When Does Frequency Lead to Creative Fatigue?

0:00This is a Pubcast Shots. [snorts] I'm John Loomer. When is frequency a problem and what should you do about it? Let's go. [music]

0:16[music] So, frequency is the average number of times people have seen either a single ad or group of ads. It's found by dividing the total impressions by the number of people reached. And frequency often becomes a target metric for advertisers when they aren't getting good results, especially when good performance tanks. They assume creative fatigue, which is the result of too much frequency. They think that after a certain number of impressions, if someone hasn't converted yet, they're not going to. And that's where advertisers believe that Meta's doing them wrong by showing an ad that isn't working too many times. So, they think if they can catch an ad that has a high

0:59frequency before it completely tanks, it could be turned off or controlled in some way. But the problem is that no one knows what high or low, good or bad frequency actually is. There isn't a universal threshold. And truthfully, some frequency is going to be necessary because you can't expect everyone to convert the first time they see your ad. And the greater the commitment, the more times people will likely need to see your ads. And that's the type of frequency that will likely require seeing more than just the same ad over and over. So, sure, you're going to need more frequency when selling a high-priced product than selling a

1:41low-priced product. And you'll probably also need more frequency to sell a low-priced product than to get someone to subscribe to a lead magnet. Already we have lots of ambiguity because what does this mean? Is a frequency of four enough? Is it too much? But over what period of time did that frequency happen? Because obviously, seeing the same ad four times in a week is not the same

2:07thing as four times in a year. The placement matters, too. Seeing the same ad in your newsfeed four times isn't the same as an ad appearing in your right column four times. Some of this frequency is cheap and good for awareness, while other frequency can be downright annoying. Now, there's another element that's a huge driver of frequency, especially negative frequency, and that's the

2:29audience size. If you intentionally shrink your audience, frequency is more likely to be a problem. This is especially the case for local businesses with a reasonable budget. But it's also true for remarketing. These audiences exhaust quickly. And of course, you can limit your audience in other ways, too. But let's assume you're not doing any of these

2:50things. You're targeting an entire country, like the US, and you're worried about showing your ads too many times to the same people. I've got to tell you that I think this concern is way overblown. Let me give you an example. I've been working with a company for a couple of years now, and I have very little control over the refreshing of

3:10ads. I'm not going to go into all the details of that, but it's obviously not ideal. That said, it also hasn't led to the problems you might expect. There is a campaign that has spent more than $450,000 on a broad audience in the US. It has a total frequency of 4.5. And there are two ads that have spent about $150,000 each, both with a

3:36frequency of about 3.0. Now, in either case, you might assume frequency would be higher. It's a higher budget going to a small number of ads over a long period of time. This campaign is a complete opposite of the popular approach these days and even opposes Meta's own best practices of creative diversity. But guess what? Despite spending this

4:00much money, frequency isn't a problem. Creative fatigue hasn't happened and in fact, results are only getting better month after month. This scenario would seem impossible the way so many advertisers approach their ads. As soon as performance drops, they assume a frequency problem. But that performance drop may have nothing to do with frequency at all. Unless that is, you're doing things to limit your audience that would

4:29artificially inflate frequency. So my hope for you is that you'll look at frequency differently. Do not worry about some magical frequency that you can't exceed because there are far too many factors that go into that number. And Meta does dynamically cycle your ads to avoid high frequencies that would lead to creative fatigue if you let

4:50them. My example showed exactly how that happens. The problem is that so many advertisers approach ad refreshing on a weekly or monthly basis with frequency as the driver. The reality is likely something very different. What I bet is happening is that your ads were good enough to succeed with people who know you, but they fail when your performance relies

5:13on new eyeballs. That's why your ads die after a week or two. Cuz you've exhausted your built-in remarketing audiences, the lowest hanging fruit. The easy audience to convert. Without knowing what's going on, the temporary fix is a constant ad refresh, but it ignores the actual problem. And your problem isn't frequency or creative fatigue. Your problem is that your ads aren't good enough to get the results you want

5:40from new audiences. Otherwise, your performance wouldn't tank after initially starting strong. What you need to understand is that Meta will tell you if frequency is a problem. Your ads will get a label of creative fatigue. And that's a sign that, yes, people have seen your ad or ads too many times, and you need to create something different. But don't assume that will happen. And achieving creative fatigue is likely way

6:06more difficult than you think. So, here's the bottom of the glass. There isn't a universal number for bad frequency that you need to watch out for. So, stop searching for it. Some frequency is good and necessary. And where and when those impressions happen matter. Most quick drops in performances seem to require a constant ad refresh have nothing to do with frequency and

6:31creative fatigue at all. They suggest a deeper problem. It's that your ads aren't resonating with new audiences. But if frequency is a problem, you'll know it. Beyond the drop in performance, Meta will label an ad with creative fatigue. And when that's the case, the solution is always to create more ads. All right, before we wrap up, one quick note. So, Meta advertising changes fast,

6:58and it's really easy to fall behind. That's why I created the Loop, which is my free weekly email that keeps you up to date. One email each week with a simple summary of my latest blog posts, videos, and podcast episodes all in one place. So, go to jonloomer.com/loop and subscribe. Thanks again for joining me today. Until next time, do awesome

7:22things. I'm out. [music]