- Hook rate, also called thumb-stop ratio, is 3-second video plays divided by impressions: the share of people who watched the first 3 seconds of your video ad.
- Build it as a custom metric in Meta Ads Manager next to hold rate (ThruPlays divided by 3-second plays), and judge it against your own account median, not a borrowed benchmark.
- A high hook rate with a low purchase rate means the first 3 seconds work and the leak is later: the middle of the ad, the offer or the landing page.
Hook rate is the share of impressions where someone watched the first 3 seconds of your video ad: 3-second video plays divided by impressions. It is also called thumb-stop ratio, and it tells you whether the opening of a video stops the scroll. This article covers the formula, how to build it in Meta Ads Manager, its partner metric hold rate, what counts as good, the hooks that work for ecommerce, and what to do when hook rate is high but sales are not.
What is hook rate?
Hook rate = 3-second video plays ÷ impressions × 100
Meta counts a 3-second video play each time a video plays for 3 seconds, or for 97% of its length if the video is shorter than 3 seconds. Replays are not counted, and plays are counted separately for each impression (Meta: About video ad metrics).
Example: Demo Brand (made-up numbers). A Demo Brand video gets 100,000 impressions and 30,000 3-second plays. Hook rate is 30,000 ÷ 100,000 = 30%. Seven in ten people scrolled past before second three.
Thumb-stop ratio is the same calculation under another name. Some teams call it thumbstop rate or scroll-stop rate. If a report uses any of these, check the formula; the numerator should be 3-second plays.
One trap from Meta's own definition: a video shorter than 3 seconds counts a play at 97% of its length. A 2-second loop will post a high hook rate without hooking anyone, so compare hook rates only between videos longer than 3 seconds.
How do you add hook rate in Meta Ads Manager?
You build it yourself from two standard columns, following Meta's steps to create custom metrics:
- Open Ads Manager and click Columns.
- Choose Customize columns, then Create custom metric.
- Build the formula: select 3-second video plays, choose divide, select Impressions.
- Name it "Hook rate" and set the format to Percentage.
- Choose who can see it. Meta notes that a shared metric's formula cannot be edited or deleted afterwards, so check it before you share.
- Click Create metric.
Repeat for hold rate (below), then save a column preset with spend, impressions, hook rate, hold rate, link CTR, purchases and cost per purchase. Check the first row by hand: if Ads Manager shows 30% for an ad with 30,000 plays on 100,000 impressions, the metric is right.
Meta's stock video columns sit under Columns > Video engagement (Meta: About video ad metrics) if you want to see the raw plays.
What is hold rate?
Hook rate tells you who started watching. Hold rate tells you who stayed.
Hold rate = ThruPlays ÷ 3-second video plays × 100
Meta defines a ThruPlay as a play to completion or for at least 15 seconds. Some teams use 15-second plays in the numerator instead; the idea is the same.
Read the two together:
| Hook rate | Hold rate | What it means | What to change |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | High | Opening and body both work | Nothing in the video. Check the offer and page if sales lag. |
| High | Low | Opening works, body loses them | The middle: get to the product faster, cut the intro |
| Low | High | The few who stay love it | The first 3 seconds: new hook, same body |
| Low | Low | Wrong idea or wrong audience | Rework the concept |
The "low hook, high hold" row is the cheapest fix in creative. The body already works, so you shoot three new openings and stitch them onto the same video.
What is a good hook rate?
There is no credible universal benchmark. Meta does not publish one, and the figures that circulate online rarely state their sample or method. Hook rate moves with placement, audience temperature, category and video length, so a number from someone else's account tells you little about yours.
Use your own account as the benchmark instead:
- Export every video ad from the last 90 days with spend, impressions and 3-second plays.
- Drop ads with too few impressions to be stable, and drop videos under 3 seconds.
- Calculate hook rate for each and find the median.
- Split by placement and audience: Reels against Reels, cold against cold, retargeting against retargeting.
- Flag anything below the median as a hook problem and anything above it as a hook worth reusing.
