Your video’s first 10 seconds are its audition. If viewers do not instantly get what they will learn, feel, or gain, they click away.

Here’s the hard truth: most creators lose 

20% of their viewers in the first 15 seconds

. Not because the content sucks, but because the intro does.

But the good news? Great hooks aren’t magic. Watch our very own John Scott tell you why in his creative ways below:

 that grabs people by the brain and won’t let go, you’re in the right place. Let’s break down the nine best intro techniques the top creators use to stop scrolls and build loyal audiences.

Read our complete YouTube intro guide here

1. The Curiosity Hook: Ask a Question That Demands an Answer

Humans hate open loops. It’s why we binge Netflix and fall down Wikipedia rabbit holes at 2am. Drop an intriguing question in your intro, and you’re hijacking your viewer’s brain.

“Today I’m going to show you how to grow on YouTube.”

“One video changed everything for me, but it wasn’t the one I expected.”

 to stick around. Which video? What happened? Why?

The best hooks spark curiosity and make it specific. “Why did a video about my biggest failure get more views than my best tutorial?” That’s not just interesting, it’s impossible to ignore.

 “I thought I knew [topic], until I found out [surprising twist].”

Nobody has time for long-winded intros anymore. Drop your viewers into the middle of the moment like they’ve walked into a movie halfway through, and they’ll want to stay to figure out what’s happening.

“It’s 2am. I just lost 43 subscribers in one hour. I made a huge mistake.”

This produces instant intrigue. What happened at 2 am? What mistake? Why the subscriber loss? The drama doesn’t need to be huge, it just needs to matter. The key is to start 

 “It’s [time]. I’m [in the middle of problem]. Here’s what I did next.”

3. The Audience-Centric Hook: It’s About Them, Not You

Viewers are self-serving for the most part. And that’s not a bad thing, but just reality. You’re not the hero of your video. 

“Your YouTube intros are putting people to sleep. Here’s why.”

This hits because it’s direct, a little provocative, and immediately valuable. You’re pointing out a problem they didn’t know they had, and promising to fix it.

Forget vague advice. Call out a real issue with sharp clarity:

“You’re losing 40% of viewers in the first 30 seconds because your intros are too slow.”

: “You’re doing [common mistake], and it’s costing you [pain]. Let’s fix it.”

4. The Time-Promise Hook: Deliver Fast, Deliver Real

Attention is currency. And people only spend it when they know they’re getting something in return

“In the next 60 seconds, I’ll show you the thumbnail strategy that doubled my click-through rate.”

That’s not hype. That’s a contract. And if you keep that promise, you’ve earned their trust.

The best intros don’t just say “I’ll teach you something.” They say 

: “In the next [X] minutes, you’ll learn [specific outcome] so you can [benefit].”

If your intro has something on the line for your viewer, they have a reason to care.

“If this video doesn’t hit 10,000 views, I’m quitting YouTube.”

Now it’s not just a video. It’s a turning point. A risk. A moment of truth.

But stakes don’t have to be extreme. Even personal stakes build investment:

“This is the advice I wish I had before wasting two years on YouTube.”

It’s real. It’s emotional. And it makes people lean in.

: “If you don’t fix [problem], you’ll keep [bad outcome]. Here’s the workaround.”

6. The Contrarian Hook: Say What No One Else Will

The best intros often flip the script. They challenge what people think they know and make them want to hear your reasoning.

Contrarian hooks work because they disrupt expectations. But they only work if you back them up with logic and proof. Find the sacred elements in your niche, and ask if they’re really helping your audience.

: “Stop doing [popular advice]. Do this instead, and here’s why.”

7. The Visual Hook: Show Something They Can’t Ignore

Words are optional when the visuals say it all.

A creator in a wedding dress talking business. A serious tutorial that opens with a cat in a suit. An otherwise polished YouTuber looking like they haven’t slept in a week.

. It sparks curiosity before you say a word. But here’s the rule: 

. Your visual must tie into your message, or it’s just noise.

 “Show [unexpected visual] first, then say: ‘This happened because [reason].’”

Numbers hit different. They carry weight, authority, and curiosity in one punch.

“Only 6.6% of YouTube channels ever reach 1,000 subscribers.”

Boom. Now your viewer wants to know: How do I get into that 6.6%?

Make sure the stat is relevant, surprising, and tied directly to a viewer pain point. Then immediately follow up with the 

 “[Surprising stat]. That’s why most people fail at [goal]. Here’s the fix.”

