDDEN In Plain Sight
Flop of the Week
Title: You’re Probably Making These Golf Mistakes — Here’s the Fix
Hook score: -84
Why this flopped: There’s a lot going on here.
First, if we just wanted to focus on the title, given that this broad angle has flopped, we might want to zoom in and focus on a specific mistake, like “You’re Probably Gripping Your Driver Wrong — Here’s the Fix”.
Second (and this is probably the bigger one), my guess is that the viewers aren’t interested in the thumbnail: ai picking the lesson with a ChatGPT logo. They don’t care about that — they just want to get better at golf.
Third, your title and thumbnail don’t need to describe your video. In this case, “ai picks the lesson” and the ChatGPT logo are irrelevant — the viewer just wants to get better at golf. If the title and thumbnail were built around that, this video might’ve done better.
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 write better titles and grow your channel, check out Creator Hooks Pro.