Marketing Metrics

Hold Rate

Percentage of hooked viewers (3-second video views) who keep watching to the 15-second mark.

Definition

Hold Rate measures how well a video ad retains the viewers it has already hooked — the share of 3-second video views that go on to reach 15 seconds (or completion for shorter videos). Where Hook Rate (Thumbstop Rate) judges the open, Hold Rate judges the middle: it isolates whether the body of the ad earns continued attention after the scroll-stopping first frames, normalized to the audience that actually started watching rather than to total impressions.

Examples

A Meta video with 10,000 3-second views and 2,000 15-second views has a 20% Hold Rate

Hook Rate 35% but Hold Rate 9% — the open is winning attention the body immediately loses

Reels variant holding 28% of hooked viewers vs a feed cut holding 16% of the same audience

Calculation

How to Calculate

Divide the number of viewers who reached 15 seconds by the number who reached 3 seconds, then multiply by 100. Using 3-second views (not impressions) as the denominator isolates retention from hook strength: a low Hold Rate means the body of the ad is losing people the hook already won.

Formula

(15-Second Video Views / 3-Second Video Views) × 100

Unit of Measurement

Operation Type

divide

Formula Variables

15-Second Video ViewsViewers who reached the 15-second threshold (or completed a shorter video)

3-Second Video ViewsViewers who reached 3 seconds — the denominator of hooked viewers

Industry Benchmarks for Hold Rate

Typical performance ranges by industry segment. Benchmarks vary by platform, audience maturity, and attribution window — treat these as starting points, not targets.

Meta feed, DTC prospecting (15–30s)
Typical range
12% – 25%
Median
~18%
The honest mid-funnel range; the body of the ad must hold viewers the hook already won.
Meta Reels (any length)
Typical range
18% – 30%
Median
~23%
Full-screen immersion holds hooked viewers better than feed.
Longer video (30–60s), prospecting
Typical range
8% – 18%
Median
~12%
Longer runtimes shed roughly half of hooked viewers before 15s on cold traffic.
Retargeting (warm)
Typical range
25% – 40%
Median
~30%
Warm audiences are more patient through the body of the ad.
DTC Beauty / UGC, 15–30s
Typical range
18% – 28%
Median
~22%
Demonstration and UGC formats hold attention through the body better than studio shots.
Video under 15s (mechanically inflated)
Typical range
50% – 80%
Median
~65%
For sub-15s videos the 15-second threshold resolves on completion, so Hold Rate approaches completion rate and is a weak quality signal.

Segment	Typical Range	Median	Notes
Meta feed, DTC prospecting (15–30s)	12% – 25%	~18%	The honest mid-funnel range; the body of the ad must hold viewers the hook already won.
Meta Reels (any length)	18% – 30%	~23%	Full-screen immersion holds hooked viewers better than feed.
Longer video (30–60s), prospecting	8% – 18%	~12%	Longer runtimes shed roughly half of hooked viewers before 15s on cold traffic.
Retargeting (warm)	25% – 40%	~30%	Warm audiences are more patient through the body of the ad.
DTC Beauty / UGC, 15–30s	18% – 28%	~22%	Demonstration and UGC formats hold attention through the body better than studio shots.
Video under 15s (mechanically inflated)	50% – 80%	~65%	For sub-15s videos the 15-second threshold resolves on completion, so Hold Rate approaches completion rate and is a weak quality signal.

Sources: Motion Creative Benchmarks 2026, Motion / Foreplay 2025, Triple Whale / Atria 2025, Foreplay 2025, Triple Whale + Common Thread Collective composite 2025, Meta Business Help Center

Comparison

Related Metrics

Click-Through Rate (CTR)

Click-Through Rate (CTR) measures the ratio of clicks to impressions for a digital advertisement, email, or other clickable content. It's a fundamental metric for evaluating creative relevance, audience targeting quality, and overall ad effectiveness in driving user engagement. CTR varies significantly by format, placement, and channel, making context crucial for performance evaluation.

Conversion Rate

Conversion rate measures the percentage of users who complete a defined conversion action relative to the total number who had the opportunity to convert. This metric evaluates the effectiveness of marketing efforts, user experience, and overall funnel efficiency in driving desired outcomes. Conversion actions can range from purchases and form submissions to content downloads and subscription signups.

Ad Frequency

Ad frequency measures the average number of times a unique user is exposed to a specific advertisement during a campaign period. This metric is crucial for managing ad fatigue, optimizing reach vs. repetition, and ensuring effective message delivery without oversaturation. Frequency management varies by campaign objective, creative format, and audience type.

Cost Per Mille (CPM)

Cost Per Mille (CPM) represents the cost an advertiser pays to deliver 1,000 ad impressions to their target audience. This metric is fundamental for media planning and buying, enabling comparison of advertising costs across different platforms, formats, and audience segments. CPM pricing reflects placement quality, audience targeting precision, and market demand.

