Hold rate on Meta Ads: the formula, the benchmarks and how to fix drop-off.
Hold rate is the percentage of people who kept watching your video ad after the first 3 seconds. Hook rate tells you whether people stopped. Hold rate tells you whether they stayed.
The two numbers together tell you which part of a video to fix. Without hold rate, a strong opening can hide a weak middle, and you end up rewriting a hook that was already working.
The two hold rate formulas
The industry hasn't settled on one definition, so check which one your team or agency uses.
Version 1: ThruPlays (most common)
Hold rate = (ThruPlays ÷ 3-second video plays) × 100
Meta counts a ThruPlay when someone watches a video under 15 seconds to the end, or watches at least 15 seconds of a longer one. This version asks: of the people you hooked, how many reached the 15-second mark?
Version 2: Completions
Hold rate = (Video plays at 100% ÷ 3-second video plays) × 100
This version is stricter. It suits short videos, and it's useful when the offer or call to action sits at the very end.
The two give very different numbers for a 45-second video, so never compare a ThruPlay hold rate with a completion hold rate. Meta's new native column may settle the question once Meta publishes its definition.
What is a good hold rate?
Using the ThruPlay version, practitioner guides put the average at roughly 40–50%, with 60% or more counted as strong and under 30% as weak. Treat these as starting points. Longer videos naturally hold a smaller share, and your own account median is a better benchmark than anyone else's.
Reading hook rate and hold rate together
| Low hold rate | High hold rate | |
|---|---|---|
| High hook rate | The opening works but the story sags. Fix the middle. | A winner. Scale it and judge it on CPA or ROAS. |
| Low hook rate | Weak overall. Start a new concept. | Good content behind a weak opening. Test new first 3 seconds only. |
The last box is the one most teams miss. They kill a video that keeps viewers well, when the only problem was its first frame.
How to fix a low hold rate
- Deliver on the hook fast. If the opening asks a question, start answering it by second 5. A gap between promise and payoff is the main reason people leave.
- Cut the slow middle. Remove the brand intro, the long product pan and the repeated points. Most ads can lose 20–30% of their runtime.
- Change the visual every 2–3 seconds. Use a new angle, a text overlay or a cutaway. A static shot of someone talking loses people.
- Bring proof forward. Put the testimonial, number or before-and-after in the first third, not the last.
- Caption everything. Most people watch with sound off. Without captions, they leave once the visuals stop explaining.
- Watch the retention curve. In Ads Manager, add the 25%, 50%, 75% and 95% video play columns. A sharp drop between two points shows where people leave.
How to track hold rate in Ads Manager
- Go to Columns, then Customize columns, then Create custom metric.
- Name it "Hold rate".
- Enter ThruPlays ÷ 3-second video plays.
- Set the format to Percentage, then save it next to your hook rate column.
New to hook rate? Start with what hook rate is and how to calculate it. For ways to move both numbers, see 8 video ad hooks that stop the scroll.