# Hook rate and hold rate

Story / Test and publish / Reading the numbers. Checked 2026-11-13.

Tells you which part of a paid video leaks.

- Use when: Reading Meta ad results.
- Phrase: hook rate is three-second views divided by impressions; hold rate is the share that keeps watching past the opening
- Page: https://directorchair.ai/publish/hook-rate-and-hold-rate
- JSON: https://directorchair.ai/api/publish/hook-rate-and-hold-rate.json

## Watch out

- Practitioner bands for Meta, directional only since Meta publishes no benchmark: a hook rate under 25 percent is weak and 30 to 40 good; a hold rate under 15 percent is weak and about 25 good. (practitioner; Director Chair field notes on hooks and ideas)
- TikTok's view rates divide by views, not impressions, so these bands do not transfer. Compare within one placement. (practitioner; Director Chair field notes on hooks and ideas)
- Judge a creative on conversions, not on the hook rate of an ad that spent 200 dollars. (practitioner; Director Chair field notes on hooks and ideas)

## Prompts

### Any chat model

```
Give me a step-by-step plan I can follow this week, for a short video about [your product], for [your audience]. The technique is hook rate and hold rate: tells you which part of a paid video leaks. How it works: hook rate is three-second views divided by impressions; hold rate is the share that keeps watching past the opening. It is right for: reading Meta ad results. Practitioner bands for Meta, directional only since Meta publishes no benchmark: a hook rate under 25 percent is weak and 30 to 40 good; a hold rate under 15 percent is weak and about 25 good. TikTok's view rates divide by views, not impressions, so these bands do not transfer. Be concrete: numbers, seconds and settings, no theory. Ask me one question first if something you need is missing.
```

## Goes well with

- Read two numbers, then decide: https://directorchair.ai/publish/read-two-numbers
- One variable per test: https://directorchair.ai/publish/test-matrix-one-variable

## Source

Own words from Director Chair field notes on hooks and ideas

Text CC BY 4.0, Director Chair (directorchair.ai). Reference clips and their card texts belong to their makers.