12 carousel hook formulas that make people swipe

Nobody swipes to slide two because slide one was "fine". The cover of your carousel has one job: make the next swipe feel necessary. These are the formulas we lean on — each with a fill-in-the-blank template.

Curiosity

1. The hidden truth — "Nobody tells you this about [topic]."
2. The open loop — "I changed one thing in my [process]. Here's what happened."
3. The question — "Why does [common thing] keep failing?"

Specific promise

1. The numbered list — "[N] [topic] ideas I wish I'd known sooner."
2. The how-to — "How to [result] without [pain] (step by step)."
3. The template — "Steal my [N]-step [thing] template."

Tension

1. The contrarian — "Unpopular opinion: [common advice] is holding you back."
2. The mistake — "[N] [topic] mistakes that cost you [result]."
3. Myth vs. truth — "Myth: [belief]. Truth: [reality]."

Story and proof

1. Before / after — "Before: [pain]. After: [result]. What changed:"
2. The lesson — "[Time] of [doing thing] taught me this."
3. The behind-the-scenes — "Exactly how I [do thing], start to finish."

Rules that make any formula work

• Under 12 words. If it doesn't fit in two big lines, cut it.
• Be specific. "3 pricing mistakes freelancers make" beats "Pricing tips".
• Never promise what the carousel doesn't deliver. Clickbait gets the swipe once, then costs you the follow.
• No invented numbers. Use real figures from your own work or leave them out.
• Design for the thumbnail. Huge headline, high contrast, one idea.

Get 10 hooks in seconds

Type your topic into our free Hook Generator and it writes ten hooks using these formulas. When you've picked one, Article Artist can turn the article behind it into a full carousel — see how.