If you are staring at a blank doc trying to write the first line of an ad for a product nobody has heard of, you need a repeatable way to brainstorm hooks for new products — not a lucky flash of inspiration. The fastest route is to work from a short list of proven hook angles (problem, curiosity, contrarian, comparison, before/after, direct address), pull raw material from the product page and real customer questions, and force yourself to write fast and in volume before you judge anything. This article walks through that process step by step, with a worked example and a session script you can run in under 30 minutes.
Why Brainstorming Hooks for a New Product Is Different
An established product can lean on reviews, repeat customers and before/after photos. A new product usually has none of that yet. The brainstorm has to work harder on the first three seconds because there is no social proof to borrow from, and the audience has never heard of the brand. That means your hook angles need to shift toward the problem itself, curiosity about the mechanism, and direct address to a specific person — rather than "thousands of five-star reviews" style proof you cannot yet claim.
It also means you should write more hooks than you think you need, because you cannot predict in advance which angle will land with an audience that has no prior relationship with the brand. Treat the brainstorm as building a shortlist to test, not picking the one perfect line.
A Step-by-Step Framework to Brainstorm Hooks for New Products
Use this order. Skipping the research step is the most common reason a brainstorm produces generic hooks that could apply to any product.
- Gather raw material first. Read the product page, the FAQ, any pre-launch survey answers, and messages from early customers or beta testers. Write down the exact words people use to describe the problem — not your marketing language, theirs.
- List the problem in plain words. One sentence. What is annoying, slow, embarrassing, expensive or confusing about life without this product?
- List the specific moments the product gets used. Not "people who travel" but "someone standing in a security line realizing their liquids are not in a clear bag." Specific moments make better hooks than broad categories.
- List the objections a skeptical stranger would have. "Why would this work better than what I already use?" "Isn't this just a gimmick?" Each objection can become a contrarian or comparison hook.
- Pick 5 to 7 hook angles from the list below and force yourself to write 2 to 3 lines per angle without stopping to edit. Volume first, quality later.
- Read everything out loud. Cut anything that sounds like every other ad in the category. Keep the lines that are specific, a little blunt, or make you want to know what happens next.
- Group the survivors by angle and pick a diverse batch for testing — not five versions of the same joke.
Hook Angles to Pull From (With Examples)
These angles work across TikTok, Reels and Shorts because they are about the first line, not the platform. The example product below is a generic phone stand — swap in your own product and the same angle names still apply.
| Angle | What it does | Example hook |
|---|---|---|
| Problem / agitation | Names the annoyance before offering the fix | "Your phone keeps sliding off the nightstand every single night." |
| Curiosity / mechanism | Hints at how it works without explaining yet | "This $20 stand replaced three gadgets on my desk — here's how." |
| Contrarian / myth-busting | Challenges a common assumption about the category | "Phone stands are not just for watching videos in bed." |
| Before / after | Contrasts the old workaround with the new one | "I used to prop my phone on a stack of books. Not anymore." |
| Direct address | Calls out a specific person or situation by name | "If you work from bed, you need to see this." |
| Comparison / cost | Sets the product against buying multiple alternatives | "Why buy a tripod, a car mount and a desk stand separately?" |
| Question hook | Opens a loop the viewer wants closed | "Ever notice your phone gets warm when it's lying flat and charging?" |
Notice none of these claim a statistic or a review count — a brand-new product usually cannot back that up yet. If you want a deeper library of angle-specific examples, AI generated hooks for video ads and best hooks for TikTok ads break down more variations by platform.
A 20-Minute Brainstorming Session Script
Run this alone or with a small team. Set a timer for each block — the time pressure is what keeps the session from turning into a debate about which idea is "best" before you have enough ideas to compare.
- Minute 0–5: Write down the single biggest problem the product solves, three specific moments it gets used, and three objections a skeptic would raise. No hooks yet.
- Minute 5–15: Pick six angles from the table above. Write two hook lines per angle as fast as possible. Do not stop to fix grammar or pick favorites.
- Minute 15–20: Read every line out loud. Cross out anything generic or anything that sounds like a competitor's ad. Circle the lines that made someone in the room say "wait, what?"
- After the session: Pick a batch of 8 to 12 hooks spanning at least four different angles, not twelve versions of one idea.
