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.
Uh oh…
Title: Fortnite made a BIG mistake…
Framework: (Entity) made a BIG mistake…
Hook score: +312
Why this works:
Negativity – People love drama like big entities making big mistakes.
Curiosity – This opens a loop because you want to know what the big mistake is.
Timeliness – This video has a bit of timeliness because it’s about a Fortnite update (even though the title doesn’t specify it).
How you can use this framework: Tell your audience that a big entity made a big mistake. Bonus points if you publish the video around a time when there’s a big change regarding the entity.
Examples of this framework in action:
- The Lakers made a BIG mistake…
- Lamborghini made a BIG mistake…
A Look Back
Title: The 2023 NBA Draft Looks Completely Different 1 Year Later
Framework: The (Event or Entity) Looks Completely Different 1 Year Later
Hook score: +430
Why this works:
Curiosity – “Looks Completely Different” is open-ended and makes you wonder what it looks like now.
Time Frame – “1 Year Later” makes this video more tangible and interesting.
Timeliness – This video was published a bit before the 2024 NBA Draft, when everybody was talking about the Draft.
How you can use this framework: Take a look at something that happened in the past and show how things ended up.
Examples of this framework in action:
- San Francisco Looks Completely Different 10 Years Later
- The Most Hyped Technologies 1 Year Later
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Just Being Honest…
Title: My honest advice to someone who wants financial freedom
Framework: My honest advice to someone who wants (Goal)
Hook score: +493
Why this works:
Desire – This creator’s audience wants financial freedom.
Authenticity – Authenticity is working really well on YouTube right now and “my honest advice” fits right in with that wave.
Authority – Although this isn’t shown in the title, Ali has lots of authority when it comes to financial freedom, so he’s somebody whose “honest advice” is worth listening to.
How you can use this framework: If you’re an authority figure in your niche, give your audience your honest advice on how to achieve a big goal of theirs.
Examples of this framework in action:
- My honest advice to someone visiting Paris for the first time
- My honest advice to someone who wants to lose 20 lbs of fat
Watch Before Moving
Title: The Top Reasons People Regret Moving To Tampa Florida
Framework: The Top Reasons People Regret (Action)
Hook score: +1004
Why this works:
Negativity – Regrets make great video topics because they’re such powerful, tangible, negative emotions. Nobody wants to accidentally make a mistake and have to live with regrets.
How you can use this framework: Tell your audience about the top reasons people regret something they’re considering.
Examples of this framework in action:
- The Top Reasons People Regret Switching to Android
- The Top Reasons People Regret Becoming a Software Engineer
Not What You’d Expect
Title: This MICRO Canal is Actually Loaded w/ Fish? (Insane)
Framework: This (Unimpressive Entity) is Actually (Unexpected, Desirable Trait)
Hook score: +1132
Why this works:
Desire – This creator’s audience would love to find a canal loaded with fish.
Curiosity – There’s contrast and counterintuitiveness here. You might think a micro canal (especially the one in the thumbnail that looks like it’s in a desert) would have no fish, but this title says it’s actually loaded with fish.
How you can use this framework: Tell your audience how something small or unimpressive is actually really awesome.
Examples of this framework in action:
- This small YouTube channel actually makes TONS of Money
- This MICRO garden actually feeds my ENTIRE family
Click Trigger of the Week
Click triggers are triggers that make people click.
You can see different click triggers in the “Why this works” sections below each video in this newsletter.
This week’s Click Trigger of the Week is Timeliness.
You might also know this as trend jacking or news jacking. It’s essentially just making content about what’s going on in the world or in your audience’s mind right now.
But this is a tricky click trigger.
The pro of using it is that it’s one of the most powerful ways to go viral.
This is how MrBeast got 626,000,000 views on one video:
He rode the Squid Game wave and it paid off huge for him.
But the con is that once the trend or event is over, your views usually are, too.
However, since this is such a powerful click trigger, the initial spike in views can be worth the drop-off later.
Here are a few other examples of using timeliness in your titles:
Dropping in the current or upcoming year:
(The above video was published in January of 2024.)
Making content around a trending product or a big product release:
(This was published soon after the Apple Vision Pro was released.)
Or making content about an upcoming event or holiday:
(This video was published 2 weeks before Thanksgiving.)
To use this click trigger in your titles, ask yourself what’s trending right now, or what is on your audience’s mind right now, and how can you make content around that.
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.