Hook Rate: Formula, Example and How to Use It

Hook rate is a marketer-made metric, not an official platform field. It tries to answer one question: of everyone who was shown this video, how many stayed past the opening? It isolates the hook from the rest of the ad.

Definitions vary. The most common version is 3-second video plays divided by impressions. Some teams use 2-second views, and some use reach instead of impressions. Pick one definition and use it consistently across your ads.

Hook rate = 3-second video views / impressions x 100

Example: 4,000 three-second views / 20,000 impressions = 20%

If a second ad with the same body but a different opening gets a clearly higher hook rate at similar spend, the new hook is doing a better job at stopping the scroll.

In Meta Ads Manager you can usually build this as a custom metric; on TikTok, export 2-second and 6-second view columns and pick the one that matches your definition.

Hook rate is most useful as a comparison between variations, not as a score to chase against someone else's benchmark. Audiences, placements and products differ too much. Track it alongside a later-stage metric such as hold rate or retention rate, plus cost per result, so you do not reward hooks that stop people but lose them a second later.

• Test openings in batches; change only the first frame and line.
• Put readable text on screen from frame one, since many people watch muted.
• Try different angles from the hooks library, not just rewordings.
• Watch for decline over time as a sign of creative fatigue.

Comparing hook rates calculated in different ways is the classic error, so write your formula down. Another is judging an ad on very few impressions; small samples swing a lot. Finally, a high hook rate on its own does not mean a good ad. Clickbait openings can score well and still sell nothing.