Trending Ad Hook Spotter
Scan social platforms for what's trending in your space right now — viral posts, hot debates, breaking news, memes — and translate each trend into a concrete ad hook you can run while the topic is still hot.
Core principle: The highest-performing ads ride cultural and industry moments. This skill finds those moments before your competitors do and tells you exactly how to capitalize.
When to Use
- "What's trending in our space that we could run ads about?"
- "Find viral hooks for our paid campaigns"
- "What topics are hot in [industry] right now?"
- "I want to ride a trend with a paid campaign"
- "What should we be running ads about this week?"
Phase 0: Intake
- Your product — Name + one-line description
- Industry/category — What space are you in? (e.g., "AI sales tools", "developer infrastructure")
- ICP keywords — 5-10 keywords that define your buyer's world
- Competitor names — So we can spot when they become part of a trend
- Platforms to scan (default: all):
- Twitter/X
- Reddit (specific subreddits if known)
- LinkedIn
- Hacker News
- Content velocity — How fast can you create ads? (Same-day / 2-3 days / Weekly)
Phase 1: Social Scanning
1A: Twitter/X Trend Scan
Run twitter-scraper with multiple queries:
# Industry trending topics
python3 skills/twitter-scraper/scripts/scrape_twitter.py \
--query "<industry keyword> (viral OR trending OR hot take OR unpopular opinion OR thread)" \
--max-results 50 \
--sort top
# Competitor mentions (momentum signals)
python3 skills/twitter-scraper/scripts/scrape_twitter.py \
--query "<competitor1> OR <competitor2> (raised OR launched OR shut down OR acquired OR outage)" \
--max-results 30
# Pain/frustration spikes
python3 skills/twitter-scraper/scripts/scrape_twitter.py \
--query "<category> (broken OR frustrating OR tired of OR switched from)" \
--max-results 30
Score each tweet/thread by engagement velocity (likes + retweets relative to account size and age).
1B: Reddit Trend Scan
Run reddit-scraper:
python3 skills/reddit-scraper/scripts/scrape_reddit.py \
--subreddits "<relevant_subreddits>" \
--sort hot \
--time week \
--limit 30
Look for:
- Posts with unusually high upvote/comment ratios
- "What do you use for [X]?" threads (buying intent)
- Complaint threads about incumbents
- "I just switched from X to Y" posts
1C: LinkedIn Trend Scan
Run linkedin-profile-post-scraper for 5-10 KOLs in the space:
python3 skills/linkedin-profile-post-scraper/scripts/scrape_linkedin_posts.py \
--urls "<kol_profile_urls>" \
--max-posts 10
Identify high-engagement posts on topics relevant to your product category.
1D: Hacker News Scan
Run hacker-news-scraper:
python3 skills/hacker-news-scraper/scripts/scrape_hn.py \
--query "<industry keyword>" \
--type story \
--sort points \
--limit 20
Phase 2: Trend Identification & Scoring
Trend Detection Framework
Group collected signals into trends. A "trend" is:
- A topic appearing across 2+ platforms within the past 7 days
- A single post/thread with exceptional engagement (10x+ the norm)
- A breaking event (funding, acquisition, outage, launch) with cascading conversation
Score Each Trend
| Factor | Weight | Description |
|---|
| Recency | 25% | How fresh? (< 24h = max, > 7 days = low) |
| Velocity | 25% | Is engagement accelerating or decelerating? |
| Cross-platform | 20% | Appearing on multiple platforms? |
| ICP relevance | 20% | Does your target buyer care about this? |
| Product fit | 10% | Can you credibly connect your product to this trend? |
Total score out of 100. Urgency tiers:
- 90-100: Run today — this peaks within 24-48h
- 70-89: Run this week — 3-5 day window
- 50-69: Worth testing — stable trend, less time pressure
- Below 50: Monitor — not actionable yet
Phase 3: Hook Translation
For each trend scoring 50+, generate:
Ad Hook Formula
[Trend reference] + [Your unique angle] + [CTA tied to the moment]
Per Trend, Produce:
- Trend summary — What's happening in 2 sentences
- Why it's an ad opportunity — Connection to your product/ICP
- 3 hook variants:
- Newsjack hook — Reference the trend directly ("Everyone's talking about X. Here's what they're missing...")
- Contrarian hook — Take the opposite stance ("Hot take: [trend] doesn't matter. Here's what does...")
- Practical hook — Offer a solution related to the trend ("[Trend] means you need [your feature] now")
- Recommended format — Static / video / carousel / search ad
- Recommended platform — Where the trend is hottest
- Time window — How long before this trend fades
Phase 4: Output Format
# Trending Ad Hooks — [DATE]
Industry: [category]
Platforms scanned: [list]
Trends identified: [N]
Actionable hooks (score 50+): [N]
---
## 🔴 Run Today (Score 90+)
### Trend: [Trend Title]
**What's happening:** [2-sentence summary]
**Engagement signal:** [X likes/comments across Y platforms in Z hours]
**Time window:** [Estimated hours/days before this fades]
**Hook 1 (Newsjack):** "[Ad headline]"
> [1-2 sentence body copy]
- Format: [Static/Video/Carousel]
- Platform: [Twitter/Meta/Google/LinkedIn]
**Hook 2 (Contrarian):** "[Ad headline]"
> [Body copy]
**Hook 3 (Practical):** "[Ad headline]"
> [Body copy]
---
## 🟡 Run This Week (Score 70-89)
[Same format]
---
## 🟢 Worth Testing (Score 50-69)
[Same format, briefer]
---
## Trend Velocity Dashboard
| Trend | Twitter | Reddit | LinkedIn | HN | Score | Window |
|-------|---------|--------|----------|----|----|--------|
| [Trend 1] | ▲▲▲ | ▲▲ | ▲ | — | 92 | 24h |
| [Trend 2] | ▲▲ | — | ▲▲▲ | ▲ | 78 | 5d |
| [Trend 3] | ▲ | ▲▲ | — | ▲▲ | 61 | 2w |
---
## Competitor Trend Involvement
| Trend | Competitor Riding It? | Their Angle | Your Counter-Angle |
|-------|----------------------|-------------|-------------------|
| [Trend] | [Y/N — who] | [Their take] | [Your differentiated take] |
Save to clients/<client-name>/ads/trending-hooks-[YYYY-MM-DD].md.
Scheduling
Run weekly or on-demand when you need fresh hooks:
0 8 * * 1 python3 run_skill.py trending-ad-hook-spotter --client <client-name>
Cost
| Component | Cost |
|---|
| Twitter scraper (3 queries) | ~$0.15-0.30 (Apify) |
| Reddit scraper | ~$0.05-0.10 (Apify) |
| LinkedIn scraper (5-10 KOLs) | ~$0.25-0.50 (Apify) |
| HN scraper | Free |
| Analysis & hook generation | Free (LLM reasoning) |
| Total | ~$0.45-0.90 |
Tools Required
- Apify API token —
APIFY_API_TOKEN env var
- Upstream skills:
twitter-scraper, reddit-scraper, linkedin-profile-post-scraper, hacker-news-scraper
Trigger Phrases
- "What's trending we could run ads about?"
- "Find viral hooks for our campaigns"
- "What's hot in [space] this week?"
- "Newsjacking opportunities for [client]"
- "Run the trending hook spotter"
Claude
ChatGPT
OpenClaw