Ever drove past the same annoying billboard on your way to work every day? Ever watched TV, only for the same commercial to come on over and over again, driving you nuts every single ad break? Ever hated an ad so much that you actively like the brand less because of it? 

If you answered ‘yes’ to any of those (and let's face it, most people would) then congratulations - you’ve experienced ad fatigue. And - as a marketer - you could be inflicting it on potential customers without even realizing. 

So, let’s talk about ad fatigue. In the next 5 minutes, expect to learn: 

• What ad fatigue is
• What causes ad fatigue
• The ad fatigue debate (+ what top marketers are saying about it)
• How to spot ad fatigue as a marketer
• The top strategies to avoid it, and keep potential customers engaged

What is ad fatigue?

We touched on this earlier, but ad fatigue is essentially when customers get so tired of an ad, they become blind to it - or worse, actively detest it.

Why does this happen? When the human brain is exposed to the same message repeatedly, the initial spark of interest dwindles, only to be replaced by a weary indifference. When it’s exposed to the same message over, and over, and over again - that weary indifference can be replaced with contempt or disgust.

The consequences of ad fatigue for both B2C and B2B campaigns are dire. Click-through rates plummet, brand recall suffers, and your carefully crafted message gets lost in the white noise of online advertising. 

Data from AdEspresso shows that ad fatigue can lead to a 35% decrease in CTR, and a 20% increase in CPC. If your audience is experiencing ad fatigue, they are less likely to convert, which can lower overall conversion rates.

That’s why marketers need to be acutely aware of the impact their ads have on their audience - and make sure they’re keeping things interesting for potential buyers.

How marketers view ad fatigue

Ad fatigue is a long-debated issue in the marketing community. Some believe that ad fatigue can’t hurt you if your creatives are strong enough - yet others believe that even strong creatives can lead to ad fatigue. 

This post from Phil Kiel, Managing Director at Hello Earth, outlines Phil’s view on the ‘ad fatigue myth’, and says that evergreen ads rarely fatigue.

Commenting on the post, Markus Burke mentioned that while higher-quality ads have a longer lifespan than others, all ads have a lifespan - and even strong campaigns aren’t completely evergreen.

This post from Optmyzr Brand Evangelist Navah Hopkins outlines the importance of routinely keeping creatives fresh. This is more important than ever, as Google now outright tells us to change our assets after 2-3 weeks if they're not leading to conversions.

There's a lot of great information in this post that marketers should be aware of, especially regarding fatigue in creatives for PMax or responsive search ad campaigns:

So who's right?

Of course, both sides of the debate have credible points. Strong messaging with solid creatives can continue to resonate with your audience months, even years after your campaign launched. After all, you wouldn’t replace a winning horse in the middle of the race. Yet, if your horse has 3 legs and is slowly limping to the finish line - maybe it'd be best for everyone if you had a rethink.

Yet even if your ads are all-time masterpieces, with ad copy from Shakespeare and Picasso-esque visuals all wrapped up into one highly-relatable, conversion-driving package - it doesn’t mean you can just sit back and relax. 

Even the best ads need to evolve and adapt to prevent fatigue and keep metrics high. 

After all, various psychological sources agree that ad fatigue is a very real phenomenon. Alongside AdEspresso’s study mentioned above, one study from Keio University found that ad campaigns using fewer unique creatives received lower CTRs, conversions, and post-click conversions than those using more varied creatives over the course of the campaign.

In order to know when it’s time for evolution, or perhaps a complete messaging overhaul - you’ll need to know when ad fatigue occurs, and how to look out for it.

When does ad fatigue occur?

When thinking about ad fatigue (for paid social campaigns especially), one important factor to keep in mind is that ad fatigue occurs at different rates depending on the channel. 

Some ad channels relentlessly bombard audiences with the same ads over and over again, whereas others spread them out a little more. 

Short form content platforms like TikTok or YouTube Shorts repeatedly show the same ads to users. These platforms also have the highest average engagement rate and usage time, meaning your audience is likely to become fatigued quicker.

On the other hand, platforms such as LinkedIn are less likely to induce ad fatigue. Most people spend less time on LinkedIn compared to other platforms for starters, and secondly, the ads shown on there are generally less intrusive. Rather than a whole video being shoved in your audience’s face every 3 minutes, LinkedIn allows users to just scroll right past. 

In essence, this means that strong ad creatives last longer on platforms that don’t bombard users with ads as much. 

