Terms of Engagement
The same short-form metric, three platform names. What TikTok, Reels and Shorts each call it.
| Metric | TikTok | Instagram Reels | YouTube Shorts |
|---|---|---|---|
Average watch time Total watch time ÷ total views | Average watch timeContent → a post | Average watch timeInsights → Watch time | Average view durationStudio → a Short |
| Strong when it approaches your length — a 20s clip holding ~14–18s is doing well. | |||
Average watch percentage Average watch time ÷ video length × 100 | Watched full video (rate)Under a post | Watch time ÷ lengthDerive it yourself | Average percentage viewedRetention card |
| Healthy short-form sits around 50–70%+; above ~80% means you could add length. | |||
Completion rate Viewers who reached the end ÷ total views × 100 | Watched full videoUnder a post | Plays vs. completionsEstimate from curve | Viewed to the endRight edge of curve |
| Target 20–40% for 15–30s clips; shorter, looping clips can clear 50%+. | |||
Hook rate (3s retention) Viewers still watching at 3s ÷ total views × 100 | 3-second retentionStart of curve | 3-second views / playsInsights → retention | First-frame retentionStart of curve |
| Aim to keep ~60–80%+ past 3 seconds; a steep early cliff is the top reach-killer. | |||
Audience retention % of viewers still watching at each second | Retention graphPost analytics | Retention graphInsights → retention | Audience retentionStudio → Engagement |
| Look for a gentle slope, not cliffs; flat or rising segments mark re-watch moments. | |||
Reach / impressions Unique accounts shown (reach) vs. total times shown (impressions) | Video views (For You %)Traffic sources | Accounts reachedInsights | Impressions & viewsStudio → Reach tab |
| Judge it as a multiple of your follower count — a healthy short reaches several times your following. | |||
Save rate Saves ÷ views × 100 | SavesUnder a post | SavesInsights | SavesStudio → engagement |
| Saves above ~1% of views signal high-value, reference-worthy content the algorithm favours. | |||
Share rate Shares ÷ views × 100 | SharesUnder a post | Shares / sendsInsights (DMs count) | SharesStudio → engagement |
| Shares above ~0.5–1% of views drive the most off-platform reach; DM sends count on Reels. | |||
Engagement rate (Likes + comments + shares + saves) ÷ views × 100 | Engagement rateShown directly | Interactions / reachedDerive it yourself | Likes + comments / viewsDerive it yourself |
| A view-based rate of 3–6%+ is solid for short-form; reach-based rates run higher. | |||
Metric names and in-app locations reflect TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts analytics as of June 2026. Benchmark bands are editorial heuristics from commonly-cited watch-through patterns, not platform-published targets — test against your own retention graphs.
Frequently asked
- Why do TikTok, Reels and Shorts use different names for the same metric?
- Each platform built its analytics dashboard independently, so the same underlying number gets a different label. Average watch time on TikTok and Reels is "Average view duration" on YouTube Shorts; completion rate hides behind "Watched full video" on TikTok and the end of the retention graph on Shorts. The decoder above lines up all three names per metric so you can compare like for like.
- What is a good retention rate on TikTok?
- There is no single number, but healthy short-form holds roughly 50–70% of its length in average watch percentage, keeps about 60–80% of viewers past the 3-second hook, and lands completion rate around 20–40% for 15–30s clips. Tight, looping clips can clear 50% completion. Read these as bands to beat against your own back catalogue, not hard cutoffs.
- How do I find average watch time on TikTok?
- Open the TikTok app or Analytics, go to Content, tap the post, and look for "Average watch time", reported as a duration in seconds. Compare it to the clip length: a 20-second video holding 14–18 seconds of average watch time is performing well. On Reels it is also "Average watch time"; on YouTube Shorts it is labelled "Average view duration".
- What is hook rate and where do I see it?
- Hook rate is the share of viewers still watching at 3 seconds. It is your single clearest early signal. No platform prints it as a tidy number, so read it off the first 3 seconds of the audience-retention curve on TikTok, Reels and Shorts. Aim to keep 60–80%+ past the 3-second mark; a steep early cliff is the most common reason a video stops getting pushed.
- Completion rate vs. average watch time: which matters more?
- They measure different things. Average watch time (and its length-normalised twin, average watch percentage) tells you how far the typical viewer got; completion rate tells you what share reached the end. Completion rate tends to be the strongest predictor of getting pushed to more feeds, but a clip can have high completion and still leave watch time on the table if it is too short. Track both.
- Which metrics can editing actually move?
- The retention family. Hook rate responds to opening on the payoff or a pattern-interrupt in the first frame; completion rate responds to shortening the payoff and ending on a clean loop; average watch percentage responds to cutting dead air and tightening the slow middle. Reach, saves and shares are mostly downstream of how well those retention levers land.
Know which numbers to move? Bevyl edits for them: tightening the hook, smoothing the retention curve, and trimming to a clean loop so completion and watch time climb.
Try Bevyl free