Cost Per Click (CPC)

Cost Per Click (CPC) represents the average cost an advertiser pays for each click on their advertisement. In auction-based platforms, actual CPC is determined through a combination of bid amount, quality score, and competition. This metric is fundamental for measuring traffic acquisition efficiency and comparing costs across channels and campaigns.

Pay-Per-Click (PPC)

Pay-Per-Click is an advertising model and auction system where advertisers bid for ad placement and pay only when users click their ads. The actual cost per click is determined through a real-time auction that weighs bid amounts against quality signals — expected click-through rate, ad relevance, and landing page experience — so a highly relevant ad can win a better position at a lower price than a less relevant, higher-bidding competitor. PPC spans search (Google Ads, Microsoft Advertising), social (Meta, LinkedIn, TikTok), and display or shopping formats, and aligns cost with engagement rather than mere exposure, which makes it inherently measurable and accountable to downstream conversions and ROAS.

Reach

Reach measures the total number of unique users who have been exposed to an advertisement at least once during a campaign period. This metric is fundamental for understanding campaign scale, audience penetration, and the efficiency of media spend in accessing target audiences. Reach can be measured at various levels including campaign, platform, and total brand reach.

Engagement Rate

Engagement rate measures the share of an audience that interacted with content, calculated as (total engagements ÷ followers, reach, or impressions) × 100. Engagements typically include clicks, likes, comments, shares, saves, and reactions. The denominator definition varies by platform and report — always confirm which one a benchmark uses before comparing numbers.

Video Completion Rate (VCR)

Video Completion Rate measures the percentage of video ad impressions that are watched to 100% completion. This metric helps evaluate creative engagement, message delivery effectiveness, and audience targeting accuracy while accounting for video length and placement quality. VCR is particularly important for brand messaging where full creative viewing is crucial.

Cost Per View (CPV)

Cost Per View measures the average cost of a qualified video view, with platform-specific definitions of what constitutes a billable view. Common view criteria include watching 2-30 seconds, 50% of video in view for 2 continuous seconds, or user-initiated plays. This metric helps evaluate video ad spending efficiency and compare performance across platforms, formats, and campaigns.

View Through Rate (VTR)

View Through Rate (VTR) most commonly measures the share of ad impressions that become platform-counted views: VTR = (counted views ÷ impressions) × 100, with YouTube TrueView counting a view at 30 seconds or completion. In attribution contexts, VTR instead means the share of impressions that led to a conversion without a click. Always confirm which meaning a report uses.

Cost Per Completed View (CPCV)

Cost Per Completed View measures the average cost incurred for each video ad watched to 100% completion — total video spend divided by completed views. It is particularly relevant for brand and storytelling campaigns where the payoff — the logo, offer, or emotional beat — usually lands at the end, so a partial view delivers little value. On some platforms CPCV is a buying model where you're charged only when a view completes; more often it's an effective metric calculated over a CPM or CPV buy, in which case impressions and partial views still consume budget and CPCV simply expresses what each completion cost. Either way it isolates the cost of complete message delivery, complementing exposure metrics like CPM (which prices impressions regardless of watch time) and CPV (which counts partial views).

Thumbstop Rate

Thumbstop Rate measures the effectiveness of creative in capturing attention by tracking the percentage of users who stop scrolling to engage with the content in their feed for a meaningful duration, typically 2-6 seconds depending on the platform.

ThruPlay

ThruPlay is Meta's standard video-view event, counted when a viewer watches a video to 15 seconds — or to completion if the video is shorter. It is both a reported metric and a biddable optimization/billing event, and it replaced Meta's retired 10-second video view. ThruPlays ÷ video plays gives the ThruPlay Rate; spend ÷ ThruPlays gives Cost Per ThruPlay. The term is Meta-specific.

ThruPlay Rate

ThruPlay Rate measures the percentage of video plays where users watch either the entire video (for videos under 15 seconds) or at least 15 seconds (for longer videos). This is the denominator Meta reports against; on Meta, autoplay keeps video plays ≈ impressions. The metric evaluates content's ability to maintain viewer attention and deliver complete messages, particularly important for platforms like Meta and TikTok.

Cost Per ThruPlay

Cost Per ThruPlay measures the average cost to achieve a ThruPlay, which is either a complete video view for content under 15 seconds or a 15-second watch for longer videos. This metric helps evaluate the efficiency of video ad spending in delivering complete messages to viewers.

First-Time Impression Ratio

First-Time Impression Ratio measures the proportion of ad impressions that represent the first time a unique user has been exposed to an ad. This metric helps evaluate audience reach efficiency and frequency management by distinguishing between new audience exposure and repeat impressions.

