3 reasons your short-form edits aren't hitting (and it's not the algorithm)

I've cut hundreds of reels for creators over the past few years, and the pattern is almost always the same. It's rarely the algorithm. It's usually one of these:

1. The hook dies in the first 0.5 seconds.

Most people script a good hook line, then bury it under a slow zoom-in or a logo intro. The visual and the words need to hit at the exact same frame. If your first cut isn't jarring enough to stop a thumb, nothing after it matters.

2. There's dead air between cuts.

People leave in the natural pauses from talking. Every pause is a chance for someone to swipe away. Cut tighter than feels natural on your monitor — it plays right on a phone.

3. Captions are decoration, not direction.

Captions shouldn't just transcribe — they should escalate. Bold the punchline word, not the whole sentence. Use caption timing to control pacing, not just accessibility.

If you're recording good raw footage but the edit isn't landing, it's almost never the content — it's the 40 small decisions made in the timeline. That's the whole job.

— Prime Cuts Media