“The ads aren’t working” is where a diagnosis starts. Sometimes the ads really are the problem. Often they’re doing their job and people fall away somewhere after the click. If you brief new creative for a checkout problem, you’ll pay for ads that can’t fix it.
The ladder below is how we read an account before changing anything. Each rung has one question, one or two metrics, and a typical fix. Start at the top and stop at the first rung that breaks. It works the same on Meta, TikTok and Google; only the metric names change.
The ladder is a diagnostic aid, not proof of causation. Check tracking, attribution, sample size and your offer before changing spend. A drop at one step can have several causes.
The ladder at a glance
| Rung | Question | Metric to read | If it breaks, look at |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Stop | Do people stop scrolling? | Hook rate (3-second plays ÷ impressions) | The first frame, the first line, the visual |
| 2. Stay | Do they keep watching? | Hold rate, average watch time | The middle of the ad: story, pacing, proof |
| 3. Click | Do they act? | Outbound click-through rate | The promise, the offer, the call to action |
| 4. Add to cart | Does the page match the ad? | Landing page view to add-to-cart rate | The landing page and the ad-to-page match |
| 5. Buy | Do they finish? | Add-to-cart to purchase rate | Trust, price, shipping, checkout |
A field rule that’s worth memorising, from a media buyer on r/FacebookAds: “No clicks is creative. Clicks but no add to cart is usually page or mismatch. Add to cart but no purchases is trust or price” (source).
Rung 1: Stop
On video, hook rate (also called thumbstop rate) is 3-second plays divided by impressions. Motion’s glossary calls 20 to 40% generally solid, while noting it “varies wildly by industry and audience” (Motion). Use that as a rough guide, and compare against your own account’s median, which is the benchmark that matters.
On TikTok the equivalent read is taken at 2 seconds rather than 3 (Motion Help Center).
If it breaks: keep the concept and re-cut the opening. Test three or four new first frames or first lines on the same body. That’s an iteration test, and it’s cheap. Statics have hooks too: what people see first is decided by size, contrast and placement (Alex Cooper).
Rung 2: Stay
Hold rate is usually measured as 15-second views (or ThruPlays) divided by 3-second views. Published benchmarks for it are thin and mostly come from low-authority blogs, so we don’t quote one. Compare each ad with your account’s own history.
If it breaks: people liked the opening and left in the middle. Common causes: the ad takes too long to say what the product is, the proof arrives too late, or the pacing drops after a strong first line. TikTok recommends introducing the proposition in the first 3 seconds and putting the hook within the first 6 (TikTok Ads Help).
Rung 3: Click
Outbound click-through rate is clicks to your site divided by impressions. Around 1% is a common rule of thumb among media buyers, but it varies a lot by vertical.
If it breaks: people watched and didn’t feel a reason to act. Check three things:
- Is the promise specific? “Better sleep” is vague. “Fall asleep without scrolling” is a promise.
- Is the offer visible? If there’s a reason to act now, does the ad say so?
- Is the call to action clear? Tell people what happens when they tap.
Rung 4: Add to cart
This is where many accounts discover the ads were fine. If click-through rate is healthy and add-to-cart rate is weak, the problem usually lives on the page.
Look for mismatch first. The ad promised one thing and the page leads with another. A UGC video about neck pain that lands on a homepage hero about “premium sleep” makes the visitor work to reconnect the two. Most won’t.
Then check the basics:
- How fast does the page load on a phone over mobile data?
- Is the product, price and main benefit visible without scrolling?
- Is the add-to-cart button obvious on a 390px-wide screen?
- Does the page repeat the exact reason to buy that the ad used?
Rung 5: Buy
People added to cart and didn’t finish. Creative is rarely the cause at this rung. Check these first:
- Trust: no reviews near the price, unclear returns policy, unfamiliar brand with no proof.
- Price surprise: shipping or tax revealed late.
- Friction: forced account creation, slow payment steps, missing payment methods.
Fixing rung 5 often lifts every ad in the account at once, which is why it’s worth checking before you spend money on new creative.
Primary metrics decide, the rest explain
Dara Denney’s framing is useful here: primary KPIs (spend, cost per acquisition, return on ad spend) make the decision, while storytelling KPIs (hook rate, hold rate, click-through rate, CPM, frequency) explain it. An ad with a modest hook rate and a great cost per purchase is a winner. Don’t switch off an ad on soft metrics alone.
A worked example
Worked example. Northline sells a commuter backpack. Their best video has a hook rate well above the account median, solid hold and a healthy click-through rate. Cost per purchase has been rising for two weeks, and the team wants new ads.
The ladder says otherwise. Rungs 1 to 3 are fine. Add-to-cart rate dropped two weeks ago, the same week the product page was redesigned to lead with a lifestyle photo instead of the laptop compartment the ad demonstrates. The fix belongs on the page. Moving the compartment demo back above the fold is cheaper than any new ad.
Checklist
- Read the ladder top to bottom and stop at the first rung that breaks
- Compare each metric with the account’s own median, not a universal benchmark
- Rung 1 or 2 broken: iterate the opening or the middle, keep the concept
- Rung 3 broken: sharpen the promise, the offer and the call to action
- Rung 4 broken: check ad-to-page match and mobile basics
- Rung 5 broken: check trust, total price and checkout friction
- Let cost per result make the decision; use the rest to explain it
Sources
- Motion, Thumbstop rate / hook rate
- Motion Help Center, Tell stories and build hypotheses with metrics
- TikTok Ads Help, Creative best practices for performance ads (June 2025)
- Alex Cooper, How to make better static ads in 2026
- r/FacebookAds, What’s your process for deciding when to kill an ad? (practitioner discussion)