As a digital marketer, you know that it’s your job to produce eye-catching content that draws your audience in and inspires them to take action.
But being innovative all of the time can feel overwhelming, causing some marketers to fall into a trap of producing the same content over and over again. When this happens, you are setting yourself up to become a victim of ad fatigue.
Let’s talk about what ad fatigue is and how you can avoid falling victim to it.
What is Ad Fatigue?
Ad fatigue is what happens when your content feels so repetitive that your audience grows tired of it. When your content is boring your audience, they will start to tune you out. This is not exactly the outcome you want when your whole purpose is to bring attention to your brand.
If you start to notice a decline in sales or new customers, it’s very likely that your audience is suffering from ad fatigue. Your content is not educating, exciting, or enticing them anymore. You need to make sure that your audience will consistently feel inspired to take action after being exposed to your content.
The truth is, if you’re one of the brands contributing to the over $173 billion spent on social advertising in 2022 alone, you can’t afford to fall victim to the advertising fatigue trap. If you do, you need to work quickly to find a way to breathe new life into your campaign.
The first step to solving any problem is to acknowledge the problem. This will take some effort on your part. Let’s talk about the warning signs of advertising fatigue.
Signs Your Audience Has Ad Fatigue
If your audience is suffering from ad fatigue, it’s important to adjust your content strategy quickly and appropriately. Here are some ad fatigue symptoms to look out for.
Lower Click-Through Rates
Your click-through rate, or CTR, is the number of clicks each advertisement generates. This correlates to the number of people who took an action after seeing your content. When it comes to digital marketing, your CTR is one of the most important metrics to pay attention to.
If your ads usually have a 10-15% CTR but you start to see rates closer to 5-7%, you need to recognize that you have a content strategy problem. A decline in CTR means that your content is not compelling your audience to take the next step in your sales funnel.
Lower Engagement Rates
Engagement rates are another really good indicator of how well your content is performing. Content that garners a lot of likes, comments, or shares is being consumed. If someone cares enough to comment on your content, they cared enough to notice it in the first place.
Not only does engagement go a long way with your existing consumer base but it’s also key to building your brand’s authority with new audiences. When consumers see solid social proof, they’re more likely to enter your sales funnel and take the next step toward becoming a paying customer. