How to make viral UGC videos.
Bite-sized lessons from the videos that actually shipped 6-figure view counts for us. Every lesson under 6 minutes.
Hook formulas — first 3 seconds
Steal these openings. Each one is field-tested in our top-performing videos.
Why polarising openers out-retain neutral ones, and the 4 variants we use.
Numbers create open loops. The sweet number is 3. We tested 5, 7, 10 — they all lose.
Frame as conspiracy + curiosity. The question itself is the hook — answer at second 8.
Lead with the outcome, not the journey. Tease a number that feels almost-too-good.
Loss-aversion is louder than gain. Open with what people are getting wrong.
Visual hook before any words. Best for screen recordings & before/after content.
Example winning videos
Anonymised, but the structures are 1:1 reusable
Common mistakes
What kills a UGC submission before it even reaches a reviewer.
- 1Long intro. Anything over 2.5s of "hey guys" is dead on arrival.
- 2Two CTAs. Pick one action — "tap pin", "follow", "comment". Two competes with itself.
- 3No captions. 80% of feeds are watched silently. No subtitles = no retention.
- 4Reading from script. Filmed eyes scanning kills credibility. Memorise the first 8 seconds.
- 5Single cut. Static talking-head loses to dynamic cuts on every platform.
Platform-specific tips
Algorithm cheat sheet. Same video, different platform, very different result.
Retention > everything. The algorithm rewards 1.0x+ watch time. Loop the hook with the outro to push 110%+.
Shares matter most. End with a line worth screenshotting or sending to a friend. "Send this to someone learning English."
CTR on the cover frame is half the battle. Bold text + a face mid-action. Title under 50 chars.