Hook Rate

What it means

Hook rate measures retention at the very start of a video: the percentage of people who watch past the first few seconds instead of scrolling on. It applies specifically to video content. If 1,000 people see your video start and 400 are still watching three seconds in, that's your hook rate.

The term comes from paid social and performance marketing, where the first few seconds of a video ad are treated as a distinct, measurable checkpoint separate from full watch time or completion rate.

Why it matters for B2B sellers

On LinkedIn, the algorithm and the scroll are both working against you before your point even lands. A weak opening line or a slow video intro means the rest of your post, however good, never gets seen. Hook rate is a diagnostic for that specific failure point: are people bailing before you've said anything, or are they staying and then bailing later.

This matters because it tells you where to fix the post. A low hook rate means the problem is your first line or first three seconds. A decent hook rate followed by a drop-off later means the opening worked but the substance didn't hold.

The misconception

The mistake is treating hook rate as a proxy for pipeline. A high hook rate means people stopped scrolling. It says nothing about whether they trusted you, remembered your name, or would take a call. You can hook attention with a shock statement, a controversial take, or a face doing something unexpected, and still generate zero business interest because the content that follows doesn't connect to anything the viewer cares about.

Sellers who optimize purely for hook rate end up producing openings that are engineered to stop the scroll but disconnected from the offer or expertise they're supposed to be demonstrating. That's attention theater, not selling.

How it's actually used

Hook rate should sit alongside completion rate, comments, and, further downstream, profile visits or DMs. On its own it tells you whether your opening works. Paired with what happens after, it tells you whether the opening is doing its job of leading somewhere, or just performing for its own sake.