The formula
Hook rate = 3-second video views ÷ impressions. If an ad got 10,000 impressions and 3,200 people watched at least three seconds, the hook rate is 32%. Platforms name the pieces differently: Meta reports 3-second video plays, TikTok reports 2-second and 6-second views, and some buyers use a thumb-stop ratio built from the same idea.
Because the inputs vary, compare hook rates only within one platform and one placement. A number from Reels is not the same as a number from TikTok in-feed. Build the metric as a custom column in your ads manager so every video in a test is measured the same way.
What a good hook rate looks like
There is no universal benchmark. Many buyers aim for something in the 20% to 30% range on Meta as a rough working convention, with higher for strong performers, but your own account history is the real baseline. Pull the last 30 days of video ads and use the median as the line to beat.
Hook rate measures the first three seconds only. A video can hook well and still lose viewers at second five or never convert. Pair it with hold rate (views to 15 seconds or ThruPlay) and cost per result so you don't scale a video that grabs attention and then wastes it.
Using hook rate to pick UGC winners
The metric is most useful in creative testing. Brief UGC creators to record three or four different opening lines for the same video, cut each as its own ad, and run them with equal budget. After a few days, the hook rate ranks the openings before conversion data is statistically useful.
A typical readout: hook A (problem statement) 34%, hook B (product reveal) 22%, hook C (question) 27%. You would keep A, iterate on C, and drop B. Then send the winning hook style back to the creator or into the next brief so the following batch starts from what worked.
How it's used
"Hook rate on the new UGC batch is 31%, up from our 24% median, so we're moving budget to those three videos."
"Ask the creator for three alternate first lines; we'll pick by hook rate before we look at CPA."