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.
Not In Here
Title: The Only Instrumental Banned On American Radio
Framework: The Only (Thing) Banned On (Place)
Hook score: +419
Why this works:
Negativity – “Banned” brings drama and controversy to this title and grabs people’s attention.
Curiosity – This opens a loop and makes you wonder what this instrumental is.
Epic – The word “Only” makes this instrumental feel more special and epic.
How you can use this framework: Tell your audience about the only thing banned in a place.
Examples of this framework in action:
- The Only Menu Item Banned At McDonald’s
- The Only Car Banned From US Roads
Priestly Paradox
Title: The Bible Verse That Spiritually Throat-Punched Me.
Framework: The (Object) That (Drastic Action) Me.
Hook score: +522
Why this works:
Negativity – “Throat-Punched” and the thumbnail text, “Contradicted Everything” brings some drama here. Plus, “throat-punched” is such visual language that it increases this dramatic feeling.
Curiosity – This opens a loop and makes you wonder what this bible verse is. There’s also contrast between “bible verse” and “throat-punched me”, which builds even more curiosity.
How you can use this framework: Tell your audience about something that dramatically surprised you.
Examples of this framework in action:
- The Steve Jobs Quote That Changed My Business Forever
- The DaVinci Technique That Artistically Throat-Punched Me.
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Fake Fotos
Title: Photographers Who Got Caught Cheating
Framework: (Group of People) Who Got Caught Cheating
Hook score: +527
Why this works:
Negativity – People love drama and this title promises a lot of it.
Curiosity – The thumbnail makes you wonder what’s circled and what somebody did to cheat in this photo, so you’ve got to click to find out.
How you can use this framework: Tell your audience about people in your niche who got caught cheating, and in the thumbnail show a specific, but not quite clear thing someone did to cheat.
Examples of this framework in action:
- NBA Players Who Got Caught Cheating
- YouTubers Who Got Caught Cheating
Winter Whoopsies
Title: 7 Mistakes Beginners Make Camping in Cold/Winter Weather
Framework: 7 Mistakes Beginners Make (Activity) in (Hard and/or Current Circumstances)
Hook score: +577
Why this works:
List – Lists make videos feel more tangible (you know exactly what the video will be about) and they add some curiosity.
Negativity – This title leverages people’s fear of making mistakes. Plus, it’s about a difficult time to camp — “7 Mistakes Beginners Make Camping In Beautiful Weather” probably wouldn’t do as well.
Beginners – Calling out beginners works so well because beginners are the biggest subset of any audience and they’re usually the most eager to learn.
Timeliness – This video was published at the beginning of winter when camping in cold/winter weather was on everyone’s mind.
How you can use this framework: Tell your audience about mistakes beginners make when doing a tough activity when it’s trending most.
Examples of this framework in action:
- 7 Mistakes Beginners Make Eating Healthy During The Holidays
- 7 Mistakes Beginners Make Filing Their Taxes
Empty Air
Title: STOP Throwing Away Aerosol Spray Cans With No AIR! How To Recharge, Save And Fix It! DIY
Framework: STOP (Common Thing)! How To (Achieve Goal)
Hook score: +2153
Why this works:
Negativity – This title starts with a warning against doing something most people do.
Curiosity – It’s counterintuitive to stop throwing away empty aerosol spray cans. They don’t have any air, so of course you should throw them away, right?
Desire – This title finishes by helping the audience get something they want.
How you can use this framework: Tell your audience to stop doing something that they think makes sense to do, and offer them a better solution to get what they want.
Examples of this framework in action:
- STOP Looking Up Flights on Google! How To Get Cheap Plane Tickets
- STOP Trying To Lift More Weight! How To Get Stronger & More Athletic
Flop of the Week
Title: What I Found in One of the Smallest Countries in the World
Hook score: -85
Why this flopped: There are a few things this creator could’ve done to make this packaging better:
The biggest opportunity is to make the thumbnail and title work better together.
The title sparks a question (“What did he find?”), but it feels like the thumbnail answers it with the image of the big furry bull/yak thing.
In the “Photographers Who Got Caught Cheating” thumbnail above, there’s a little circle that the creator is pointing to that makes you say, “What’s that?”
This creator could’ve done something similar.
Instead of having the bull/yak, there could’ve been an arrow pointing to the city with text like, “So Weird” or something to make you wonder what he found.
The title also could’ve been a little punchier. I don’t like using “one of the” in titles.
Extreme things work well on YouTube and “one of the” waters that down.
Instead, I try to make something the most extreme in its category.
In this title, instead of “One of the Smallest Countries in the World”, I would’ve said “Europe’s Smallest Country”.
If that doesn’t make sense or isn’t true, then I’d either try to put it in a different category or try a different angle.
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.