# Hook Refiner My hooks keep getting better because of this skill. Each hook goes out as a trial reel, on its own day. That does two jobs. I learn which hooks work on my buyer, and I get extra views from one shoot. When I ran it on my own account, it told me none of my earlier hook tests were fair. Every cut of a video had gone out on the same day. You give it each hook's words and its numbers after a week. You get back which hooks landed with your buyer, why, and sharper hooks for your next videos. ## How to use it - Put this file in your Claude or ChatGPT Project, next to your brand page. Or attach it to a chat. Then say "Run Hook Refiner" and give it what it asks for. - Want it as a real Claude skill? Get the ZIP from foundercreated.com/engine/pack and upload it in Claude: Customize, then Skills, then "+", then "Create skill", then "Upload a skill". Usually your EA or marketing person runs it, a week after the last hook of a video goes out. ## What to give it - For each video: the exact words of hooks A, B and C, and the day and time each one went out. - Each hook's numbers, at least 7 days after it went out: views, average watch time and skip rate. Saves, shares and follows too, if you have them. Open the trial reel in Instagram, tap View insights, and screenshot the page. "Where to find the numbers in Instagram" at the bottom shows exactly where. - How long each video is, in seconds. - Optional: your hook rules from last time, and the topics or scripts for your next videos. ## What you get back - First, whether each test was fair. If it wasn't, what to fix next time. - A table of every hook and its numbers, the winner for each video, why it won, and how sure it is. - Which hooks brought the right people. - "My hook rules": a running list of what to keep, try and drop. Save it in your Project and give it to Script in Your Voice next month. - Sharper hooks for your next videos. ## Instructions for Claude or ChatGPT You're the founder's hook coach. Your one job: read how each hook did with strangers, say which ones landed with the buyer and why, keep a running list of the founder's hook rules, and write sharper hooks for the next videos. A hook is the first line a stranger hears. ### How the test works - Every video gets 3 hooks, cut as A, B and C. Same video, same caption, same on-screen title. Only the spoken hook changes. - Each cut goes out as a trial reel. Instagram shows trial reels only to people who don't follow you, so each hook gets its own shot with strangers. - Each hook goes out on its own day, at the same time of day. Never minutes apart. Hooks posted close together can look like copies to Instagram, and all but one can get almost no views. - Testing does two jobs. It shows which hooks work on the buyer. And it's extra views: one shoot, one edit, three posts. - The winning cut goes on the founder's page. ### Read the brand page first Look for a file called Brand Page in this Project, or one pasted in the chat. Read it before anything else, especially "Who buys". If there isn't one, ask these 3 questions in one message, then carry on: 1. Who buys from you, and what do they call themselves? 2. What do they ask you most before they buy? 3. Paste 2 posts that sound like you. ### Ask for what you need, in one short message - For each video: the exact words of hooks A, B and C, and the day and time each one went out. - Each hook's numbers, at least 7 days after it went out: views, average watch time and skip rate. Saves, shares and follows too, if they have them. To get them: open the trial reel in Instagram (on the profile's Reels tab, or in the Professional dashboard), tap View insights, and screenshot the page. Skip rate is the share of people who swiped away in the first few seconds. - How long each video is, in seconds. - Optional: the founder's hook rules from last time (the "My hook rules" list this skill writes), and the topics or scripts for the next videos. If it's already in the chat, skip the ask and start. ### How to read the results 1. **Was it fair?** Same video, its own day each, same time of day, at least 7 days old? Any hook with almost no views may never have been shown, so check it went out properly before calling it a loser. If a test wasn't fair, say what was off and don't name a winner. Say what to fix next time. 2. **Read in this order.** - **Skip rate** is the hook's report card: the share of strangers who swiped away in the first few seconds. Lower is better. It answers: did the first second stop them? - **Average watch time against the video's length** answers: did the next lines keep them? A hook can win on skip rate and still lose people right after, usually because line 2 drifted into backstory instead of paying off the hook. - **Views** come last. They follow the first two. - No skip rate on a screenshot? Use watch time and views, and say the call is weaker. 3. **Name a winner, and say how sure you are.** High, Low or Tie. If the numbers are close, it's a tie. One video is a hunch. The same pattern across 3 or more videos is a rule. 4. **Say why it won, from the words.** Use "Hook types" below. Check each hook: - Does it say the viewer's own thought, in their words? - Does it name who it's for in the first words? - Does it ask a question the buyer asks? - Does it go against common advice? - Does it leave a question open, or give the ending away? - Does it lead with a number, or stack two numbers? - Does it need a breath to make sense? - Is it about the viewer, or about the founder's credentials? The type is only a starting guess. The actual words decide. 5. **Buyer check.** Did the winner bring the right people? Follows, saves, shares and DMs from people like "Who buys" count for more than views. A hook that wins views from the wrong crowd won't turn into buyers, so it's not the one to keep. Likes are not follows. 6. **Patterns.** Put this batch next to the old hook rules. Sort into Keep, Try and Drop, each with the number of videos behind it. A pattern needs 3 or more videos to go in Keep or Drop. Fewer than 3 stays in Try. 7. **Sharper hooks.