61: The 7 Hook Types That Create Buy-In (Not Just Clicks) for Solopreneurs

🎯 Why Your Hooks Feel Like Content (And What to Do About It)

You stare at the blank caption box. Again. You've got the content ready, the value is there, but you're completely frozen on how to start. What's the hook? What should the headline be? And why does everyone else make this look so easy when you're over here second-guessing every single word?

Here's what I've learned after freezing on headlines more times than I can count: the internet has convinced us there's some magical formula for the perfect hook. Like if you just nail the curiosity gap, use the right power words, and add enough drama, suddenly your content will pop off and your audience will become obsessed with you.

But that's not what's actually happening. What's really happening is some hooks make people feel pulled in, and some hooks feel like manufactured content. And the difference isn't always that one is technically written better. The difference is whether your hook makes people feel like they belong here or like they're being talked at.

Sound familiar?

Grab my free guide: 60 Post Real Caption Starter Ideas to jumpstart your hook writing and never stare at a blank caption box again.

💭 The Words Are Hard Confession

I need to be honest with you about something. Words are very difficult for me. I can design pretty graphics in Canva all day long. I will happily spend hours tweaking colors, adjusting layouts, and perfecting visual elements. But when it comes to creating a headline, a subject line, or naming a podcast episode? I completely freeze.

And I overthink. Hard.

Whenever I talk about this in my community, people are like, "Oh, but your hooks are so good!" And I'm like, do you know how many times I went back and forth on what to say there? Do you have any idea how long I stared at those options?

I literally poll my audience on Instagram Stories. I give them three headline options and let them vote. I do this for email subject lines. I do this for podcast titles. I've even done it for carousel headlines. I'm not kidding. Because I get down to two or three options and then I'm just like, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know. Somebody please just figure this out for me.

And what's cool is there really is typically one clear winner, which I love. And then I'm like, great, you all voted and this is the one I went with. Thank you so much for saving me from my own overthinking brain.

But here's the thing (and this is what this whole episode is about): I've figured out that my struggle with hooks wasn't because I was missing some secret formula. It was because I was trying to make every hook do the same job, regardless of what the actual post needed to accomplish.

Once I understood that hooks need to match the goal of the post, everything got easier. Not easy, but easier. And that's what I want to teach you today.

Ready to stop overthinking every headline? Join the waitlist for The Messaging Edit, my signature program launching early fall that teaches you how to say what you actually mean in a way that sounds like you and converts.

📊 The Framework: Match Your Hook to Your Content Goal

Before we dive into the seven hook types that actually work, you need to understand this foundational concept: your hook needs to match the goal of your post.

In my world, there are four main content goals. And these are NOT content pillars (don't even get me started on that Instagram ad I saw recently where someone was saying you're doing it all wrong if you're posting about content pillars). Content pillars are the buckets of subjects you talk about consistently that you'd be known for. These four things are the GOALS of your posts.

The 4 Content Goals: CCTT

Connect - Posts designed to make your audience feel seen, understood, and like they're not alone

Convert - Posts with a clear invitation to take the next step (listen to the podcast, grab the freebie, join the program)

Teach - Posts that provide educational value, how-to guidance, and actionable information

Thought Leadership - Posts that share your unique perspective, opinions, and point of view on industry topics

I always remember this because it's CCTT: Connect, Convert, Teach, Thought Leadership. And I rotate through all four of these every single week.

I am not going to show up and teach five days a week. I'm also not going to show up and try to convert and sell to people five days a week. And I'm also not trying to connect in every single post. A very healthy, well-rounded feed includes all four of these goals working together.

And once you know the goal of your post, writing the hook gets a whole lot easier. Because you stop trying to make every post do the same exact thing.

A teaching post does not need the same hook style as a conversion post. A thought leadership post should not sound like a Canva tutorial. And a connection post should not sound like a checklist.

This is where people get off track. They write one kind of headline over and over again, no matter what the goal of the post is. And then they wonder why everything starts to feel stale, flat, or why they're not getting the engagement they want. It's because the job is different.

If I'm teaching something visual (like a Canva trick, a design fix, or a branding tip), I do not need to create a giant emotional moment in the headline. The payoff is already clear.

For example: "5 Canva Templates All Solopreneurs Need." That post crushed it for me. It was so clear. I didn't have to think that hard. I just wanted to let people know what was inside. It was clear, useful, direct, and I used keywords (Canva is the platform, solopreneurs are who I'm talking about). People see that and immediately ask themselves, "Ooh, do I have these five templates?" And they want to scroll to figure it out.

