TikTok has been a godsend for small businesses–and a game-changer for the marketing business. While it’s far easier to spread your brand awareness on the TikTok algorithm, you’re also fiercely competing to get people’s attention. This means that if you want a hit viral video to convert customers, you need to make the best hooks for TikTok videos as soon as possible.
But where do you start? Is there even a set formula for what goes viral on TikTok? While you can’t predict what the next trends will be, the platform has been around for long enough that tried-and-true methods have become clear. Here are some of the best hooks for TikTok videos you can use to sell your apparel brand.
Best Hooks for TikTok Videos to Sell Your Apparel Brand
- Telling a personal story
TikTok users are here for fun and connection more than anything else. The top three descriptions for viral content on the platform are “funny, creative, and relaxing,” relating back to the laidback nature of content on the average For You page.
Personal stories are a great way to use this dynamic while also sharing your brand and apparel products. These stories can come in a wide range of genres, like day-in-the-life videos or personal updates set to footage of your product creation process. However, they all come down to someone (usually you) talking casually with the tone of a friend sharing their recent successes and hardship.
The usual formula for personal stories is like this:
- Big Statement or Question
This is the point where you orient the reader to your brand’s main premise. Usually, you can use common problems your target audience might have in their life (i.e. “Don’t you hate when your shirt print fades after the first wash?”) or a general statement about your own daily life that other people can relate to (“Today I woke up wondering if I’m doing the right thing.”) - Filling in your audience’s thoughts
After your big statement, you want to quickly establish a connection with your audience. This means describing a thought process that likely comes close to their own reasoning, showing that you get them the way you want them to get you. - Advice and Branding
In this phase, you can present a conclusion or lesson learnt through your personal story that your audience can also learn for themselves. This is where you’ll also drop the name of your brand and give subtle hints as to why your audience would be interested in it.
- Making catchy edits
Catchy edits are a relatively modern invention, starting out from Youtube and evolving along with the short form video content. These edits are all flash, without a lot of substance–in other words, they’re perfect advertisements for your apparel.
If you want your edit to pop off, there’s no one formula to go with it. However, all great edits have at least two of the following:
- Trending and Rhythmic Music: TikTok’s bread and butter has always been its music trends. You can easily find the next trend that matches your brand’s profile here.
- Sharp Editing: A good grasp of effects and transitions goes a long way. Try to match your apparel edits to the rhythm of songs, keeping in mind a music video-like format for your videos.
- Class and style: While TikTok edits do tend to be flashy, the best ones know how to balance the bombast with a clear visual message. Your edit should convey a distinct style unique to your brand, and help give your audience a certain power fantasy (i.e. “This edit makes me feel sleek and elegant,” or “This edit makes me feel like an action hero.”)
- Guides from experts
Who doesn’t need help in today’s world? Showing off authority or expert advice has been a proven persuasive tactic for decades, though it’s now much more personal and customized on TikTok. If you have any kind of experience or knowledge–whether it’s from being a business owner, a former job or a certain identity–you can use it to provide helpful advice for people who need the different perspective.
Generally, these kinds of videos will look like this:
- Establishing expertise
The first sentence of your video should tell people who you are and why they should trust you. It can be as simple as “I am a (your expert position), and this is…” or “This is what I do as a (your expert position).” - Advice and reasoning
The advice you give will be your main selling point. This is a way to show people that you’re trustworthy and your word is valuable. As such, use your expertise to explain your logic simply and casually, in ways people can understand and apply to their own life. - Conclusion and Call to Action
Wrap up your advice in a few sentences and give your subscribers links and options to buy your apparel. Selling your products as a solution to their problems organically works wonders here.
- Solving a problem (you didn’t even know about!)
While this is somewhat linked to the previous point about making expert guides, you don’t necessarily need to be an expert to solve a problem. This format focuses on finding an issue the audience commonly experiences but never thinks about too deeply, and then giving them the solution to that issue.
It’s one of the most successful tactics out there, since it feeds into the viral element of surprise and continues to be helpful even after the end of the video. The formula is simple:
- Present the problem and hint at the secret solution
Ask questions to the listener about the problem. Show that this problem affects them heavily in their lives, and give small hints that there is a way to resolve it. - Effects
Show how using this solution can greatly improve their lives, and why it’s worth trying out. - Pay-off
Present the solution simply. Give them clear steps on how to apply it as soon as possible. Consider using your brand as a part of the solution to tie yourself to the customer’s needs as well.
- Hopping on trends
While more typical than the other methods, hopping onto trends can be a simple but effective way to find a new audience on TikTok. The website offers various trend trackers that make it easier to know what are the latest popular hashtags or music phenomena, so always be open to experimentation.
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