Completion rate
Completion rate is the share of impressions where the video played to the end, sometimes reported as 100% view rate or as view-through rate. Where hook rate measures the opening, completion rate measures whether the argument held once someone was already watching.
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Why it matters
Completion is the diagnostic for the body of the ad. A creative with strong hook rate and weak completion has an opening that promises something the middle does not deliver, which is a fixable problem and a common one.
It is also strongly length-dependent, which makes cross-creative comparison meaningless unless the durations are similar.
How to apply it
| Length | Typical completion | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 6 to 10s | 40 to 60% | Short ads flatter this metric |
| 11 to 15s | 25 to 40% | The common trade-off zone |
| 16 to 30s | 15 to 25% | Needs a real reason to run long |
| Over 30s | under 15% | Usually the wrong placement |
- Compare completion only between creatives of similar length.
- If completion is fine but click-through is weak, the problem is the offer or the CTA.
- A 30 second ad at 20% completion can outperform a 10 second ad at 55%. Absolute completions matter, not the ratio.
What people get wrong
- Comparing completion rate across different ad lengths.
- Optimising for completion by shortening ads until nothing is communicated.
- Ignoring it entirely, which means never diagnosing a weak body.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good video ad completion rate?
It depends mostly on length: roughly 40 to 60% for a 6 to 10 second ad and 15 to 25% for a 16 to 30 second ad. Only compare creatives of similar duration.
Is completion rate more important than hook rate?
They answer different questions. Hook rate diagnoses the opening, completion diagnoses the body. Read hook rate first, because a bad hook makes everything downstream unreadable.
Should I shorten ads to raise completion?
Only if nothing is lost. A higher ratio on an ad that says less is not an improvement.