How Many Hooks Is Enough Before You Start Testing
A reasonable starting point for a new product is 8 to 12 hooks across 4 to 6 different angles for the first testing round. Fewer than that and you risk concluding "hooks don't work" when really you only tried one idea. Far more than that and you cannot run a clean test with a limited budget, and you end up comparing noise instead of signal. If you are unsure how this maps to an actual testing plan and budget, how many hooks to test per creative batch and the creative testing roadmap for new brands walk through the cadence in more detail.
When a New Product Has Zero Reviews Yet
Lean on problem, curiosity and direct address angles instead of proof-based hooks. You can still borrow urgency without inventing fake scarcity — a limited pre-launch batch or early-bird pricing is a legitimate reason to use a FOMO-style hook. See fear of missing out hooks for product ads for examples that don't rely on manufactured urgency.
Common Mistakes When Brainstorming Hooks
- Writing the benefit instead of the hook. "Our stand is adjustable and lightweight" is a feature list, not an opening line that stops a scroll.
- Judging ideas while generating them. Editing mid-brainstorm kills volume and biases you toward whatever sounded clever first, not what will actually test well.
- Only writing hooks you personally like. The point of a brainstorm is to cover multiple angles for different audience segments, not to find the one line that appeals to you.
- Describing the product instead of the moment it's used in. "A travel pillow with memory foam" is weaker than "Waking up on a plane with your head on the tray table."
- Stopping at the first good idea. One strong hook feels like enough, but a new product with no track record needs a spread to find out which angle the audience actually responds to.
From Hook List to Finished Ad
Once you have a shortlist, the next bottleneck is usually turning text into video fast enough to test it before momentum fades. This is where FrameNotion fits into the workflow: paste a product or website link, and FrameNotion AI reads the page and writes a full 30-second vertical ad from scratch — hook, problem, benefit, proof and call to action — rather than filling in a template. You can add your own notes, including a specific hook angle or offer you want it to use, plus up to six product images and a logo.
Because each ad comes with an AI voiceover, music cut to the beat, and word-by-word captions, the same hook works whether a viewer has sound on or is scrolling on mute. On the Pro and Agency plans, FrameNotion can also generate A/B hook variants of a finished ad, so a shortlist built with the session script above turns into a small batch of testable videos instead of a single guess. A finished ad takes about 10 to 20 minutes, which keeps the gap between "we have a good hook" and "we have a video running" small. See how FrameNotion works or example ads for a look at the output.
Putting It Into Practice
The next time you need to brainstorm hooks for a new product, skip the blank page. Pull the raw material, pick five to seven angles, time-box the writing, and cut ruthlessly before you test. A new product has no track record to lean on, so the brainstorm has to do more work than it would for an established brand — but the same structure (problem, curiosity, contrarian, comparison, before/after, direct address) covers the vast majority of hooks that actually earn attention in a feed. If you are also deciding where to run the first batch, TikTok creative strategy for new brands is a useful next read, and pricing has the plan details if you want to turn the shortlist into video quickly.
Frequently asked questions
Should I brainstorm hooks alone or with a team?+
Either works, but a small group of three to five people usually produces more angle diversity in the same amount of time, since everyone brings different objections and moments of use. If you work alone, do the research step first and come back to the writing step after a short break to get some distance from the raw material.
Is it okay to borrow hook ideas from competitors in the same category?+
It's fine to study what angles competitors use (problem-first, comparison, curiosity) as research, but write your own specific version of the problem and moment of use. Copying the exact line risks sounding derivative and won't reflect your product's actual details.
How specific should a hook be for a brand-new product nobody recognizes?+
More specific than you'd think. A vague hook like "Upgrade your routine" has nothing to attach to for an unknown brand. A specific moment — the exact situation, object or frustration — gives an unfamiliar product something concrete to be about.
Can the same hook work across TikTok, Reels and Shorts without changes?+
The core idea often transfers, but test the exact wording per platform since pacing and audience expectations differ slightly. Treat the brainstorm as producing an idea, then adapt the phrasing per platform rather than assuming one script fits everywhere unchanged.
What if none of the hooks from my brainstorm feel strong enough?+
That usually means the research step was skipped. Go back to actual customer language — support messages, pre-launch survey answers, comments on similar products — instead of trying to invent a clever line from scratch. The strongest hooks are almost always a slightly sharpened version of something a real person already said.