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Frequency

The average number of times each person has seen your ad.

Definition

Frequency is the average number of times each person in your audience has seen your ad. It's calculated as Impressions ÷ Reach.

Optimal Frequency

  • 1-2x: Awareness phase
  • 3-5x: Consideration phase
  • 6+: Risk of ad fatigue

Monitor frequency to avoid creative fatigue.

Why It Matters

Frequency is how many times the average person in your audience sees your ad. Too low and people won't remember you; too high and you waste budget on ad fatigue. Managing frequency is critical for balancing awareness building with cost efficiency — especially in retargeting campaigns where audiences are smaller.

Examples

  • •A retargeting campaign with frequency capped at 3x per week to avoid annoying potential customers
  • •A brand awareness campaign intentionally running at 5-7x frequency for maximum recall
  • •Monitoring campaign frequency daily and refreshing creatives when it exceeds 4-5x

Common Mistakes

  • ✕Ignoring frequency metrics and wondering why performance degrades over time
  • ✕Not setting frequency caps on retargeting campaigns, showing the same ad 15+ times
  • ✕Assuming one frequency number works for all campaign types — awareness vs conversion need different levels
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