Humanize the Hook
Turn a complex offer into one clear, human reason to care
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~days to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 96%
Humanize the Hook is Sarah DeCiantis's approach to making complex marketing feel simple and personal. Start with the specific client or consumer, then isolate the end benefit that can earn their attention. Convert that benefit into one hook or positioning statement that makes the offer understandable before explaining its back-end complexity. The message should sound like a one-to-one conversation rather than an institution broadcasting at a market. The final discipline is subtraction: do not squeeze every fact into a small creative space. Keep only what the audience cares about and needs to know at that moment. This produces approachable content without pretending the underlying product is simple.
Origin
DeCiantis describes humanization as the recurring idea she gives UWM's marketing team when they need to communicate complicated mortgage products.
Core principles
- 01Begin with the audience's end benefit
- 02Make content feel like a one-to-one conversation
- 03Use one hook to make a complex offer understandable
- 04Leave supporting complexity behind the first message
How to run it
- 1
Define the person
Identify the exact client or consumer who must understand the message. Specify what situation they are in rather than writing for everyone.
Pro tip Separate audiences when their needs differ, as UWM does across its B2B and B2C brands.
Watch out A broad audience makes it harder to choose a meaningful benefit.
- 2
Find the end benefit
Ask what outcome will make that person pay attention or feel less intimidated. Use their value, not the company's internal feature list, as the starting point.
Pro tip For intimidating categories, approachability itself may be part of the benefit.
Watch out Do not mistake a product capability for the audience's reason to care.
- 3
Choose one hook
Express the benefit through one positioning statement that lets the audience quickly understand the offer. Let deeper explanation follow after attention has been earned.
Pro tip Test whether the hook makes sense in a single social-media story.
Watch out Multiple competing hooks recreate the complexity you are trying to remove.
- 4
Make it conversational
Rewrite the hook so it feels like one person talking to another. Prefer familiar, friendly language over institutional phrasing.
Pro tip Read the message aloud and listen for language a person would not use in conversation.
Watch out Humanizing the delivery does not justify changing the facts.
- 5
Subtract the excess
Remove facts that the audience does not need in the first interaction. Preserve the essential hook while making supporting detail available elsewhere.
Pro tip Ask separately what the audience cares about and what they need to know.
Watch out Do not squeeze every desired message into one small piece of content.
In the wild
UWM replaced the long, clunky FindAMortgageBroker.com identity with Mortgage Matchup. The team focused on the next generation of home buyers and tried to make an intimidating process feel friendlier and more human. The new name communicated matching consumers with mortgage help without requiring them to understand the category first.
→ The consumer brand became more approachable and easier to understand.
A marketer needs to announce a mortgage product with complicated mechanics. Instead of putting every condition into an Instagram story, the marketer identifies the audience's main benefit, writes one plain-language hook, and links to the full details. The first message earns attention while the next layer handles complexity.
→ The audience understands why the product matters before encountering its detailed mechanics.
Common mistakes
Leading with internal complexity
A feature-heavy opening makes the audience work before they know why the offer matters.
Talking to everyone
A message without a defined end consumer cannot reflect a specific concern or benefit.
Packing in every message
Trying to squeeze every detail into one creative space weakens the hook and the human connection.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for marketers translating technical, intimidating, or crowded offers into short customer-facing messages.
Not ideal for
It is not ideal for detailed disclosures or technical documentation where completeness matters more than immediate attention.
From the transcript
“at the end of the day what is the end value or the end benefit that's going to get that client consumer whoever it is…”
“how do we find that one hook or that one positioning statement that makes somebody look at a story on Instagram and go I get…”
“don't over complicate it don't make it too challenging don't try to squeeze every single thing you want to say into you know this tiny…”
From the episode
UWM’s Marketing Success ft. Sarah DeCiantis
Sarah DeCiantis