9. The Unanswered Question: Spark Self-Reflection

Sometimes the best hook doesn’t need to give an answer. It just has to plant a thought.

“What if everything you know about success is wrong?”

“When was the last time you were actually proud of something you made?”

These intros make people pause—not just to keep watching, but to think. You’re not just making content. You’re starting a conversation inside their head.

: “What if [assumption] is wrong, and the real reason is [new idea]?”

Copy and Paste YouTube Hook Templates to Try (Fill in the Blanks)

 “I thought I knew [topic], until I discovered [surprising twist].”

 “It’s [time/place]. I’m [in the middle of the problem]. Here’s what happened next.”

 “If you’re doing [common mistake], you’re getting [bad result]. Let’s fix it.”

 “In the next [X] minutes, you’ll learn [specific outcome] so you can [benefit].”

 “If you don’t fix [problem], you’ll keep [painful outcome]. Here’s the workaround.”

 “Stop doing [popular advice]. Do this instead, and here’s why.”

 “[Show: surprising visual/result]. ‘This happened because [reason].’”

 “[Surprising stat]. That’s why most people struggle with [goal]. Here’s the fix.”

 “What if [common assumption] is wrong, and the real reason is [new idea]?”

 combine multiple techniques. A stat. A story. A visual. A question. They hit from different angles, and hit fast.

Because the job of your intro isn’t just to 

So, the next time you’re prepping a video, spend as much time crafting your first 30 seconds as you do scripting the rest. Without a killer intro, nobody sticks around to see how great your content really is.

 is more than an opening. It’s the handshake and the first impression. 

Master these 9 proven hook scripts, tailor them to your topic, and earn the next 30 seconds.

9 YouTube Hooks That Keep Viewers Watching

YouTube's Collab feature has quietly become one of the platform's most effective tools for channel growth. Unlike many features that promise big results but underdeliver, this one actually works as advertised. And creators of all sizes are seeing real benefits.

In this episode of Tubetalk, vidIQ hosts Rob, Travis, and Pragya discuss their separate experiences of using the collab feature to the test across three different vidIQ channels with varying audience sizes. When used strategically, this feature doesn't just boost visibility, it fundamentally changes 

The Collab feature isn't just another cross-promotion tactic. When you publish a collab video with another creator, your video appears in their subscribers' feeds as if they uploaded it themselves. It lands at the top of their subscription feed, giving you immediate exposure to an entirely new audience.

This direct placement makes Collabs fundamentally different from shoutouts, guest appearances, or traditional collaborations. You're not simply hoping viewers click through from another video.

“The way the collab feature works is it puts the video at least first in the subscription feed of the other channel. This video, for example, is primarily posted on the Podcast channel, but it will be shown in the subscriber feed of vidIQ India and the main channel” Travis says

But here's what makes it truly powerful: the feature also influences YouTube's algorithm. When your content aligns with your collaborator's audience, the platform begins testing your video more aggressively, opening up opportunities for recommendations and sustained growth. That's exactly what we saw with our channels!

Case Study 1: Launching a Brand-New Channel

Early in November, vidIQ India and the channel host Prags started with zero subscribers, like most creators on YouTube. However, there was already a large community of Indian creators using vidIQ's main platform.

 Posted on vidIQ India with a collab from the main vidIQ channel

 Posted without a collab to test organic momentum

 (far exceeding the initial expectation of 200)

The second video's performance proved something crucial: the collab didn't artificially inflate numbers. It introduced the right viewers to the channel, and those viewers genuinely cared about the content. The Indian vidIQ community was excited to see content tailored specifically for them, and they stuck around.

"This is where things get interesting because the second video is standing on it's own two feet. We've given it a launchpad, but now the audience is naturally gravitating towards the channel." Rob says

Case Study #2: Partnering with a Much Larger Channel

, a channel with 1.8 million subscribers. The vidIQ Podcast channel, by comparison, had only around 4,000 subscribers—a massive size difference.

Approximately 14,000 views from an audience that wasn't originally ours

Traffic source of vidIQ podcast and speeed collab

“The podcast channel has 4,000 subscribers… statistically impossible to generate 14,000 views from that feed. This is the collaboration tool in a nutshell." Rob says

The collab tag pushed a relevant video to a massive, aligned audience, and they showed up.

Case Study #3: When Engagement Trumps Size

The third test involved Nomad Push, a creator with around 300,000 subscribers, which is a deeply engaged community. This collab produced the most interesting algorithmic results.

 from YouTube Recommendations (not subscription feeds)

188 new subscribers from this single video

Video analytics of vidIQ podcast collab with Nomad Push

 revealed something crucial: when content deeply aligns with a collaborator's audience, the algorithm works harder for you. The majority of views came from YouTube's recommendation system, not just the initial subscription boost. This creates algorithmic momentum that extends far beyond the collab itself.

