In short: hook rate = 3-second video plays ÷ impressions × 100. It measures what share of people who see a video ad keep watching for at least three seconds – in other words, whether the opening stops the scroll.
What hook rate measures
In the feed, the first seconds decide whether someone stops or keeps scrolling. Hook rate turns that moment into a number. It says nothing about whether someone buys – but without a good opening, nobody sees the rest of the video.
Hook rate is often treated as the same thing as thumb-stop rate. Some teams measure the thumb-stop with shorter plays, such as two seconds on TikTok. What matters is that you use the same definition consistently within one account.
The formula
Hook rate (%) = 3-second video plays ÷ impressions × 100
Example calculation: an ad has 10,000 impressions and 2,500 plays of at least three seconds. 2,500 ÷ 10,000 × 100 = 25% hook rate.
Setting up hook rate in Meta Ads Manager
Meta doesn’t show hook rate as a ready-made column. You set it up once as a custom metric:
- In Ads Manager, open “Columns” and customise the columns.
- Choose “Create custom metric”.
- Enter the formula: 3-second video plays ÷ impressions, format percentage.
- Save it and store the columns as a preset so the metric appears in every report.
Exact labels may vary slightly depending on the account. In TikTok Ads Manager, many teams use 2-second video views divided by impressions.
Reading hook rate and hold rate together
Hold rate shows whether people keep watching after the opening. A common formula is ThruPlays ÷ impressions; at Meta, a ThruPlay is a play of 15 seconds or to the end of shorter videos. Some teams divide by 3-second plays instead. Only both values together show where a video loses people:
| Hook rate | Hold rate | What it usually means |
|---|---|---|
| high | low | The opening promises something the rest doesn’t deliver. Check story and pace. |
| low | high | The content works, the opening doesn’t. Test new hooks on the same body. |
| low | low | The approach doesn’t fit the audience. Rethink angle and message. |
| high | high | The video works. Now check CTR and conversions and scale. |
What is a good hook rate?
There is no universal benchmark. Hook rate depends on platform, placement, industry and audience, and on whether you reach new people or existing prospects. The meaningful comparison is with your own ads: which variant beats your account average? The cleanest test uses the same body with different openings.
How to improve hook rate
- Movement in the first second: a cut, a gesture, a product entering the frame.
- Name the problem immediately – spoken and as on-screen text, because many people watch without sound.
- Show the result first and explain afterwards how it happened.
- Speak directly: a person talking to camera instead of a logo or intro.
- Shoot several hooks per video and test them against each other.
Every video we make follows the structure hook, story, call to action, and the hook comes first in the script. How we develop hooks and scripts is on our strategy, hooks & scripts page. What UGC is all about is covered in What is UGC?.
FAQ
What is hook rate?
The share of people who watch a video ad for at least three seconds, measured against all impressions. It shows how well the opening of a video works.
How do you calculate hook rate?
3-second video plays divided by impressions, times 100. In Meta Ads Manager, you set it up as a custom metric.
What is the difference between hook rate and hold rate?
Hook rate measures whether someone stops. Hold rate measures whether they keep watching – usually via ThruPlays, i.e. plays up to 15 seconds or to the end.