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Viral hooks are attention-grabbing snippets designed to stop the scroll and drive engagement on social media. YBH Pulse Content generates 3-5 hooks automatically from your PRF, optimized for LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter.

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What are viral hooks?

Hooks are short, punchy statements that:
  • Capture attention - Make people stop scrolling
  • Promise value - Hint at insight or controversy
  • Drive engagement - Encourage clicks, shares, and comments
  • Maintain brand voice - Align with YBH’s “unsell” philosophy
Great hooks combine curiosity with credibility. They tease insight without clickbait.

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Hook types

The hooks generator produces different formats:

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Pattern interrupt hooks

Challenge common assumptions:
“Everyone talks about ‘digital transformation.’ Mark Baker says that’s the problem.”

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Contrarian hooks

Take an unpopular stance:
“IT governance doesn’t slow teams down. It’s the excuse teams use when they don’t want accountability.”

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Specificity hooks

Lead with concrete numbers or facts:
“After interviewing 380 IT leaders, one pattern stood out: the vendors they trusted most were the ones who told them ‘no.’”

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Curiosity hooks

Promise a surprising insight:
“The fastest way to lose your IT team’s trust? Mark Baker explains what most CIOs get wrong.”

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Pain point hooks

Call out a familiar frustration:
“Your IT budget is being held hostage by vendors. Here’s how Mark Baker helps companies break free.”

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How hooks generation works

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Automatic generation

Hooks are generated automatically after PRF creation:
1

PRF created

The system generates the PRF from your transcript.
2

Hooks agent activated

The hooks agent analyzes the PRF for viral moments, key insights, and quotable content.
3

RAG search performed

The agent searches for successful hook patterns from past episodes.
4

3-5 hooks generated

A mix of hook types is created, formatted in HTML for the rich text editor.
5

Saved to episode

Hooks appear in the Hooks tab, ready for editing or approval.
File reference: src/pages/EpisodeDetailPage.tsx:257-296

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Fact verification

Hooks are verified against the transcript to prevent hallucinations:
The hooks agent receives both the PRF and the original transcript. This ensures all claims, quotes, and statistics in hooks are grounded in what the guest actually said.
File reference: src/services/ai.ts:52-90

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Hook structure

Each hook follows a pattern:

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Opening statement

The attention-grabber (1 sentence):
“Mark Baker doesn’t believe in ‘vendor partnerships.’”

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Context or proof

Why this matters or evidence (1-2 sentences):
“After 15 years in IT procurement, he’s seen the same pattern: vendors promise collaboration, then optimize for their own revenue.”

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Payoff or CTA

What the audience gains (1 sentence):
“On episode 348, he reveals the 3 questions that expose whether a vendor is actually aligned with your goals.”

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Example hook

Complete hook format: 
**Mark Baker doesn't believe in "vendor partnerships."**

After 15 years in IT procurement, he's seen the same pattern: vendors promise collaboration, then optimize for their own revenue.

On episode 348 of You've Been Heard, he reveals the 3 questions that expose whether a vendor is actually aligned with your goals.

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Editing hooks

Hooks are fully editable in the TipTap rich text editor:

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Editor features

  • Bold, italic - Emphasize key words
  • Line breaks - Adjust pacing and readability
  • Reordering - Drag and drop hooks to rearrange
  • Deletion - Remove weak hooks
  • Duplication - Copy a hook and create variations
File reference: src/pages/EpisodeDetailPage.tsx:470-474

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Editing best practices

If a hook starts generically (“IT leaders face many challenges…”), replace with specificity:Before: “IT leaders face many challenges in vendor selection.”After: “Mark Baker walked away from a $2M software deal. Here’s why.”
Always reference the episode number and guest name for attribution:“On episode 348, Mark Baker explains…”
Post the hook on LinkedIn or Twitter to see what resonates before using it in other content.

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Regenerating hooks

To create a fresh set of hooks:
1

Navigate to Hooks tab

Open the episode detail page and click the Hooks tab.
2

Click 'Generate Hooks'

The button appears at the top of the tab. Existing hooks are replaced.
3

Wait for generation

Takes 20-40 seconds. You’ll see a status indicator.
4

Review new hooks

Compare to the previous version (use Sanity history if needed).
Regenerating hooks replaces all existing hooks. If you want to keep some, copy them to a text file first.
File reference: src/pages/EpisodeDetailPage.tsx:257-296

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Approval workflow

Approve hooks when they’re ready for use in social content:

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Approval process

  1. Review hooks - Check for accuracy, brand voice, and engagement potential
  2. Edit if needed - Strengthen weak hooks or remove off-brand content
  3. Click ‘Approve’ - Green checkmark appears with timestamp
  4. Generate social posts - LinkedIn and Instagram posts now reference approved hooks

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Approval states

  • Unapproved (yellow warning): “These hooks haven’t been approved yet.”
  • Approved (green checkmark): “Approved on [timestamp]”
File reference: src/pages/EpisodeDetailPage.tsx:579-591
Approving hooks doesn’t prevent editing. It’s a team coordination signal, not a lock.