How to spot ad fatigue

So, how do you know if ad fatigue is sabotaging your campaigns? Let’s look at the telltale signs to keep an eye out for:

• Low Click-Through Rates (CTRs): If your meticulously crafted ads are gathering dust instead of clicks, there’s a high chance your audience is tuning out.
• Ad Blindness: Ever scrolled right past an ad (a banner ad, a social media ad, etc) without even registering its presence? That's ad blindness - a common symptom of ad fatigue. If your audience seems oblivious to your ads, it's time for a refresh.
• Social Media Silence: Is your brand's social media presence met with crickets instead of lively discussions? Low engagement could indicate that your messaging is failing to resonate with your audience - or, it’s being ignored completely.
• Negative Feedback (Or worse - no feedback): Negative comments are a sign someone noticed your ad (even if it wasn't the reaction you were hoping for). The real danger zone is when your ads elicit no response at all. Author Amish Tripathi once said that “The opposite of love is not hate, but apathy”.

Crucially, it’s important to keep an eye on your most important metrics to detect fatigue. Aside from CTRs, closely monitor clicks, engagements, conversions, and other metrics important to your goals. 

If you see a KPI moving in the wrong direction, it might be time to start thinking about ways to renew interest in your current ad campaigns, and broaden your approach for future campaigns.

Strategies to keep your audience engaged

Now that you know what to look out for, let's explore strategies to keep your audience engaged and prevent fatigue:

• Embrace Ad Refreshment - Don't let your audience get comfortable. As mentioned before, even the best ads need evolution. Refresh or rotate your ad creatives regularly to maintain an element of surprise and intrigue.

• Segment Your Audience - ‘One-size-fits-all’ is another way of saying ‘tailored to no one’. Segment your audience based on demographics, interests, and buying stage. Tailor messaging to resonate with the specific needs and pain points of individual demographics, and create a plan to keep your various audiences engaged throughout the entire campaign.

• Exclude Past Users - If someone’s already engaged with your posts and knows your brand, you don’t have to continue shoveling your content into their feeds. If they’ve already said ‘no thanks’, yet you continue pestering them, it’s going to work against you in the long run. Certain platforms, such as Meta’s Pixel, allow you to create a custom audience targeting people who clicked through to your site in the past 60 days. This lets you exclude people who clicked but didn’t convert. But all is not lost - you now have a list of users who are prime for retargeting campaigns.

• Use Captive Storytelling - Facts and figures are important, but stories capture hearts and minds. Infuse your ads with compelling narratives that connect with your audience on an emotional level. Yet even these need refreshing - one tactic performance marketers love is to lure customers in with storytelling, THEN pivot towards a more features-and-benefits approach. Take them on a journey, then explain how your product can help them.

• Embrace A/B Testing - Don't be afraid to experiment - A/B test different ad variations to see what resonates best with your audience. Data is your friend, and it will guide you towards the most effective messaging.

• The Multi-Channel Approach - Don't rely solely on one advertising platform. Spread your message across a variety of channels, such as social media, email marketing, and content marketing. This keeps your brand visible without overwhelming your audience on any one platform.

• The Retargeting Revival - It’s no secret that some users need a gentle nudge. Retargeting allows you to show ads to users who have already interacted with your brand, keeping your message top-of-mind without being intrusive.

Bonus Tip: A Little Humor Goes a Long Way

Never underestimate the power of a well-placed chuckle. Humor can be a disarming tool that grabs attention and potentially fosters a strong connection with your audience. A touch of wit can make your brand seem more relatable and human, immediately setting you apart from a sea of dry, robotic ads.

Remember though, B2B humor requires a delicate touch. Avoid anything that could be perceived as unprofessional or offensive to your target audience.

The bottom line

When it comes to marketing, balance is key. Paid ads can work wonders for raising brand awareness and increasing sales, but let’s be honest: ads can get stale. 

Use the strategies above to keep your ads fresh and your audience engaged. By implementing a well-balanced advertising strategy with strong creatives throughout, you can minimize (and even fix) the ad fatigue problem. 

It’s no secret that the current marketing landscape is unforgiving, unpredictable, and uneasy. Companies have higher expectations of marketers than ever before - all whilst campaign budgets plummet and CPCs skyrocket. 

As such, efficiency with marketing spend is a more important factor than ever before. 

Unfortunately for us, over 1 in 12 clicks made online are fake. The invalid traffic problem continues to grow, and that invalid traffic is routinely wasting your ad spend.

Find out how much invalid traffic is affecting your ad campaigns with a 14-day free trial from Lunio. There’s no obligation, and you can get a crystal-clear insight into exactly where your traffic is coming from - and how much ad spend you could save with Lunio.