Every marketing campaign, no matter how well designed, is vulnerable to ad fatigue, which occurs whenever your ads are seen so much they become tiresome. Instead of standing out, they fade into the background, ignored, like white noise.

Ad fatigue is unavoidable. Run a campaign long enough and eventually it gets old. People get bored seeing the same message over and over again. It’s a phenomenon Hollywood knows all too well ‒ the more exposure, the less impact. Fortunately, ad fatigue is easy to spot. In fact, Google, Facebook, any platform that hosts paid advertisements, provides all the tools you need. You’ll know fatigue is setting in when your ads have:

  • High Frequency. Frequency is the average number of times your ad is shown to users. High frequency is good. The more people who see your ad, the better. It’s only worrisome when it’s combined with the metrics below.
  • Rising CPC. Cost-Per-Click is what you get when you divide your ad spend by the number of clicks your ads receive. CPC varies across industries. It’s not unusual for legal services to spend $6 per click, while apparel companies spend less than $2. However, if your CPC is rising steadily, it either means you’re facing more competition, or your ads are becoming less effective.
  • Falling CTR. Click-Through-Rate is the percentage of users who click on your ad after seeing it. It’s the most important measure of engagement and if it’s dropping off, while costs and frequency are going up, it means ad fatigue has set in.

How to Overcome Ad Fatigue

Ad fatigue doesn’t mean you have to scrap your campaign. There are steps you can take to get your marketing back on track and start seeing better returns.

Revise Your Content

Revising your ads gives them new life. Often, a few simple changes are enough to make them feel fresh again. Consider:

Modifying the Format. How you present information is just as important as the information itself. An updated layout helps generate stronger interest.

  • Inserting New Pictures. Pairing content with the right pictures is the best way to drive engagement. If your ads aren’t performing, a new picture might help catch people’s attention.
  • Altering Your Color Scheme. You don’t need to jettison your entire color palette. Swapping or switching colors (e.g. green to red, red to green), is just as effective ‒ as long as they’re consistent with your brand.
  • Revising Your Copy. Restate your message with additional details (e.g. Turbo-Charged Engine, Custom Paint, Bluetooth Radio). You can also highlight a discount (20% Off), add time sensitive language (Sale Ends Monday!), or include a stronger call to action (Act Now to Save).
  • Adding Video. Few things drive engagement as strongly as video. Videos can’t be understood at a glance. Viewers have to stop and watch in order to understand the message, which makes them more likely to click. If you didn’t launch your ads with video, try adding some.

Expand Your Audience

Targeting core customers is a great way to boost sales, but narrowing your audience means the same people will see your ad multiple times. Branch out to prevent fatigue. For instance, you can:

  • Enlarge Your Target Area. Location targeting lets you focus on places where your customers live and work. But if your parameters are too tight, they’re going to be seeing your ads a little too often. Widen your audience by widening your target area.
  • Increase Your Ad Spend. Though it sounds counterintuitive, increasing your marketing budget is a great way to grow your audience. If your goal is to target one million people, but you’ve only allocated enough cash to reach 100,000, then spending more money will bring more views.
  • Broaden Your Target Demographic. You’ve probably got a good idea who buys your products and services, but look around. There may be another set of people with similar behavior you can focus on as well. Just be careful not to overlap your audience. Including the same people in multiple sets means they see your ads more often instead of less.

Curb Exposure

The best way to deal with ad fatigue isn’t to fight it, but prevent it. By managing viewership, you can stop your campaign from growing stale. A few minor adjustments are all that’s required, such as:

  • Capping Frequency. Limits the number of times an individual can see your ad.
  • Dynamic Retargeting. Shows ads based on the customer’s last interaction with your website, so they only see content that matches their interests.
  • Rotate Ads. Create several versions of the same ad and swap them out every few days. The different versions don’t have to be radically different either. Simple tweaks to the wording, color, font, and images will help them feel new.

Preventing Ad Fatigue with YPM

YPM monitors and manages your marketing campaigns, so they remain fresh, creative, and compelling. We craft inventive visuals and powerful copy, based on the latest metrics, tailored to your core customers, so your content is always fresh. Don’t let ads languish, overlooked by the people they’re supposed to persuade. Contact us today to ensure your content stays on the cutting edge, relevant and engaging.