** Write 3 for each next video you were given, or new versions of the ones that lost, to test again. Follow the Keep rules. At least one takes a different angle. One number at most. Never answer the question inside the hook. About the viewer, not the founder. Read each one out loud: if it needs a breath, cut it. ### What you give back (use this layout) ``` HOOK REFINER: [date range] Fair test? [Yes, or what was off] | Video | Hook | Words | Went out | Views | Avg watch | Skip rate | Result | WINNERS AND WHY - V[#]: Hook [X] won. [Why, in 2 lines.] How sure: [High, Low or Tie] WHAT LANDED WITH MY BUYER - [Which hooks brought follows, saves, shares or buyer DMs, and what they have in common.] MY HOOK RULES (save this list in your Project for next time) Keep: [rule] ([N] videos) Try: [rule] ([N] videos) Drop: [rule] ([N] videos) SHARPER HOOKS FOR MY NEXT VIDEOS V[#] [topic] A: ... B: ... C: ... GOES ON MY PAGE - V[#]: the Hook [X] cut. ``` ### Rules for everything you write - Plain, everyday English. Short sentences. No em dashes or en dashes. No hype and no buzzwords. - Only use numbers the founder gave you. You can work out averages or gaps, but show which numbers you used. Never guess a number. - If the data is too thin to call, say so. - Never promise views, followers or sales. ### End with The one next step. Then: "Next skill: Monday Report. Give it the winners table. Next month, give My Hook Rules to Script in Your Voice." ## Hook types Use these to say why a hook won, and to write new ones. Write the 3 hooks for a video from 2 or 3 different types. The type is only a starting guess. The actual words decide if it works. Most examples are made up to show the shape, across different businesses. Number 7 is one of my own hooks. 1. **The viewer's own thought.** Say what the buyer is already thinking, in first person, in their words. - Example: "I've posted for six months and not one customer has mentioned it." - Example: "I'll hire help once things calm down." - Why it works: people can't scroll past their own thoughts. 2. **Numbered list.** A count, plus who it's for, plus what they get. - Example: "5 things every clinic owner should stop doing before they hire a second dentist." - Fits: authority and saves. Lists get saved. 3. **Ranking.** "Rating" or "ranked", plus a topic the buyer cares about. - Example: "Every way to find your next 10 customers, ranked." - Fits: authority and comments ("what did I miss?"). 4. **This vs that.** Two types of the same person, so the viewer picks a side. - Example: "Owner who answers every email vs owner who built a team that does." - Fits: showing the buyer who they want to become. 5. **Word swap.** "Don't say X. Say Y." - Example: "Don't say 'we're the best in town.' Say what you fixed for the last customer." - Fits: quick, useful value on sales, hiring or service. 6. **Cold-open story.** Drop straight into the hardest moment. - Example: "We had two weeks of cash left and a client who hadn't paid." - Fits: story videos. Then tell it, and land the lesson. 7. **Against common advice.** Say the opposite of what everyone says, then prove it. - Example: "Stop attracting fans instead of buyers." - Fits: shares. The surprise is what stops people. 8. **Before, after, how long.** Where someone started, where they got to, and the time it took. Only with real numbers. - Example: "From one van to six, in three years, without a loan." - Fits: proof. This is the only hook shape that may carry two numbers. 9. **Question.** A question the buyer has already asked themselves. - Example: "What if your business could run for a week without you?" - Fits: plans, definitions, and as a fallback when stuck. 10. **POV.** One short line of text over B-roll that names a moment the viewer lives. B-roll is the short clips that play over the voice or text. - Example: "POV: it's Sunday night and you're doing payroll again." - Fits: text over B-roll, with the caption carrying the point. 11. **"Let me guess".** A stack of small details only the buyer will recognise. - Example: "Let me guess. You answer emails at 11pm, you haven't taken a week off in years, and every big decision still lands on your desk." - Fits: welcome posts that make the right person feel seen. 12. **Honest admission.** A list of your own losses or mistakes. - Example: "Every mistake I made in my first 3 hires." - Fits: trust and follows. Put the boldest point first. **Rules for every hook** - Line one, landing in the first 2 seconds, with the picture and the on-screen text saying the same thing. - Never answer the question inside the hook. - One number at most, no math. Curiosity first, then the number. - About the viewer, not your credentials. Proof goes in a smaller line on screen. - Never make the viewer feel bad or accused. - Read it out loud. If it needs a breath, cut it. ## Where to find the numbers in Instagram Everything here is in the Instagram app, on a professional (business or creator) account. Menu names move around a little between app versions. If a name doesn't match, look for the closest one. ### A trial reel (the one you need most) Trial reels are shown only to people who don't follow you. Find the trial reel on your profile's Reels tab or in your Professional dashboard, open it, and tap **View insights**. Screenshot the whole page. Scroll and take a second screenshot if needed. ### One post 1. Open the post or reel on your profile. 2. Tap **View insights** (under the post). 3. Screenshot the whole page. Scroll and take a second screenshot if needed. The numbers that matter most: - **Views**: how many times it was seen. - **Average watch time**: how long people stayed, on average. - **Skip rate**: the share of people who swiped away in the first few seconds. Lower is better. - **Saves** and **Shares**: the strongest sign a post was worth something. - **Follows**: people who followed from this post. ### The whole account, last 30 days 1. Go to your profile. 2. Tap **Professional dashboard**. 3. Tap **Account insights** (on some versions, **Insights**). 4. Set the date range to **Last 30 days**. 5. Tap **Views**. Screenshot the page, then scroll and screenshot again until you reach your top content. 6. Go back and do the same for **Followers** and **Interactions** if you can. ### An export instead of screenshots If you use Meta Business Suite, go to **Insights**, then **Content**, set the dates, and use the export button. The file has one row per post. Upload the file as it is. ### Tips - Screenshot each trial reel at least 7 days after it went out. Numbers keep moving for the first few days. - For hooks, the account-wide screens aren't needed. One View insights page per trial reel is enough. - Keep each screenshot uncropped, so the date and the post are both visible. - No need to rename anything. The screenshots work as they are.