Hook Strength
TikTok decides whether to push your video to a second audience batch inside the first few seconds, and that decision is driven almost entirely by whether viewers stayed through the opening line. A hook that carries a specific, checkable claim — a price, a number, a visible result — gives the viewer a reason to keep watching. A greeting or a brand intro gives them a reason to swipe, and no amount of editing later in the video recovers a lost first impression.
The four fastest hook killers: opening with 'hey guys', introducing yourself or the brand before the product, promising to 'show you something' instead of showing it, and stacking adjectives without a single concrete fact. If the first line could sit on top of any video in your category, it is filler.
20–25 points: a specific claim lands within the first sentence and creates an open loop. 12–19 points: there is a hook, but it is generic or arrives after a warm-up line. 0–11 points: greetings, intros, or adjective stacks with nothing checkable.