Step 7 — Create Attention Hooks

The Problem We’re Solving

“I know what I want to say, but I don’t know what to say to make the right customer stop and pay attention.”

You now have:

• Your Best-Fit Customer

• Their Buying Situation

• Their Alternatives

• Your Position

• Your Differentiation

• Your Core Message

You know who you want to reach.

You know what problem they have.

You know what they want.

You know why your offer is different.

But none of that guarantees that the right person will notice you.

Your customer is constantly exposed to:

• Social media posts

• Videos

• Emails

• Advertisements

• Articles

• Offers

• Sales messages

• Notifications

You are competing for attention.

But EVUNN is not trying to help you get everyone’s attention.

You want the right person to stop.

The goal of a hook is therefore not simply:

“Look at me.”

It is:

“If you’re experiencing this, this is for you.”

A strong hook creates recognition.

It makes the right person think:

“That’s exactly what I’m dealing with.”

or:

“I’ve been wondering about that.”

or:

“I need to understand this.”

The EVUNN Mindset Shift

From “How do I get attention?” → “How do I earn relevant attention?”

Experts often make the mistake of trying to create something that will appeal to everybody.

That produces vague messages such as:

“Are you ready to transform your business?”

The problem is that almost anyone can relate to it.

And therefore, almost nobody feels specifically addressed.

The opposite mistake is creating hooks simply because they are provocative or clever.

That may generate attention without generating relevant attention.

Your objective is different.

Don’t chase attention. Create recognition.

Your hook should connect to something your Best-Fit Customer already:

• Experiences

• Wants

• Questions

• Fears

• Believes

• Struggles with

• Is trying to accomplish

• Is considering before buying

This is why the work you have already done matters.

Your hooks should come from the customer research and positioning decisions you have already made, not from random content ideas.

📖 Recommended Book

They Ask, You Answer

Author: Marcus Sheridan

The Big Idea

The questions, concerns and buying issues customers raise can become the foundation for marketing that earns attention and builds trust.

The book specifically introduces the process of brainstorming the questions customers are asked every day in Chapter 6, then develops the idea through the discovery of The Big 5 in Chapter 9 and the chapters covering pricing, problems, comparisons, reviews and best-in-class solutions.

This makes it useful for Step 7.

However, there is an important distinction:

They Ask, You Answer is not a “hook-writing” book.

We are using it to teach you where strong hooks come from:

Real customer questions and concerns.

You will then use those insights to create your own hooks.

What Business Problem Does This Book Solve?

“I don’t know what my customers actually want to hear from me.”

Many experts start marketing by asking:

“What should I post?”

That’s the wrong starting point.

Instead ask:

“What is my customer already asking, wondering, worrying about or trying to understand?”

Those questions give you raw material for:

• Hooks

• Content

• Headlines

• Videos

• Articles

• Emails

• Sales conversations

• FAQs

The book’s early chapters specifically take the reader from discovering customer questions to identifying the major categories of questions that influence buying decisions.

Should I Read It Now?

YES — but selectively.

You are not reading this book to build your entire content marketing system.

You are reading it to learn how to:

1. Listen for customer questions.

2. Identify the questions that matter.

3. Understand the concerns behind those questions.

4. Turn those insights into useful marketing topics.

5. Use those topics as raw material for attention.

Which Parts Matter Most?

Based on the actual table of contents, I would focus on these chapters:

Chapter 6 — Brainstorming the Questions You Are Asked Every Day

ESSENTIAL

This is the most directly relevant chapter for this step.

The objective is to identify the questions your customers and prospects actually ask.

Don’t invent questions that sound like marketing questions.

Capture the language people really use.

Chapter 9 — The Discovery of The Big 5

ESSENTIAL

This introduces the major categories of questions customers want answered.

These become valuable sources of marketing topics and hooks.

Chapter 10 — The Big 5, Topic 1: Pricing and Cost

READ

Pricing questions often attract attention because they involve uncertainty and risk.

Look at how customers think about:

• Cost

• Value

• Affordability

• Risk

These can become powerful question and objection hooks.

Chapter 13 — The Big 5, Topic 2: Problems

ESSENTIAL

This is particularly relevant to EVUNN.

Your customer already has a problem.

Learn how to talk openly about that problem rather than immediately talking about your solution.

This provides material for problem-based hooks.

Chapter 17 — The Big 5, Topic 3: Versus and Comparisons

READ

Customers often want to know:

“Which option is better for me?”

