Hook rate: the number, and what it hides
The share of people who were served your video and stayed past the opening seconds.
Why hook rate matters
It isolates the opening from everything else. A low hook rate means the first frames failed, and no amount of work on the middle of the ad will fix it. It is the cheapest thing to vary and the first thing to test.
What this looks like with real numbers
Say an ad took 120,000 impressions and 21,600 people watched past three seconds. That is a hook rate of 18%. The same campaign's other ad took 95,000 impressions for 6,650 three-second plays: 7%. Same audience, same budget, same product. The difference sits entirely in the first two seconds, and it is worth more than any targeting change available to you.
What it does not tell you
It says nothing about whether anyone bought. An ad can hook brilliantly and sell nothing, which usually means the opening promised something the rest did not deliver.
The mistake people actually make
Testing a new hook by uploading an entirely new ad. Now the edit, the length and the music have changed too, so when one wins you cannot take the lesson anywhere.
Questions, answered.
How do you calculate hook rate?
3-second video plays ÷ impressions. The share of people who were served your video and stayed past the opening seconds.
What goes wrong with hook rate?
Testing a new hook by uploading an entirely new ad. Now the edit, the length and the music have changed too, so when one wins you cannot take the lesson anywhere.
What does hook rate not tell me?
It says nothing about whether anyone bought. An ad can hook brilliantly and sell nothing, which usually means the opening promised something the rest did not deliver.
Change the creative, not the dashboard
The share of people who were served your video and stayed past the opening seconds.