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Using hooks in other content

Hooks serve as the foundation for:

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LinkedIn posts

Hooks become opening lines for LinkedIn posts:
Hook: “Mark Baker doesn’t believe in ‘vendor partnerships.’” LinkedIn post: Expands the hook into a 3-paragraph post with a CTA to the episode.
File reference: src/pages/EpisodeDetailPage.tsx:299-355

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Instagram captions

Hooks are adapted for Instagram’s visual-first format:
Hook: “After 15 years in IT procurement, Mark Baker has seen every vendor trick.” Instagram caption: Pairs with a quote card or infographic, condensed to fit Instagram’s tone.
File reference: src/pages/EpisodeDetailPage.tsx:357-406

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Video clips

Hooks identify segments worth clipping for YouTube Shorts or TikTok:
Hook: “The 3 questions that expose bad vendor alignment.” Video clip: Finds the transcript segment where Mark explains these questions, includes timestamps.
File reference: src/pages/EpisodeDetailPage.tsx:408-468

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Quote cards

Hooks suggest pull quotes for visual content:
Hook: “Governance doesn’t slow teams down—it’s the excuse they use.” Quote card: Designed as a 1:1 Instagram graphic with the guest’s name and episode number.

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Customizing hooks generation

Control hook style and tone through Settings:

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Hooks agent prompt

  1. Go to Settings > Agents
  2. Select Hooks Agent
  3. Edit the System Prompt
  4. Add brand-specific examples or tone guidance
  5. Save and regenerate hooks
File reference: src/pages/EpisodeDetailPage.tsx:130-141

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Prompt variables

Use these dynamic fields in your custom prompt:
  • {episodeNumber} - Episode number
  • {guestName} - Guest’s full name

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Example custom prompt

Generate 4 viral hooks for episode {episodeNumber} with {guestName}.

Brand voice: Anti-spin, pro-IT leader. We "unsell" vendors.

Hook formula:
1. Contrarian statement or surprising fact
2. Why it matters (1 sentence)
3. Payoff ("On episode {episodeNumber}, {guestName} explains...")

Avoid:
- Generic marketing language
- Clickbait without substance
- Claims not supported by transcript

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Agentic AI features

The hooks agent uses RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) to:

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Learn from past success

Searches Pinecone for high-performing hooks from previous episodes:
  • Hooks with high LinkedIn engagement
  • Quote cards that drove Instagram saves
  • Video clips with strong watch time

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Ensure variety

Tracks recently used hook patterns to avoid repetition:
  • Doesn’t overuse “After interviewing X people…”
  • Varies sentence structure and opening formats
  • Balances contrarian vs. curiosity vs. specificity hooks

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Maintain brand voice

Retrieves YBH brand guidelines from vector search:
  • “Unsell” philosophy
  • Anti-spin tone
  • Pro-IT leader perspective
File reference: src/pages/EpisodeDetailPage.tsx:262-275

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Troubleshooting

Possible causes:
  • PRF is missing or too short
  • Transcript not available for fact verification
  • AI model API timeout
Solution: Ensure PRF exists and is at least 500 words. Regenerate PRF if needed, then retry hooks.
Possible causes:
  • PRF lacks specific insights or viral moments
  • Default prompt is too conservative
Solution:
  • Edit PRF to highlight contrarian takes or surprising facts
  • Customize hooks agent prompt to encourage bolder angles
  • Manually rewrite hooks after generation
Possible causes:
  • AI hallucination despite fact-checking
  • Transcript has transcription errors
Solution:
  • Always review hooks against the original transcript
  • Use spell check and fact verification tools in Posts tab
  • Report persistent issues to improve fact-checker training

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Next steps

LinkedIn posts

Generate LinkedIn posts using your hooks

Visual suggestions

Create quote cards from viral hooks

Video clips

Generate short-form video suggestions

PRF generation

Return to PRF generation overview

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