The share of people who got past the opening of your video and kept watching. A common version divides ThruPlays by 3-second video plays. Teams define it differently, so check which version is in use.
Formula
Hold rate = ThruPlays ÷ 3-second video plays (Meta counts a ThruPlay when a video is played to completion, or for at least 15 seconds if it is longer.)
Example
Meera's Reel had 9,000 three-second plays and 2,700 ThruPlays, so its hold rate is 2,700 ÷ 9,000 = 30%. Of the people the hook stopped, three in ten stayed to the end or past 15 seconds.
How you'll hear it
“Hook rate is fine; the hold rate drops because we get to the product too late.”
What it helps you decide
Whether to restructure the middle of a video: move the product earlier, cut slow sections, or shorten the edit. A low hold rate with a good hook means people liked the opening but not what followed.
Where people misread it
Because a ThruPlay on a video shorter than 15 seconds is a full completion, short videos often show a higher hold rate simply because they are short. Comparing a 10-second Reel with a 45-second one on hold rate alone rewards length, not quality.
The story
Meera compares a short and a long Reel (illustrative)
Meera makes two versions of her office-wear Reel: a 12-second cut and a 45-second cut with a customer's story. Each gets 10,000 three-second plays.
| 12-second: ThruPlays (full views) | 4,000 |
| 12-second: hold rate | 40% |
| 45-second: ThruPlays (15 seconds or more) | 2,500 |
| 45-second: hold rate | 25% |
The short cut looks far better. Meera's editor suggests making everything 12 seconds.
What it hides: for the 12-second cut, a ThruPlay means watching all 12 seconds. For the 45-second cut, it means watching at least 15 seconds, which is longer than the whole short video. The two numbers are not measuring the same effort. The long cut also delivered 22 enquiries against 15 for the short one, because the story answered fit questions.
What to look at instead: compare hold rate only between videos of similar length, and judge the edit on enquiries or purchases.
All figures are illustrative.
Work out your hold rate
The example's numbers are filled in. Replace them with yours.
More than half of the people who stopped did not stay. Look at the seconds right after the hook: is the product or promise shown early enough?
Don't confuse it with
- Hook rate: hook rate measures the first three seconds; hold rate measures what happens after.
- Average watch time: a time measure, not a share of viewers.
Related terms
Sources
- About ThruPlay, Meta Business Help Centre
- Hook rate and hold rate: Facebook ads formulas and benchmarks, Vaizle Insights (Siddharth Dwivedi), 2026