Based on our testing, here's how to maximize the Collab feature:

Bigger isn't always better. Focus on relevance. Look for channels whose audiences will genuinely care about your topic, even if those channels are similar in size to yours.

“When I had 500 subscribers, I was collabing with other 500-sub channels and getting 1,000–2,000 views. If we had this feature back then, it would have been amazing.” Travis says

Your video must resonate with the collaborator's viewers within the first 30 to 60 seconds. Ask yourself: 

would their audience watch this video even if they didn't know who you are? 

The thumbnail gets them to click, but the content has to keep them engaged.

Your first collab video gets the boost from their subscription feed. Your second video proves whether that new audience actually cares about your content. If retention and engagement hold strong on video two, you've successfully expanded your audience.

Recommendations boost (is the algorithm picking it up?)

Subscribers gained (are people converting?)

Return viewers on your next upload (did they stick around?)

Now that we have this feature that works exactly as promised, it's up to us creators to use it wisely. 

So, use the tips to get your collabs going!

Learn from our creators the hidden potential of the YouTube Collaboration Feature and use it to maximize your growth!

How to Use the YouTube Collaborations Feature Effectively

isn't just a travel channel. It's a moving case study in resilience, resourcefulness, and narrative design. After six years of grinding a Japanese skateboarding channel to 90,000 subscribers, he watched it all evaporate. And that was just the beginning of his hardships.

In this heartfelt episode of Tubetalk, our host, Travis, spoke with Robin Suzuki, a.k.a. Nomad Push, about his journey and overcoming massive losses. Listen to the episode right here:

Robin Suzuki, the man behind Nomad Push, started as a skateboarding content creator who was born and raised on the small island of Saipan. At the age of 23, he moved to Japan to work as a salaried professional. But it wasn't the life he wanted.

"I got depressed. I wanted to change my life, so I started YouTube. But it didn't work out for like 6 years", Robin says. "I couldn't pay my bills. So, I ended up becoming homeless, but still went for it."

The Tokyo Olympics skateboarding boom faded, and with it, the hype of topical content. To add insult to injury, his creative partner left the channel, ending their stint on YouTube.

"Everything was not going well. Our relationship started to become weird... It became stressful for him", says Robin. "I felt a very short sadness. But I didn't want to give up."

And with this resolve came the idea of his biggest challenge yet: skating across Japan from north to south.

This was the start of his personal "all or nothing" content philosophy. Robin was skating the entire length of Japan, livestreaming 8 hours a day, covering 30 kilometres a day.

"You had nothing else with you but a backpack of stuff, your skateboard, and stuff. And that's it!" Travis says. "That almost sounds like a Mr. Beast type thing. It feels like you should be a 1 million subscriber channel."

The reality was nothing like it, however. From the entire series, Robin barely made $1000, most of it coming from Super Chats. His finances were in disarray, and the hard work was taking its toll.

"I'm getting older. I was like 37 at that time. My knee was hurting crazy. My shoulder was hurting. I have to do this big challenge to make less than a grand. That kind of made me depressed."

But the crossing taught him something the algorithm never could: if the journey itself is extreme enough, even mundane moments like eating convenience store noodles at dusk, taping a sore knee, studying a paper map can engage audiences. That instinct became Nomad Push.

With $40 in his bank account and nowhere left to fall, Robin launched an English-first channel built on three pillars: movement, radical transparency, and practical value. He wasn't documenting poverty for pity. He was teaching resourcefulness while refusing to quit.

He turned Japanese internet cafes into his studio and shelter, filming full tours of the night pack booths, the private showers, the unlimited soda fountains, and the unspoken etiquette that keeps these spaces safe. He mapped budget routes through unpopular towns, highlighted parks with free toilets, and reviewed meals under two dollars.

His filming approach mirrored his nomadic reality: shoot for hours to catch unplanned encounters, then edit aggressively with a storyteller's instinct. He used quiet stretches as emotional breath instead of dead air, letting viewers feel the solitude and small victories that define life on the margins.

The channel became a crash course in traveling in Japan cheaply and safely, hosted by someone with no safety net. After uploading 5-10 videos, things took an unexpected turn for the better.

"This big YouTuber with 1.4 million subscribers wanted to interview homeless people in Japan", Robin says. "She interviewed me, and that video got like 2 million views."

