The other day I was scrolling through Instagram and stumbled upon Sock Shoes. It was a video of someone sliding on socks with rubber soles and a charismatic voice explaining the product, no longer than 10 seconds long, but just long enough to spark my curiosity. So I clicked the profile. What proceeded was 10 minutes of scrolling through videos of mostly the same thing: b-roll footage of someone putting on socks and a silky smooth voice talking about how amazing Sock Shoes are.

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SockShoes (@the.sockshoes) • Instagram photos and videos

If you could sell marketing videos out of a can, the product would look like the Sock Shoes Instagram page.

Over and over the narrator would use the same phrases... "Slip on like socks, protect like shoes", "make you feel at home everywhere", "Sweatpants for your feet", among several others.

It became oddly hypnotizing. I couldn't help but feel excited to scroll onto the next video so I could hear how they used the phrases I became familiar with. The repetition was entrancing. I don't know why, but I was sold.

I ended up buying two pairs of Sock Shoes, a pair for me and a pair for my girlfriend. I spent $80. Did I need Sock Shoes? No. Did I even want Sock Shoes, think they were a great idea, or think that I would use them? No, to all of those. And yet I purchased.

For the next few days, I found myself reciting the phrases echoed in all of those videos. "Slip on like socks, protect like shoes". And then it occured to me--this marketing strategy is genius. With the repeated phrases and footage combined with an AI voice, these videos must've been easy to mass-produce. The results are extremely effective, with each video reaching a minimum of 30,000 views, some up to one or two million.

I thought to myself, "this is lightning in a bottle, I wonder if I can steal it..." Not literally of course (I don't like Sock Shoes that much), but use the language as a framework to produce a similar strategy on a different product: my product, Interweave.

So that's what I set out to do. I started by transcribing the latest 35 videos from the Sock Shoes Instagram page. I listened to each one and wrote down what was narrated.

Breaking It Down

Here's the 35 narrations culminating into a snapshot of the Sock Shoes marketing speech:

1. Sweatpants for your feet. Slide into sock shoes and step out into the world.
2. Okay so you love sweatpants, but have you ever tried sweatpants for your feet? These are sock shoes. Created to give your feet the same comfort sweatpants give your legs.
3. I put just the tip and I liked it so I shoved the whole thing in and I loved it. Sock shoes are like sweatpants for your feet. Created to make you feel at home, everywhere.
4. These are sweatpants for your feet. Slip on like socks, protect like shoes, and make you feel at home everywhere.
5. We invented the perfect sweater weather shoes. You can think of them as sweatpants for your feet. Created to make you feel at home, everywhere.
6. Sock shoes are officially a thing. Slip on like socks, protect like shoes, and feel like sweatpants for your feet.
7. People think I'm crazy for wearing sock shoes, but they don't know I can wear them in the rain.
8. So these are the new sock shoes. They slip on like socks, protect like shoes, and make you feel at home everywhere.
9. Sweatpants for your feet. Slip on like socks, protect like shoes, and make you feel at home everywhere.
10. Finally! Sweatpants for feet have been made! Just slide in and step out into the world.
11. Okay so these are sock shoes. They slip on like socks, protect like shoes, and feel like sweatpants on your feet.
12. These are sock shoes. Slip on like socks, protect like shoes, and feel like sweatpants on your feet.
13. We just made sweatpants for your feet. Slip on like socks, protect like shoes, and make you feel at home everywhere.
14. You love sweatpants, but have you ever tried sweatpants for your feet? These are sock shoes. Created to give your feet the same comfort sweatpants give your legs.
15. Sock shoes are finally a thing. Slip on like socks, protect like shoes, and feel like sweatpants on your feet.
16. These are sock shoes. Slide on like socks, protect like shoes, and feel like you're wearing sweatpants on your feet.
17. Have you ever heard of sweatpants for feet? These sock shoes slip on like socks, protect like shoes, and make you feel at home everywhere.
18. Sock shoes are like sweatpants for your feet. Slip on effortlessly, and perfect for lazy days.
19. We just made sweatpants for your feet. Slide into sock shoes and step into the world.
20. Sock shoes are like sweatpants for your feet. Slip on like socks, protect like shoes, and make you feel at home everywhere.
21. These are sock shoes. Slip on like socks, protect like shoes, and feel like sweatpants on your feet.
22. They just invented sweatpants for your feet. Slip on like socks, protect like shoes, and even wearable in the rain.
23. They finally invented sock shoes. Slip on like socks, protect like shoes, and make you feel at home everywhere.
24. People think I'm crazy for wearing sock shoes, but they don't know I can wear them in the rain.
25. We just made sweatpants for your feet. Slide into sock shoes and step into the world.
26. Wait! We just made sweatpants for feet. These are sock shoes. Slip on like socks, protect like shoes, and make you feel at home everywhere.
27. Alright so these are the new sock shoes. Slip on like socks, protect like shoes, and make you feel at home everywhere.
28. Why wear socks in sock shoes? Because when I go to someone's house, there's no way I'm letting these dogs roam free.
29. I put just the tip and I liked it so I shoved the whole thing in and I loved it. Sock shoes are like sweatpants for your feet. Created to make you feel at home, everywhere.
30. Sock shoes are like sweatpants for your feet. They make you feel at home everywhere.
31. Okay so these are the new sock shoes. Slip on like socks, protect like shoes, and feel like sweatpants on your feet.
32. They finally invented sock shoes. Slip on like socks, protect like shoes, and make you feel at home everywhere.
33. Finally they invented sock shoes. Slip on like socks, protect like shoes, and feel like sweatpants on your feet.
34. Okay so people think I'm crazy for liking sock shoes. But they don't know they're like sweatpants for feet.
35. Okay so people say I'm crazy for wearing sock shoes. But they don't know I can wear them in the rain.

You can see the frequency of certain phrases:

Some variation of socks or shoes was said 98 times in 35 videos. That's almost three times per video!

Below is a color-coded breakdown of the different phrases. You can really see how the same phrases repeat over and over, surrounded by different sentence structure: