~8 min left
🎤 Opinion Marketing

Hot Takes

Develop and share strong opinions that challenge conventional wisdom and attract attention.

8 min read
Last updated:
🔥

"My 'hot take' posts get 10x the engagement of my educational content. It's not about being controversial - it's about having a point of view. People follow people with opinions, not content robots."

Founder, B2B SaaS

📅 Hot Takes Approach
Setup Warm-up Outreach
1
Day 1
List opinions you hold strongly
~1 hour
2
Day 2
Develop reasoning and evidence
~2 hours
3
Day 3
Craft and post first hot take
~30 min
4
Ongoing
Post hot takes 1-2x per week
~1 hour/week

Is this for you?

Great fit if...
  • You have genuine opinions from experience
  • Your audience values bold perspectives
  • You can handle disagreement professionally
  • You want to stand out from generic content
  • You can back up opinions with reasoning
Try something else if...
  • You are uncomfortable with controversy
  • Your industry punishes strong opinions
  • You cannot back up your takes with logic
  • Your brand requires strict neutrality
Try Build in Public for transparent storytelling →

Not the right fit?

If Hot Takes doesn't match your situation, consider these alternative tactics that achieve similar goals:

What to expect

5-10x
More engagement than neutral content
3-5x
Higher reply and comment rates
Fast
Follower growth from polarizing content
Quick math: Hot takes work because they polarize. Some people will disagree strongly - that is the point. The algorithm rewards engagement, and disagreement is engagement. Lukewarm content gets lukewarm results.

Great hot takes come from genuine belief, not manufactured controversy. Mine your own experience and strong opinions.

Questions to surface hot takes
  • What industry "best practice" do you think is wrong?
  • What do most people in your field get backwards?
  • What do you do differently that people criticize?
  • What trend is overrated? What is underrated?
  • What are you tired of hearing repeated?
Hot take categories
  • Process: "Daily standups are a waste of time"
  • Tools: "Notion is overrated for actual work"
  • Advice: "Most startup advice is survivorship bias"
  • Trends: "AI will not replace [job] like people think"
  • Beliefs: "Culture fit is a red flag in job posts"
Stay in your lane

Hot takes work when you have credibility on the topic. Do not have hot takes about things you know nothing about - you will get exposed and lose trust.

Frequently Asked Questions

Tools you'll need

What's Next?

Complete this tactic, then continue your GTM journey with these recommended next steps.