This funneled thousands of new subscribers to Nomad Push in a matter of days, and Robin rode the surge like a wave. He tightened his intros, clarified stakes upfront, and published with relentless consistency. He leaned into keywords like "homeless" and "Japan" to feed search and suggested video algorithms, but he never let SEO override story.

YouTube SEO: How to Optimize Your Videos for Maximum Views

A supporter eventually gifted Robin a used scooter, and the channel unlocked a new altitude. With a moped, he could attempt a 47-prefecture tour across Japan, a year-long saga woven from dozens of micro-stories.

"After skateboarding across Korea and Japan, I was addicted to this adrenaline of challenge. It makes me feel empty if I am not doing something big", Robin says.

Getting the moped opened up horizons that he'd not seen before. He recorded conversations with shopkeepers, included food prices in every frame, and noted how his US-heavy audience boosted RPM. But the smartest move wasn't tactical; it was narrative building.

Robin set the next arc before the current one ended. He teased the vanlife era while still on the moped, preventing the post-challenge crash that kills momentum when a creator's signature stunt concludes. That handoff kept viewers emotionally subscribed to the journey itself, not just the vehicle or the gimmick.

Robin's channel offers a blueprint for building from the bottom up:

Burnout lurks when output outruns joy. Robin's playfulness—the "-san" jokes, the sound effects, the genuine curiosity about local oddities—fuels the consistency that algorithms reward. If you're not enjoying the process, neither will your audience.

When the stakes are real and the effort is visible, even quiet beats feel charged. Robin doesn't need flashy edits or manufactured drama. The fact that he's actually homeless, actually riding through bear territory, actually navigating Japan with pocket change gives every frame an undercurrent of tension and triumph.

Shoutouts and viral moments open doors only if your pipeline is ready. Robin had a clear premise, a dependable upload cadence, and episodes designed to convert curiosity into habit. When the surge came, he didn't waste it chasing trends—he deepened what was already working.

Even at his lowest, Robin sounded like he was having fun. That tone became his differentiator. He proves you don't need a studio, a team, or financial stability to build something valuable. You need a skateboard, a story worth telling, and the stubborn belief that the next push matters.

How to Make Money on YouTube in 2025: A Complete Guide

vidIQ host Travis with Nomad Push in the background

From $40 in his bank account to hundreds of thousands of subscribers, here's the story of how Nomad Push overcame his adversities!

The Nomad Push Story: Turning Rock Bottom into YouTube Success

Every new YouTuber has looked at the metrics under a 

“How am I supposed to compete with that?

” And that begins a spiral that can quickly get out of control.

The truth is, you don't have to. You don't need a warehouse full of equipment or millions of dollars in giveaways to make your content work. What you actually need is to understand what's working for creators like you, and how to remix winning ideas into your own unique voice.

This is where vidIQ's most powerful tools come into play.

vidIQ Outlier Tool: Find Winning Content on YouTube

The Outlier Tool is designed to surface videos that outperform expectations, and most importantly, do so on channels of your size. This isn't about analyzing what works for creators with a million subscribers. This is about finding blueprints that are proven to work at your level.

The tool identifies outlier videos, which are content that performs significantly better than a channel's usual performance. These videos are absolute goldmines for inspiration because they reveal what's actually resonating with audiences right now.

Once you sign up for vidIQ and download the extension, you’ll be able to see how well a video is performing compared to the channel’s average. In a moment’s glance, you’ll be able to do minutes' worth of research. And that’s just the start of it.

When you're using the Outliers Tool, you'll see several important data points:

This measures how far a video exceeds the channel's average performance. A high outlier score means this video is punching way above its weight.

This tells you how fast the video is gaining traction. Fast growth signals a hot topic or irresistible packaging.

So you're not wasting time analyzing a 1M-sub channel when you've got 500 subscribers.

 Recent uploads are more relevant because they reflect current trends and algorithm preferences.

This helps you spot both sleeper hits and explosive breakouts.

All of these metrics are available everywhere on YouTube, wherever you can click on a video.

You’ll be able to see the outlier tool on the vidIQ webapp dashboard. By default, it will show you videos on your niche that are performing as outliers.

The magic, however, isn't just in having access to the tool; it's in knowing how to filter and interpret the data strategically.

You're not just scrolling aimlessly through thousands of videos. You're targeting with precision. And with filters, you can customize the following:

Narrow it down to creators in your league. If you have 2,000 subscribers, filter for channels under 5K or 10K subs.