But if I'm trying to connect, convert, or share a stronger point of view, that's where the headline needs to do more heavy lifting.

🔥 Why Personal Hooks Are Winning Right Now

Here's my spicy opinion: people are tired of being bossed around by content.

They are exhausted by the "stop doing this" and "if you're doing this, you're doing it wrong" and "you need to do this" and "if you're still making this mistake" energy. The advice is typically good, but the energy can feel really draining.

It's like, you know more than me, we get it. I'm doing everything wrong. I don't know what I'm doing. I don't like that type of vibe as a consumer. I don't know about you, but what is doing really well right now are hooks that feel more personal, more in progress, more human. More like "I'm right there with you" instead of "I'm the expert who's so far above you, I know more than you, follow me."

People want to feel like they're figuring something out right alongside you. You're not that far away from where they are. Therefore, it's not going to take that long for them to catch up to where you are.

They do not want to constantly feel like they're being scolded by somebody who apparently has all the answers and a flawless strategy. That energy is losing steam big time.

And that's why personal hooks are working. Not because it's suddenly all about you, but because personal hooks, when done really well, create proximity. They make you feel more approachable, more relatable, and way more trustworthy as an expert.

They say, "Come sit with me for a second. I want to teach you something that took me a while to learn, or that I just realized a few weeks ago." And that type of energy is gold. That is what is working right now.

Use Yourself as the Doorway, Not the Pedestal

Now, I want to be careful here because I don't want you to think every post needs to start with a dramatic confession. That's not the lesson. And the lesson is also not to make everything about you.

The lesson is this: use yourself as the doorway, not the pedestal.

That is the line.

Personal hooks work when your audience can still find themselves inside of them. They stop working when they become too vague, too insidery, too "look at me," or too detached from what the other person actually cares about.

So yes, the hook can be about your story, your moment, your frustration, your realization, your opinion. But it still has to create access for the reader. They need to be able to think, "Oh my God, same" or "Wait, I have totally felt that too" or "Okay, now I need to know more about this" or "Damn, I never thought about it like that."

And that is what makes messaging in your headlines so magnetic, clear, and relatable.

📈 What My Data Revealed About Hooks That Work

I was looking at some of my best-performing headlines for my podcast promotions. Every Monday I publish a carousel that promotes my podcast episode. And I track everything in my podcast tracker.

I literally record the link to the Instagram post, the published date, the episode number, the final title, the call to action I'm referencing, the pillar it falls under, and then I save all these dates (when I shared it with my editor, when I requested it back, when I approved it, when I uploaded it in Buzzsprout, when I wrote the blog, when I created the ManyChat automation). Then I put the number of listens, and I don't record that for probably a month at least afterwards.

I also link the Instagram promo carousel and put how many Instagram comments there were. I just take the overall number of comments. I'm not going to sit there and subtract my ManyChat responses from real comments. I just take the overall number. That's enough for me to know what's working well.

So I rounded up my top 10 best-performing headlines in preparation for this episode. By "best performing," I mean the ones that got the most comments from people who wanted to hear more about whatever I was talking about. They wanted to listen to the podcast episode.

Here's what the best ones were:

• "I almost burned my business down to the ground. But I started a podcast instead."

• "I've had so many posts perform so poorly for an account of my size, I've debated hiding my likes from you."

• "I shit you not, I was more riddled with anxiety about starting an email list than I was about giving birth to my first child."

• "I don't wanna post here anymore."

• "I lost my shit on one of my kids a few weeks ago to the point that I hurt my throat and the minute he walked out the door, I felt horrible."

• "I don't post on Instagram for fun and neither should you."

• "I unfollowed all the Instagram experts a few weeks ago, and what happened has me shook."

• "She thought her reel series idea was so stupid. Three weeks later, she gained 147,000 followers and made $32,000."

Now, those are personal. They're very personal. The only one that wasn't personal for me was the last one (that was a guest on the podcast, a Coven member who went insanely viral with a reel series).

But they work. Not because they're polished with a sterile copywriter vibe to them. They sound spoken. They sound like something a human being would actually say.

And they all have something in common. You know what that is?

Tension.

