Technique · Hooked
Turn paid and earned spikes into owned triggers
Ads and press bring bursts of visitors that fade. Give every spike a landing flow that earns an owned channel (an account, an install, an email or push opt-in), and judge the spike by its D30 retention, not its visits.
Plain label: capture the attention you rentedAlso known as: paid trigger, earned trigger, press spike, launch spike, retargeting, owned channel
How it works
Paid triggers work only while you keep paying, and earned attention such as press or a store feature fades fast, so neither can carry repeat use. Owned triggers, which users agree to receive, can keep bringing them back until a habit forms. Converting a spike into owned triggers is what turns attention into repeat use.
Evidence warning
Spikes are easy to mistake for lasting success; compare each spike cohort's retention with the baseline.
How to build it
- Web
- Give press and launch traffic its own landing page with one useful thing to save or receive by email.
- Mobile
- After a store feature, move installs to an account with a clear benefit, and ask for push only after first value.
- Email and SMS
- Offer a short, specific alert or newsletter tied to what the visitor came for, with its frequency stated.
What can go wrong
- Celebrating a spike that leaves no lasting cohort.
- Buying ads to bring back users you already have.
Pairs well with
- Ask for permission right after first value.
- Read the result in the session trigger mix.
In practice
Where it shows up
Limits
What we don’t claim
- The Hook Model is a practical design tool, not a validated or complete theory of behavior.Hooked, Introduction
- This is a practitioner heuristic (grade D): test it in your own product before relying on it.
Sources
Hooked · Nir Eyal
Ch.2
Source IDs: HK-TRG07HK-TRG06
Book content is paraphrased, never quoted at length. Last verified October 24, 2026.
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