Comparison questions can become excellent hooks because they address an active decision.

Chapter 19 — The Big 5, Topics 4 and 5: Reviews and Best in Class

READ

These help you understand the importance of:

• Social proof

• Evaluation

• Standards

• What customers consider “best”

Use these insights later when creating hooks around credibility and decision-making.

Chapter 21 — The Impact of Discussing Competition

SKIM

Useful for understanding how customers think about alternatives.

This connects directly to the Alternative Landscape you created in Step 3.

You do not need to turn this into a competitive marketing strategy yet.

What Should I Skip For Now?

There is a lot in They Ask, You Answer that belongs much later.

For Step 7, you can skip or save for later:

• Sales-team implementation

• Assignment selling

• Video strategy

• Content-team management

• Content marketing culture

• Website implementation

• Conversational marketing

• Self-selection tools

• Website priorities

The book later moves heavily into these areas, including sales teams, video, website design and implementation.

You don’t need those yet.

Your current objective is much narrower:

Discover what your customer cares enough about to pay attention to, then turn those insights into relevant hooks.

Your EVUNN Action

Build Your Marketing Hook Library

You are not trying to create one perfect headline.

You are creating a library of attention hooks that you can use across future marketing.

1. Bring Forward Your Customer

Return to your:

Best-Fit Customer

and:

Buying Situation

Ask:

“What is happening when this person becomes most aware of the problem?”

This gives you the context from which your hooks should be created.

2. List Their Real Questions

Write down at least 10 questions your customer is likely to ask.

Start with:

• What are they confused about?

• What are they worried about?

• What are they comparing?

• What are they trying to understand?

• What are they unsure about buying?

• What are they afraid of getting wrong?

• What do they want to know before taking action?

Don’t write questions that sound clever.

Write questions that sound like something the customer would actually say.

3. Go Beneath the Question

A surface question often hides a deeper concern.

For example:

“How much does this cost?”

may really mean:

“How do I know whether this will be worth the money?”

Or:

“Do I really need to specialise?”

may really mean:

“If I narrow my audience, will I lose potential customers?”

The deeper concern often produces the stronger hook.

4. Identify Their Problem Moments

Think about the situations in which your customer suddenly becomes aware of the problem.

Complete:

“They usually notice this problem when…”

Create at least five situations.

For example:

• When they lose a client

• When they are promoted

• When revenue stalls

• When a deadline approaches

• When a customer complains

These situations can become situation-based hooks.

5. Create Problem Hooks

Make the customer recognise the problem.

Examples:

Why experienced professionals struggle to turn their expertise into an offer customers understand.

The real reason your expertise isn’t translating into sales.

You may not have an expertise problem. You may have a positioning problem.

The hook should come from the actual problem you identified.

6. Create Situation Hooks

Put the customer inside a recognisable moment.

For example:

You have 15 years of experience. Someone asks what you actually offer. Suddenly, you don’t know what to say.

Or:

You’ve just been promoted. Your former colleagues are now reporting to you.

The customer should recognise the situation before you explain the solution.

7. Create Outcome Hooks

Connect to what the customer wants.

Use structures such as:

How to [desired outcome] without [major frustration].

How [specific customer] can [desired result].

What changes when you finally [desired outcome].

Keep the outcome connected to the validated customer need.

8. Create Question Hooks

Turn the customer’s own questions into hooks.

For example:

Do you really need a niche to sell your expertise?

Why do customers say they want your service but still don’t buy?

How do you know whether your offer is actually worth the price you’re charging?

These work because they begin with something the customer is already thinking about.

9. Create Contrarian Hooks

Challenge an assumption your customer may hold.

For example:

More expertise may actually be making your offer harder to sell.

Trying to appeal to everyone may be costing you customers.

You don’t necessarily need more marketing. You may need a clearer market position.

But don’t manufacture controversy.

The insight must be real.

10. Create Curiosity Hooks

Create a reason to continue.

For example:

The question most experts answer too late when building an offer.

The positioning mistake that makes good offers look ordinary.

What customers notice before they ever look at your credentials.

The curiosity must eventually be resolved.

Never promise something the content cannot deliver.

11. Create Objection Hooks

Use the resistance you’ve already discovered.

For example:

“I don’t want to narrow my market.” Here’s what you’re really giving up by trying to serve everyone.

Think your customers aren’t willing to pay more? You may be asking the wrong question.