They don't start with the lesson. They start with the tension or the friction. Whether it's fear, shame, resistance, a mess, an opinion, a shift, a "wait, what?" moment. And that is what makes people lean in.

They are tension-filled and curiosity-driving. And yeah, they are personal, but they're not closed off.

The reason "I don't wanna post here anymore" works is because that's not just my thought. It's a thought that a lot of people have privately as well, especially my ideal clients.

The reason "I debated hiding my likes from you" works is because so many people are secretly embarrassed by their performance (or lack of performance), and they think they're the only ones. And here I am saying, dude, I've got 124,000 followers, and there are some posts where I get 12 likes. And I've debated hiding that from you because it's shameful for me. It's embarrassing.

But you know what? I'm not going to do that. I think it's important that you see that there are accounts so much bigger than yours that are also struggling. And I'm one of them. You're not alone.

That's a very important core lesson that goes through a lot of my content: you're not alone.

Download the 60 Post Real Caption Starter Ideas freebie to see more examples of hooks that create connection and buy-in.

🎨 The 7 Hook Buckets You Can Steal

After analyzing my best-performing content, I put all of these headlines into ChatGPT and said, "Let's analyze this. What are the commonalities?" And I started to notice, with the help of AI, that my stronger hooks tend to fall into a few buckets.

And these are so stealable for you. Get your pen and paper because you're going to want to write these down.

1. The Confession Hook

This is where you admit something people do not usually say out loud.

Examples:

• "I don't wanna post here anymore."

• "I've debated hiding my likes from you."

• "I have absolutely judged a client's backend and then remembered mine looked the same six months ago." (Example for VAs/OBMs)

Why this works: It breaks that polished business owner act that's just not working today. And it makes people go, "Oh, thank God. She's the same as me. Somebody said it out loud."

2. The Emotional Overreaction Hook

This is where you compare a business situation to a very real human experience in a way that's dramatic but true.

Examples:

• "I was more riddled with anxiety about starting a weekly newsletter than I was about giving birth to my first child."

• "I treated raising my prices like I was being asked to fake my own death." (Example for money coaches)

Why this works: It's memorable and emotional, and it captures the feeling in a way that a bland sentence never could. It's supposed to make people kind of chuckle. It's ridiculous, completely over the top, super dramatic, very human, and great for capturing a business fear in a way that doesn't sound sterile.

3. The Sharp Opinion Hook

This is where you take a stand people can react to.

Examples:

• "I don't post on Instagram for fun, and neither should you."

• "You don't need better communication, you need less resentment." (Example for relationship coaches)

Why this works: It creates very useful friction. It sounds like a person with a point of view and not just another tip. It's a stronger take, a little provocative, and it instantly tells people this person has a perspective.

4. The Unexpected Pivot Hook

This is where something was going badly and then something surprising happened next.

Examples:

• "I almost burned my business to the ground, but I started a podcast instead."

• "I kept trying to sound more professional. My content got better when I started cursing in my copy instead." (Example for copywriters)

Why this works: The sentence flips the expectation. It's a before and after built right into a headline, and there's movement immediately.

5. The Proof Through Story Hook

This is where you lead with a mini case study or a transformation.

Examples:

• "She thought her reel series idea was stupid. Three weeks later, she gained 147,000 followers and made $32,000."

• "She almost scrapped her whole website. We changed the homepage headline first, and her inquiries picked up immediately." (Example for web designers)

Why this works: It tells a story, but the result also feels very believable, grounded, and amazing. It's a story with doubt and a result, and it gives people a reason to care.

6. The Anti-Expert Hook

This is where you reject the obvious industry narrative.

Examples:

• "I unfollowed all the Instagram experts a few weeks ago, and what happened has me shook."

• "Some of the best sleep advice I give parents sounds way less impressive than what they saw on Instagram." (Example for sleep consultants)

Why this works: It has that anti-polished, anti-overcomplicated energy that feels really fresh to people. It tells them, "This won't be the same recycled advice you hear 40 times a day. This is different."

7. The Plain-Spoken List Hook

This is your least emotional bucket, but it still works when the value is obvious and useful. This is where I would use this in a more teaching moment.

Examples:

• "5 Canva Templates All Solopreneurs Need"

• "3 Photo Prompts to Use When Your Client Says 'I'm Awkward in Front of the Camera'" (Example for photographers)

Why this works: It is clear, useful, specific, and immediately actionable. Especially for teaching content, you don't always need some emotional arc.