Example: Demo Brand (made-up numbers). Eight cold-audience videos post hook rates of 18%, 21%, 22%, 25%, 27%, 30%, 33% and 38%. The median is 26%. The 38% opening gets cut onto two other bodies; the 18% and 21% ads get new first 3 seconds. Next quarter, recalculate. If the median rises, the hook testing is working.
Which hooks work for ecommerce?
Each type below includes an example opening line for Demo Brand, a made-up brand selling a stain remover.
Problem
Open on the problem the buyer has right now. "Red wine on a white couch." The viewer recognizes their own situation in one frame and stays to see the fix.
Result shown
Open on the after, then rewind. The clean couch first, then "this was a red wine stain an hour ago." The result is the promise, and the rest of the video proves it.
Pattern interrupt
Something unexpected in the first frame, visual, audio or both: pouring wine on the couch on purpose, a loud spray sound, an object where it should not be. It breaks the scroll rhythm before the viewer decides what the ad is.
Creator talking to camera
A person looking into the lens and saying one sharp line: "I ruined three shirts before I found this." Faces and direct address look like a normal post, which suits Reels and Stories.
Text on screen
The hook line burned into the first frame in large type, so it works with the sound off. Pair it with any of the other types; it is the cheapest upgrade to an existing video.
Product in hand
The product held up close in the first second, label readable, in use straight away. It works when the product looks distinctive or the brand is already known, and it filters out people with no interest early, which can lower hook rate while raising purchase rate.
To test hooks cleanly, keep the body of the video identical and swap only the first 3 seconds. Any change in hook rate then belongs to the hook.
Why is my hook rate high but purchases are low?
Because the first 3 seconds did their job and the leak is somewhere after them. Walk down the ad and the funnel in order:
| Signal | Where the leak is | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| High hook rate, low hold rate | The middle of the ad | Shorter setup, product on screen sooner, one benefit instead of five |
| Good hold rate, low link CTR | The ask | A clearer offer and a direct call to action in the last seconds |
| Good CTR, low conversion rate | The landing page | Match the page headline to the hook, show the price early, check mobile load |
| Hook unrelated to the product | The hook itself | A hook that earns plays from the wrong people. Tie the opening to the product. |
Example: Demo Brand (made-up numbers).
| Video X | Video Y | |
|---|---|---|
| Hook rate | 40% | 24% |
| Hold rate | 8% | 20% |
| Spend | $1,400 | $1,400 |
| Purchases | 20 | 40 |
| Cost per purchase | $70 | $35 |
Video X opens with a shock moment that has nothing to do with stains, wins the scroll and loses everyone by second ten. Video Y opens on the stain, hooks fewer people and sells twice as many units for the same spend. Hook rate alone would have picked X.
That is the rule: hook rate diagnoses the opening, and the goal is still purchases. Optimize campaigns for purchases and use hook rate and hold rate to find which part of a video to fix. A hook rate that slides week after week on the same ad is also worth checking against frequency; the ad fatigue guide covers that pattern. Static images have no 3-second plays, so they need different metrics: see static ads for how to read them.
For video and static creative tested on a schedule, see our creative service.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good hook rate for Facebook ads? Meta does not publish a benchmark, and outside figures vary by account, placement and category. Calculate the median hook rate across your own video ads and treat anything above it as a working hook.
Is hook rate the same as thumb-stop ratio? Yes. Both are 3-second video plays divided by impressions. The names differ by team and tool, so check the formula on any report.
Does hook rate apply to static ads? No. Hook rate needs 3-second video plays, and a still image has none. Judge statics on link click-through rate and cost per purchase.
Should I optimize my campaigns for hook rate? No. Optimize for purchases. Hook rate tells you whether the first 3 seconds work, which is useful for fixing a video, but a high hook rate can come with poor sales.
What is the difference between hook rate and hold rate? Hook rate measures how many people watched the first 3 seconds. Hold rate, ThruPlays divided by 3-second plays, measures how many of those kept watching to 15 seconds or the end.
Michael Bui founded and runs BLOOM10X, a growth agency for ecommerce brands on Shopify. About BLOOM10X
