Contents
- Completion rate measures the share of plays reaching the end of the video.
- It depends first on duration: a fifteen-second video mechanically earns a better rate than a two-minute one.
- The quartiles are more useful than the final rate: they say where the audience drops off.
Definition
The video completion rate measures the proportion of plays that reached the end of the video.
Formula
Completion rate = 100% views divided by video starts, times one hundred.
Worked example
A 45-second video shows 18% completion. The quartiles show 74% at 25%, 41% at 50% and 22% at 75%: half the audience leaves between the twelfth and twenty-second second. That's where the message must be moved up, not at the end.
Orders of magnitude
The rate drops fast with duration. A video under fifteen seconds earns rates far beyond a one-minute video: compare only similar durations.
The most common mistakes
- Comparing videos of different durations. The rate then measures duration, not quality.
- Stopping at the final rate. The quartiles indicate the exact moment of drop-off, the only actionable information.
- Optimizing a conversion campaign on completion. You pay for attention, not sales.
Where to find the metric
In LinkedIn Ads, the Video completion rate column, with views at 25, 50, 75 and 100%. In Meta, the same quartiles complete the ThruPlay. In Google Ads, quartile plays on YouTube.
Frequently asked questions
The Adwise team connects Google Ads, Meta Ads, LinkedIn Ads, GA4 and Search Console so agencies and freelancers can run their campaigns from a single place.