Set it to the last 3–6 months to catch fresh trends that are still relevant.

Pick Shorts, long-form videos, or even specific thumbnail styles depending on what you're trying to create.

Of course, all of this data can work wonders when put to use properly. And we want to make it simple for every creator. The Remix tool can take all of this data and give you:

These aren't carbon copies of the original idea. 

 generates inspired thumbnails, scripts, titles, and hooks while keeping the visual hooks and compositional elements that work, giving you full freedom to customize and make them your own.

How to Find Winning YouTube Video Ideas in Minutes with vidIQ Remix

When you use the Outliers and Remix tools together, here's what you end up with:

You're not guessing what might work. You're building on what already does.

Your own spin and voice make the content stand out from the original inspiration.

You're using tested visual and title frameworks, but improving them with your creativity.

You're adding value to a conversation that audiences want to engage with

The biggest mistake new creators make is comparing themselves to mega-creators who have unlimited resources, massive teams, and years of audience-building behind them. That comparison isn't just unfair — it's useless.

Instead, start asking the right questions:

What videos are working for channels around my size?

What content from other niches can be reshaped for my audience?

How can I put my own spin on what's already working?

This shift in mindset is a complete game-changer. It replaces guesswork with smart strategy and overwhelms with focus. You're no longer trying to reinvent the wheel but learning from what's already rolling and making it yours.

graphical representation of the Outliers Tool

Learn how to use vidIQ's Outliers Tool to find proven video ideas and analyze outperforming content at your channel size!

Grow Faster on YouTube with the vidIQ Outliers Tool

When you buy YouTube subscribers, you’re filling your channel with fake accounts that quietly damage your analytics, slow your organic growth, and damage your credibility with real viewers and brands.

Maybe your channel has not grown for some time. Maybe your views spike and then die. Maybe your competitors seem to rocket past you while your numbers barely move.

On the surface, buying YouTube subscribers feels like a shortcut. You pay some money, your subscriber count jumps, and you hope that bigger numbers will finally unlock trust, maybe brand deals, and monetization.

Here’s what really happens when you buy subscribers, why it hurts so much in the long run, and what to do instead if you are serious about building a channel that lasts.

Let’s be honest about why buying subscribers is so tempting. Many creators feel stuck early on, and buying subscribers looks like a quick fix for slow growth. It often comes from real frustration, not bad intentions.

illustration of a small YouTube channel dashboard with 12 subscribers and low view video thumbnails

Creators may worry that viewers are less likely to subscribe to a brand new channel with only a handful of subs, so they assume inflating their actual subscriber count will help create initial social proof.

In reality, artificially boosting these numbers does far more harm than having a small but genuine audience.

You need 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours to even 

 When you're stuck at 200 subs after six months of work, buying your way to the threshold feels like the only path forward.

The truth is that manipulating your numbers puts monetization at greater risk than slow, real growth ever will.

The loneliness of slow growth wears you down

You're creating in a vacuum. No comments, no community, no feedback loop. Just you, your camera, and silence.

These feelings are legitimate. Growing a YouTube channel from scratch is genuinely difficult, especially in 2026 when every niche feels saturated. The creators who've succeeded make it look easy, but most of them struggled through the same lonely early phase you're experiencing now.

You might see offers to buy YouTube subs that promise nothing can go wrong. They talk about instant trust, "real accounts", and overnight results. When you feel like you have tried everything and nothing is working, that pitch is hard to ignore. The problem is that purchasing them can make everything worse.

Buying YouTube subscribers fills your channel with fake and uninterested accounts that wreck your analytics, hurt recommendations and risk monetization. Instead of wasting money on fake growth, invest in real content, better packaging, and legitimate promotion like YouTube ads to attract interested subscribers.

Uttaran Samaddar

Posts Written By Uttaran Samaddar

9 YouTube Hooks That Keep Viewers Watching

How to Use the YouTube Collaborations Feature Effectively

The Nomad Push Story: Turning Rock Bottom into YouTube Success

Grow Faster on YouTube with the vidIQ Outliers Tool

The Truth About Buying YouTube Subscribers

How the YouTube Algorithm Works in 2026: Updates & Tips

Top 10 Thanksgiving Keywords on YouTube

Top 10 Black Friday Keywords on YouTube

Top 15 Halloween Keywords on YouTube

YouTube Updates Policy on AI Content

How Much Does YouTube Pay For 1,000 Subscribers in 2025?

How to Monetize a YouTube Podcast: Brand Deals and Sponsorships