Hook Rate & Hold Rate Calculator

How do you use the hook rate calculator?

Enter impressions, 3-second video plays and ThruPlays for one ad. The calculator returns hook rate, hold rate and ThruPlay rate straight away, with no signup.

1. Open Ads Manager, pick the date range, and add the columns Impressions, 3-second video plays and ThruPlays (these are Meta's own column names, listed on its video ad metrics page).
2. Copy the three numbers for one ad into the calculator above.
3. Optional: add a 15-second plays count if you have one, and the video length.
4. Pick the hold rate definition you report on. The tool shows both results either way, so you can compare.

The inputs are kept in the page link, so you can copy the URL and send the result to an editor or a client.

What is the hook rate formula?

Hook rate is 3-second video plays divided by impressions, as a percentage. It tells you how often the opening of the video held someone long enough to count as a play.

Hook rate = 3-second video plays ÷ impressions × 100

Motion's glossary uses this formula and says thumbstop rate and hook rate are the same metric. Meta does not have a "hook rate" column; you build it from two columns Meta does report.

Meta defines a 3-second video play as a play of at least 3 seconds, or nearly the full length if the video is shorter than 3 seconds. Replays inside one impression are not counted again.

What is the hold rate formula? (two definitions)

Hold rate measures how many of the people who got past the opening kept watching. Sources disagree on what "kept watching" means, so the calculator gives both versions.

The difference is the numerator. Meta counts a ThruPlay when the video plays to completion or for at least 15 seconds, so a short video can earn a ThruPlay before 15 seconds. A strict 15-second count only includes plays that reached the 15-second mark.

Pick one definition and keep it for every report. A hold rate from one definition can't be compared with a hold rate from the other.

ThruPlay rate is the third output: ThruPlays divided by impressions. It combines the hook and the hold into one number per impression.

Worked example

Enter these numbers in the calculator above (example numbers, not from a real ad):

The tool shows the same results:

Read the two rates together. Hook rate is about the first 3 seconds of the edit: the first frame, the first line and the on-screen text. Hold rate is about what comes after: whether the body of the ad keeps the promise the hook made. Our guide to ad hooks covers hook types to test when the first number is the weak one.

How does batch mode work with an Ads Manager export?

Batch mode ranks many ads at once. Paste rows from a CSV export and the tool returns a sortable table with hook rate, both hold rates and ThruPlay rate for every ad.

Export from Ads Manager at the ad level with these columns, using Meta's column names:

Meta's list of video ad metrics includes 3-second video plays, ThruPlays and video plays at 25, 50, 75, 95 and 100 percent of length. It does not list a separate 15-second plays column, so the last column is optional and only needed if your 15-second count comes from another report. Without it, the 15-second hold rate shows a dash.

Sort by hook rate to find openings worth reusing, and by hold rate to find bodies worth reusing. A creative testing framework explains how to turn that ranking into the next round of tests.

What are the limits of this calculator?

The tool does arithmetic on the numbers you give it. It does not connect to your ad account, and it can't fix data problems in the export.

• No benchmarks. Meta does not publish a "good" hook rate or hold rate, and the ranges on marketing blogs disagree with each other. The calculator shows your number with no verdict.
• ThruPlay duration. Meta now offers ThruPlay as a performance goal at 6 seconds or 15 seconds. Check which one your ThruPlays column reflects before comparing ads across ad sets.
• Video length changes the numbers. A video shorter than 15 seconds reaches a ThruPlay at completion, so short edits tend to show a higher ThruPlay hold rate. Compare ads of similar length.
• Meta columns only. The column names follow Meta Ads Manager. Other platforms count video views at different durations, so their numbers are not comparable with these.
• Small samples move around. An ad with a few hundred impressions can show a high hook rate by chance. Use the A/B test calculator to check whether a gap between two ads is likely to be real.
• Falling numbers over time. A hook rate that drops week after week on the same ad is one sign of creative fatigue.

Related glossary entries and tools

Each metric has a glossary entry with its definition and a worked example: hook rate, hold rate, thumbstop ratio and ThruPlay. All the free calculators are listed on the tools page.

If you make AI video ads and your hook and hold rates already hold up on paid traffic, see how Anglr works for creators. Anglr pays AI creators, editors and agencies on performance to remake winning ad scripts in every format.