The content creation component that makes or brakes your success - intro

That's right, the secret content creation component is your intro. It's your only chance to earn audience attention. Why? If you're not able to grab them in the beginning, they'll bounce back and you'll lose the view. As simple as that.

Treat your intro as the hook that gives the audience a reason to stay. No matter if you make written or video content, you must build it up to excite your audience. If you can't deliver your content value upfront in the intro, you've failed the mission from the get-go.

How to unpack this content creation component

Think of your content this way:

• title - what?
• thumbnail - how?
• intro - why?

To get the views you deserve, your title and thumbnail should walk the audience into the intro, which has to hook, set expectations, and overdeliver.

Let's unravel this.

#1 intro component: hook

Your first sentence should push the right buttons for the audience to stay. Play with emotions. Tell them what they will win or learn if they watch this content. 

Pose the right questions to spark interest. Build curiosity gaps, that is, open information loops that you'll answer later on.

For example, this is pure brilliance from a video on the Beast Philanthropy channel

"Giving 20,000 Shoes To Kids In Africa". The first sentence just locks you in.

"For hundreds of thousands of kids in South Africa, the only thing standing between them and an education is a simple pair of shoes."

Did you get that? The information loop? Why should a pair of shoes be the only thing standing between kids and an education? It doesn't make sense, does it? Not in this case. The story follows up with a great explanation.

#2 intro component: set expectations

You must match the expectations set in the title and thumbnail right away. Otherwise, you risk losing the audience to a clickbaity title. Set the stage of what your story is about and how you’ll cover the idea. Explain key points what your audience can expect form this content. And deliver.

#3 intro component: overdeliver

Surprise your audience! Pull out a couple of cheeky surprises that will get them more than expected. It might be an extra learning, a freebie, an exclusive offer to the viewers only, etc. 

Make your audience feel that their time is well spent and they'll get more value if they stick around.

What's key in this content creation component?

Most importantly, your intro has to answer this: what reason did I give to read or watch my content? If you're unable to package this in a sentence, you might struggle with earning your audience attention. 

Here's how I do it. After creating my idea bank, I always evaluate my ideas based on this content creation efficiency template. Analysing the "why" alongside the description and thumbnail makes it so much easier to decide which ones to push to production. To do that, I use the idea evaluation template to understand the operational steps and resources needed for production.

There you go. Keep that "why" in mind when you craft your intros, but also throughout your content creation process. To make it easier, feel free to use my intro checklist. Try it out and let me know how you get on!

Want to take your content creation even further?

If you found this content useful, you should check out this silent content creation hack to get the click.

What if I told you these minor changes in content creation can explode your brand?

If you want to grow your brand with some simple hacks anyone can do, let me know. Get a head start, because many tech companies are missing out on this!

Are you ready to shift gears? I’d be happy to help you out with content strategy and copywriting.