What is Hook Retention?
Also known as: 3-Second Hold Rate, Thumb-Stop Rate
The percentage of viewers still watching a video ad at the 3-second mark. The single biggest leading indicator of paid-social video performance.
The detailed definition
Hook retention measures whether your video earned the open. The first 3 seconds determine whether the viewer keeps watching or scrolls past. Strong hooks on paid social retain 30–50%+ of impressions to 3 seconds; weak hooks fall to 15–25%. Hook retention is also the most movable lever in creative — a great hook on mediocre execution beats a great execution with a weak hook. Patterns that work: unexpected visual openers, on-screen text that creates a curiosity gap, before-after splits, motion that catches the eye in autoplay. Watch hook retention week-over-week — declining hook retention is the earliest fatigue signal for video creatives.
Related terms
Frequently asked about Hook Retention
›What's a good hook retention rate?
30–50% at the 3-second mark is healthy for paid social video. 50%+ is strong. Below 25% suggests the hook isn't working — either the opener is weak or the audience is mismatched to the message.
›How do I improve hook retention?
Test opener variations of the same core creative — same product, same offer, different first 3 seconds. Patterns that often work: question openers ('What if X?'), bold-claim openers ('Most people don't know...'), before-after splits, unexpected visual hooks. Iterate weekly on the opener while keeping the rest of the creative stable.
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