Impressions

Impressions measure the total number of times an advertisement is shown to users, regardless of whether they interact with it. Each time an ad appears on a screen counts as one impression, though viewability standards may require minimum exposure duration or percentage in view to count as a valid impression.

Share of Voice (SOV)

Share of Voice quantifies a brand's presence and visibility in the market compared to competitors or total market activity. It measures relative market presence across paid advertising impressions, organic social media engagement, PR mentions, and other trackable communications channels. SOV helps evaluate competitive position and communication effectiveness.

How AdSights helps you track Hold Rate

AdSights plots the full retention curve of every variant and reads Hook Rate and Hold Rate together, so teams can tell a hook problem (low 3-second capture) apart from a hold problem (strong hook, collapse in the body). It pinpoints which scene, voiceover beat, or pacing change between seconds 3 and 15 correlates with the drop, and — because it ties retention to downstream click and revenue outcomes — it flags when a higher Hold Rate is real attention versus merely cheaper, lower-intent views. Teams use this to rebuild the middle of an ad without touching a hook that's already working, and to length-match new briefs to the retention shape that converts.

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Supplemental Resources

📚
Video Creative Metrics Benchmarks 2026
Consolidated thumbstop, hold, and ThruPlay ranges with methodology and interactive analyzers.
AdSights Guide
📚
How to Read Video Metrics in Meta Ads Manager
Compute hold rate from Ads Manager columns — 15-second views divided by 3-second views among hooked viewers.
AdSights Article
📚
ThruPlay Rate Benchmark
Hold Rate and ThruPlay share the 15-second checkpoint — compare your ThruPlay rate against 2026 Meta benchmarks.
AdSights Tool
📚
ThruPlay Rate Benchmarks 2026: By Video Length, Placement & Audience
Explains how Hold Rate (15s ÷ 3s views) relates to ThruPlay rate, with segmented 2026 Meta benchmarks.
AdSights Article
📚
Video Drop-off Rate Calculator
Map the retention curve between the 3-second hook and the 15-second hold checkpoint to see exactly which scene is shedding hooked viewers.
AdSights Tool
📚
ThruPlay Rate Interpretation Guide
Explains how Hold Rate fits into the thumbstop → ThruPlay funnel and when to trust each metric.
AdSights Guide
📚
Hold Rate vs ThruPlay Rate
Side-by-side formulas, denominators, and reporting use cases for the two 15-second retention metrics.
AdSights Documentation

Frequently asked questions

Common questions about Hold Rate, answered.

What's a good Hold Rate?

On Meta feed for cold DTC prospecting (15–30s videos), 12–25% is healthy, above ~30% is strong, and below 10% means the body of the ad is losing viewers the hook already won. Reels and warm retargeting run higher. Always compare Hold Rate within the same length bucket and audience temperature — the number is meaningless across mismatched contexts.

How is Hold Rate different from Hook Rate?

They're a paired diagnostic. Hook Rate (Thumbstop Rate) is 3-second views ÷ impressions — it measures whether the open stops the scroll. Hold Rate is 15-second views ÷ 3-second views — it measures whether the body keeps the people the hook captured. A high Hook Rate with a low Hold Rate is the classic 'great open, weak middle' pattern: fix the body, not the first frame.

Is Hold Rate the same as ThruPlay Rate?

They use the same 15-second threshold but different denominators. ThruPlay Rate divides ThruPlays by total video plays (≈ impressions on Meta autoplay), so it blends hook strength and retention into one number. Hold Rate divides 15-second views by 3-second views, so it factors out the hook and reports retention alone. Use ThruPlay for cost/efficiency framing and Hold Rate when you specifically want to know whether the middle of the ad is the bottleneck.

There's another definition of Hold Rate — which is right?

Some teams define Hold Rate as average watch time ÷ video length (the average percentage of the video viewed). That version captures overall attention but conflates length and pacing, and it can't separate hook from body. The 15-second-view ÷ 3-second-view definition used here is the more diagnostic one for short-form social video because it normalizes to the hooked audience. Whichever you adopt, define it once and stay consistent across the account — don't mix the two in the same report.

How do I improve a low Hold Rate?

Because the hook is already doing its job, focus on the body: tighten pacing between seconds 3 and 15, move the value proposition or product reveal earlier, cut dead air or slow scene transitions, and length-match the edit to the attention curve rather than forcing a long cut on cold traffic. Re-shooting the first frame won't help a hold problem — it's a middle-of-the-ad problem.

Does a falling Hold Rate mean creative fatigue?

It can. If Hook Rate holds steady but Hold Rate declines on the same audience over time, viewers who recognize the ad are bailing once they place it — an early fatigue signal that often precedes CTR decay and CPM creep. Pair Hold Rate trend with frequency and CTR-decay to confirm fatigue before refreshing.

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Creative Analytics Video Performance Marketing Benchmarks