---
title: Which Meta ad metrics to track, and how to read them
slug: meta-ads-manager-metrics-setup
summary: A minimal Ads Manager column set split into primary metrics (spend, purchases, cost per purchase, ROAS — the only ones to optimise on) and storytelling metrics (frequency, CPM, unique outbound CTR, first-frame retention, hook/thumbstop, hold, completion, shares), with definitions and the thresholds practitioners use.
domain: marketing
tags: [meta-ads, metrics, reporting, hook-rate, creative-analytics]
related: [meta-ad-diagnostic-cheatsheet, meta-creative-test-qualitative-analysis, meta-weekly-cadence-and-attribution, meta-scaling-winners, paid-social-creative-testing-framework, measurement-stack-attribution-incrementality-mmm, judging-creatives-by-spend-not-roas]
sources: [yt:CCsty8R0UaA, yt:oO_9CefhuDE]
updated: 2026-10-24
---

# Meta ad metrics: what to track

## TL;DR
- **Primary metrics** tell you *what* works and are the **only** ones to optimise on: amount spent, purchases (or leads), cost per purchase, ROAS.[^1][^2]
- **Storytelling metrics** explain *why*: frequency, reach/impressions, CPM, unique outbound CTR, cost per link click, hook rate, hold rate, average play time, post shares.[^3][^4]
- Sort by **spend, high to low** — ads Meta spends on are ones it deems relevant; a big spender that misses the goal is the first thing to fix.[^5][^6]
- Thresholds: **frequency > 5** over 7 days → you're likely hitting the same (retargeting-like) people; **first-frame retention > 90%**; benchmark hook/hold against **your own account average first**, not industry numbers.[^7][^8][^9]
- **Analyse first, then optimise** — don't tweak while you're still working out what is working and why.[^10]

## Details
**Dara Denney's column set (2025).** Delivery, bid strategy, attribution setting, budget; then spend, purchases, cost per purchase, ROAS; then frequency, reach, impressions, cost per reach, CPM; then **unique outbound CTR** (the "purest" CTR: unique people who actually reached the landing page), cost per link click, hook rate, hold rate, average video play time, post shares.[^1][^3][^4]
- *Hook rate* (custom metric): % who watched the first 3 seconds of a video. *Hold rate*: % who watched 15 seconds, or the whole ad if under 15 s. There's no hook/hold for statics — only CTR, which runs lower under broad targeting.[^4][^11]
- She prefers hold rate over average play time, which is inflated for long videos.[^12]
- *Post shares*: Meta says shareability is its top organic success signal, so she tracks it on ads too.[^12]
- In one account the average hook rate was ~30% and hold ~7–8%; the winning ad nearly doubled those averages, a sign of a strong creative. Its outbound CTR was only average.[^13][^14]
- CPM is industry- and product-dependent; she uses **Varos** for benchmarks.[^15]

**Evan Lee's creative metric chain (Motion, 2026):** spend → first-frame retention (did they even start the video? fix thumbnail/first frame if < 90%) → **thumbstop ratio** (3-second views; Meta's standard, TikTok offers 2 s or 6 s) → 100% video play rate → outbound CTR → the bottom-line metric (cost per purchase/lead, ROAS).[^8][^16][^17] Engagement without bottom-line results is not a win.[^18]

**Advanced reads.** Breakdowns by age, gender and placement (e.g. a test skewing 50+ may justify creative for that group) and comparisons against your own top performers and competitors' long-running ads.[^19][^20] The numbers show *that* an ad is strong. The reason lives in its messaging, visuals and format, so tag those too. See [[meta-creative-test-qualitative-analysis]] for Dara's full method and her Motion reports.[^14]

## Disagreements / caveats
- Hold-rate definitions differ: Dara uses 15-second (or full) views; the app-side note [[paid-social-creative-testing-framework]] lists two definitions with a 30–40% hook target. Fix one definition per account.

## See also
- [[meta-ad-diagnostic-cheatsheet]] — turning these metrics into fixes
- [[meta-weekly-cadence-and-attribution]]
- [[meta-creative-test-qualitative-analysis]] — explaining *why* a winner won
- People: [[people/dara-denney]], [[people/evan-lee]]

[^1]: yt:CCsty8R0UaA @ 01:12 — Dara Denney
[^2]: yt:CCsty8R0UaA @ 10:51 — Dara Denney
[^3]: yt:CCsty8R0UaA @ 03:44 — Dara Denney
[^4]: yt:CCsty8R0UaA @ 06:49 — Dara Denney
[^5]: yt:oO_9CefhuDE @ 19:10 — Evan Lee
[^6]: yt:CCsty8R0UaA @ 13:57 — Dara Denney
[^7]: yt:CCsty8R0UaA @ 03:44 — Dara Denney
[^8]: yt:oO_9CefhuDE @ 20:46 — Evan Lee
[^9]: yt:oO_9CefhuDE @ 24:01 — Evan Lee
[^10]: yt:CCsty8R0UaA @ 10:51 — Dara Denney
[^11]: yt:CCsty8R0UaA @ 06:49 — Dara Denney
[^12]: yt:CCsty8R0UaA @ 08:26 — Dara Denney
[^13]: yt:CCsty8R0UaA @ 17:11 — Dara Denney
[^14]: yt:CCsty8R0UaA @ 17:11 — Dara Denney
[^15]: yt:CCsty8R0UaA @ 05:14 — Dara Denney
[^16]: yt:oO_9CefhuDE @ 21:33 — Evan Lee
[^17]: yt:oO_9CefhuDE @ 24:50 — Evan Lee
[^18]: yt:oO_9CefhuDE @ 25:38 — Evan Lee
[^19]: yt:CCsty8R0UaA @ 27:33 — Dara Denney
[^20]: yt:CCsty8R0UaA @ 28:45 — Dara Denney