Objections can be excellent sources of attention because they represent an internal conversation already happening in the customer’s mind.

12. Create Comparison Hooks

Bring forward the alternatives from Step 3.

For example:

Should you solve this yourself or hire an expert?

Consultant, course or DIY: which is actually right for this problem?

Why customers choose one solution over another when the promised outcome looks similar.

These hooks connect your attention strategy to the customer’s buying decision.

13. Build Your Hook Categories

Create at least:

5 Problem Hooks

5 Situation Hooks

5 Outcome Hooks

5 Question Hooks

5 Contrarian / Curiosity Hooks

5 Objection / Comparison Hooks

That gives you a starting library of:

30 Attention Hooks

You can create more later.

The objective is not quantity for its own sake.

The objective is to create different ways of entering the same customer conversation.

14. Apply the Relevant Attention Test

For every hook, ask:

Is this specifically relevant to my Best-Fit Customer?

If not, remove it.

Does it connect to a real problem, desire, question or situation?

If not, remove it.

Would the right person recognise themselves?

If not, make it more specific.

Does it make them want to continue?

If not, strengthen it.

Can I actually deliver on the promise?

If not, rewrite it.

15. Apply the Wrong-Attention Test

This is one of the most important checks.

Ask:

“Could this hook attract lots of people who will never need my offer?”

If yes, it may be too broad.

For example:

“How to become successful.”

could attract almost anyone.

But:

“Why experienced consultants struggle to turn their expertise into a specialised offer.”

is much more targeted.

Remember:

Attention is not the goal.

Relevant attention is the goal.

16. Connect Your Hooks to Your Core Message

Your hooks should not become random content ideas.

They should lead back to Step 6.

Think of the relationship as:

Customer

↓

Problem / Desire / Question

↓

Hook

↓

Core Message

↓

Offer

The hook gets attention.

The core message creates understanding.

The offer provides the solution.

17. Don’t Create Hooks From Your Expertise Alone

This is an important EVUNN rule.

Your expertise can tell you:

What you know.

But your customer tells you:

What is worth talking about.

Don’t create hooks simply because you have something interesting to teach.

Ask:

“Does this matter to the person I’m trying to reach?”

If not, it may be useful knowledge—but it isn’t necessarily useful marketing.

🧠 EVUNN Mindset Checkpoint

“What if people judge me?”

Creating hooks means putting your thinking into public view.

For some experts, this creates resistance:

“What if nobody responds?”

“What if people criticise me?”

“Who am I to talk about this?”

“What if I get it wrong?”

If this is the resistance you’re experiencing, don’t confuse fear of visibility with evidence that your message isn’t valuable.

You don’t need to feel completely confident before you begin.

You need to be willing to test.

Optional Mindset Reading

Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway — Susan Jeffers

Use this only if fear of visibility, judgment or taking action is preventing you from creating and testing your hooks.

This is not required reading for Step 7.

It is an optional mindset checkpoint.

🔓 EVUNN Execution Toolkit

Marketing Hook Builder

Stop wondering what to say every time you need to market your offer.

Use the EVUNN Marketing Hook Builder to turn your customer’s real problems, situations, questions, desired outcomes, objections and buying concerns into a structured library of relevant attention hooks.

→ Unlock The Toolkit

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No monthly subscription. No recurring fees. Just the tools you need to execute.

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Your Step 7 Output

By the end of this step, you should have a:

MARKETING HOOK LIBRARY

Containing:

Problem Hooks

↓

Situation Hooks

↓

Outcome Hooks

↓

Question Hooks

↓

Contrarian / Curiosity Hooks

↓

Objection / Comparison Hooks

↓

30+ Relevant Attention Hooks

Every hook should connect back to:

Your Best-Fit Customer

→ Their Buying Situation

→ Their Problem

→ Their Desired Outcome

→ Your Core Message

What You Should Now Know

You entered Step 7 thinking:

“I don’t know what to say to get people’s attention.”

You leave knowing:

“I know how to turn the real problems, questions, situations, desires and concerns of my Best-Fit Customer into relevant reasons for them to pay attention.”

You now have:

A defined customer

↓

A buying situation

↓

An alternative landscape

↓

A position

↓

A differentiation strategy

↓

A core message

↓

A library of relevant attention hooks

But attention alone does not create customers.

You now need to answer the next question:

Step 8 — Choose Where To Reach Them

“Where will I find the people this offer is designed for, and which channel should I focus on first?”