Written by: There’s a thrilling sensation I get when I launch a Facebook ad for a client. Whether the objective is brand awareness, video views or lead conversion, the opportunity to reach an audience with content tailored to their interests is exciting! Call me crazy, but who wouldn’t feel this way when sharing content about services and products to an audience who actually want to hear from your business?!
And then, something unexpected happens...ad fatigue:
- Engagement falls short
- Your price per lead increases
- Ad performance plateaus
First, let’s dive into what ad fatigue means and how it can affect your business.
What is Ad Fatigue?
Ad fatigue occurs when the audience you are targeting sees a Facebook ad too many times, causing the ad to stop producing results.
There are a few things that will lead to ad fatigue.
High Frequency Rate
Frequency rate refers to the number of times a Facebook user saw your ad. Imagine if you see the same ad multiple times, when simply scrolling through Facebook to view the latest update on April the giraffe and her new calf. Annoying, right?
Declining Click-Through-Rates
There was a period of time when your ad was performing quite well. Then, about two or more weeks into the ad campaign, your click-through-rate dropped. This is an indicator that your ad (in its current form) has reached its peak of effectiveness.
Increased Cost-Per-Acquisition
Regardless of the objective of the ad, the higher the ad frequency, the more you will have to pay for a person to perform the objective’s action. Some advertisers consider this one of the most painful side effects of ad fatigue. When everyone in your audience has seen your ad multiple times, it becomes more costly to achieve desirable results.
Your audience will probably see the same ad a few times - which is okay. However, if they view the ad more than a few times, the ad starts to become stale. This is why daily monitoring of your Facebook ads is important. You’ll want to act fast and be ready to make updates to ensure that ad fatigue does not negatively impact your ROI.
Three Quick Ways to Fight Ad Fatigue
1. Update The Creative
To fight Facebook ad fatigue, you can update the ad image or copy. You can change the call to action verbiage, add (or remove) emojis, rotate the ad format or write a completely different message in order to update the copy. If you do choose to use a completely new image or video within the ad, make sure that it still relates to the overall objective and message.
Note: We do not suggest updating the image and the ad copy at the same time. It will be harder to A/B test and consider which update works best for future ads.
2. Use Smart Targeting
One of the best elements of Facebook ads is the ability to get in front of a finely-tuned audience with your ad. Smart targeting means that you are taking full advantage of tapping into an audience’s demographics and geographic area(s). You might think narrowing your audience is not in your best interest, but in reality, you are actually increasing your ad’s relevancy score. An increased relevancy score ensures that your ad is relevant to the audience you want to reach.
3. Retarget An Audience
Facebook ad retargeting is your opportunity to advertise to people who engaged with your ad in some form or fashion, but did not convert to a lead.
You’ll want to create a brand new ad and message to nurture this particular audience. While you may be linking the new, retargeted ad to the same landing page as the original ad they interacted with, using a new ad creative and copy has the opportunity for greater engagement.
Ad fatigue can be detrimental to your campaign and your business. While Facebook advertising is one of the most cost efficient ways to get in front of your ideal audience, if it is not closely monitored your cost per lead can increase.
To combat Facebook ad fatigue, beware of high frequency rates, declining click-through-rate and increased cost-per-acquisition. By implementing all of the above three actions, you will be able to keep cost per lead low and secure an engaged audience who won’t get tired of viewing your ads.
