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 see all of the titles and thumbnails from Creator Hooks in one place, check out Creator Hooks Pro.
Be Cool
Title: 29 easy things that make you a cool person
Formula: 29 easy things that (Achieve Goal)
Hook score: +397
Why this works:
List – People love clicking on lists, although I will admit this is the first list of 29 that’s ever been featured in this newsletter.
Benefit – Everybody wants to be a cool person, and this title makes this video even more attractive because it’s about “easy” things that make you a cool person, and we all want easy things.
How you can use this hook: Give your audience a list about easy things they can do to achieve their goals or become a better person.
Examples of this hook in action:
- 29 easy things that make you a better real estate agent
- 10 simple things that save Moms time
Storytime
Title: How Did MINAS ITHIL Become MINAS MORGUL? | Middle-Earth Lore
Formula: How Did (Place or Object) Become (Negative Place or Object) | (Keywords)
Hook score: +538
Why this works:
Curiosity – This title is a question, which evokes curiosity.
Negativity – Minas Morgul is an evil city, and people love hearing about villains.
Story – This video talks about changing from a good city to a bad city, so there’s a story behind it.
How you can use this hook: Tell your audience about how something changed from good to evil.
Examples of this hook in action:
- How Did Investing In The Stock Market Go From Best Practices To Boomer Practices?
- How Did Carbs Go From The Best Food to Unhealthy Food?
Looking Up
Title: Neuroscientist: “Never Feel Tired During The Day” | Andrew Huberman
Formula: (Authority Position): “Never (Unwanted Feeling)” | (Authority Name)
Hook score: +833
Why this works:
Authority – Authority works because we know and trust authority figures. This title uses authority two ways: it uses his position (neuroscientist) and his name (Andrew Huberman).
Negativity – The quote is about moving away from pain — never feeling tired — instead of moving toward pleasure, i.e. feeling energized.
Desire – I, and I feel like I’m speaking for everybody reading this, would love to never feel tired during the day.
How you can use this hook: Grab a quote from an authority figure in your industry about helping your audience move away from pain.
Examples of this hook in action:
- Billionaire: “Never Be Poor Again” | Elon Musk
- MrBeast: “Quit Making Videos That Don’t Go Viral”
Time For A Change P1
Title: how i plan to reinvent myself and change my life in one year | level up
Formula: How I plan to (Achieve Goal) and (Achieve Goal) in one year | level up
Hook score: +1308
Why this works:
Desire – This creator’s audience would love to reinvent themselves and change their lives.
Time frame – “In One Year” makes reinventing yourself and changing your life seem more achievable and tangible.
Change Your Life – I’ve seen the term “change my life” come up a lot in this newsletter. People know what they have and they’re not satisfied, so “change your life” is so powerful.
How you can use this hook: Tell your audience how you plan to achieve a big goal in a specific time frame.
Examples of this hook in action:
- How I Plan To Visit All Of America’s National Parks In One Year
- How I Plan To Get 100,000 Subscribers In One Year
Time For A Change P2
Title: The Recession That Will Change A Generation
Formula: The (Negative Event) That Will Change A (Audience Segment)
Hook score: +2941
Why this works:
Negativity – This video is about a negative event, a recession, plus the thumbnail text talks about the end of an era with a scary-looking graph.
Timeliness – This video rides a current trend because everyone is talking about a recession.
Change – Although this isn’t about changing your life, here’s the word change again. Change helps open a loop, which makes your curious, and starts a story.
How you can use this hook: Tell your audience about an event that will change a specific segment of an audience.
Examples of this hook in action:
- The Crypto Project That Will Change A Generation
- The Algorithm Shift That Will Change Instagram Forever
Flop of the Week
Title: Let’s Discuss ADAPTING TOLKIEN! (Ft. The Script Department) | Middle-Earth Lore
Hook score: -76
Why this flopped: Let’s get this out of the way first — this video is a podcast video, whereas most of the videos on this channel are voiceovers with cool animations and clips from the movies. That was probably a big reason why it flopped.
But the title was also different.
“Let’s Discuss” has no real benefit, fear, or curiosity, it’s just a plain statement. These creators should’ve taken the most interesting point in the interview and used that for the title, instead of leading with a bland “Let’s Discuss.”
Alright, that wraps up this week’s Creator Hooks!
If you know a fellow creator who needs help with writing better titles, please forward this email to them and send them to creatorhooks.com.
Here’s to the war on boring content.
– 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.