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Creative Fatigue
The decline in ad performance that occurs when audiences see the same creative too frequently, leading to decreased engagement.
Tags:ad performancefrequencycreative refreshoptimizationengagement
Creative fatigue happens when your audience sees the same ad too many times. They stop noticing it, stop clicking, and your performance tanks.
Signs of creative fatigue:
- Frequency above 3-4 (average times each person has seen your ad)
- CTR declining week over week
- CPM increasing as platforms deprioritize your ad
- Conversion rate dropping
Why it happens:
The first time someone sees your ad, it's new and interesting. By the 5th or 10th time, they've mentally tuned it out. Their brain literally stops registering it — it becomes invisible.
How to prevent it:
- Monitor frequency: Keep it under 4 for most campaigns
- Create variations: Have 3-5 different creatives running simultaneously
- Refresh regularly: Swap out creatives every 2-4 weeks
- Test different formats: Mix images, videos, carousels
- Rotate messaging: Same product, different angles
The fix isn't always new creatives:
Sometimes expanding your audience helps more than new creatives. If your audience is too small, even great ads will fatigue quickly because the same people keep seeing them.
Platform algorithms detect creative fatigue too. When engagement drops, they show your ad less, which increases your CPM. Fresh creatives often see immediate cost improvements.