If you've been sitting there staring at a blank caption and wondering what kind of hook to write, start with one of these buckets. Literally use mine and just alter it for your content. I think it's a really great place to begin.

↔️ The Power of Before and After in Hooks

If there's one thing I'm forever obsessed with, it's a before and after. I love it in visuals. I love it in branding. I love it in storytelling. And I really love it in a hook.

Because before and after gives the audience movement immediately. It shows contrast. It shows change. It shows something happened. And people are wired for that.

"Before this, after this. I used to think this, now I think this. This wasn't working, then this changed. She thought this was stupid, now she's up 147,000 followers."

That shape works because the transformation is built into the sentence. You can feel the shift even before you consume the post.

A lot of weak hooks are weak because they're static. There's no movement. There's no contrast. There's no tension. There's no shift. The information is just sitting there. And information by itself is typically not enough.

So if you're stuck, ask yourself: what is the before and after here? Even if it's subtle. Maybe it's emotional, strategic, a belief shift, a result. But there's usually one thing there if you're looking for it.

How This Applies to Different Post Goals

This before-and-after hook style applies most to three post goal types:

Connect Posts: The hook should help someone feel seen. You want them to be like, "Yep, that's me" or "Wait, I've never thought of it that way" or "I've never said that out loud, but yeah, that's me." That's where the more vulnerable confession style (like "I'm right there with you") can work really well.

Convert Posts: You still want connection, but you also need movement. A conversion hook should create buy-in that naturally leads to the next step (listen to the podcast episode, grab a lead magnet, join the program). You're not trying to get them to read. You're trying to get them to care enough to act.

Thought Leadership Posts: You need perspective. You need a point of view, a stronger stance, a fresh angle, or a sentence that sounds like it came from someone who actually thinks for themselves. That's why the line "I don't post on Instagram for fun and neither should you" works. It's not trying to be neutral. It's me taking a stance.

Teaching Posts: I want you to relax a little bit here because not every educational post needs to be emotionally loaded, and that is a huge break for me. Clear, direct headlines are going to work better in that case.

✅ Your Practical Hook-Writing Checklist

Let me boil this down into something you can actually use:

First: Know the goal of your post. Is it connect, convert, teach, or thought leadership?

Second: Ask what your audience needs to feel. Do they need to feel seen, curious, clear, challenged, or understood?

Third: Lead with tension. Not in a polished way. Start closer to the real thought, the messy part, the resistance, the shift.

Fourth: If you're using a personal angle, make sure they can still find themselves in it. That is the test.

Fifth: Pick a hook bucket if you need somewhere to start. Confession, emotional overreaction, sharp opinion, unexpected pivot, proof through story, anti-expert, or plain-spoken list.

Sixth: Trade vague for specific. Give me an actual moment, a detail, a reaction, a number, a phrase, a fear, or an opinion.

Seventh: Read it out loud. For the love of God, read it out loud. And if it sounds weird and Internety and robot-like, if it's trying to be bigger and more profound than it needs to be, it needs work. Make it sound like you.

If you take nothing else from this: a good hook does not just stop the scroll. It makes the right people feel invited in.

People don't just want content. They want connection. They want your perspective. And they want to feel like the person on the other side of that account is an actual human being with a pulse and with a point of view.

And when your hook does that, that's when the content hits different.

🔗 Resources & Links mentioned in this episode:

• ChatGPT - the tool Emily used to analyze her top-performing hooks and identify patterns

• The Messaging Edit waitlist - Emily's signature program launching early fall for saying what you actually mean in a way that sounds like you and converts

• Emily's podcast tracker system for tracking episode performance and engagement metrics

• The Creative Bodega website and Instagram (@thecreativebodega)

• The Content Coven membership for ongoing hook feedback and community support

💬 Ready to Write Hooks That Actually Convert?

This is longer than I wanted it to be, but you know what? I think all of this is really important. And if this post made you realize that your content is decent but your messaging still needs some work, The Messaging Edit would be an amazing next step for you.

This is the work: saying what you actually mean in a way that sounds like you and lands with the people you want to attract. Is there anything more beautiful than that?

Join the waitlist for The Messaging Edit (launching early fall) and learn the complete framework for magnetic messaging that creates buy-in, builds trust, and converts your ideal clients.

And hey, save this post for your next caption-writing session. Comment below and tell me which of the 7 hook buckets you're going to try first. I want to know!

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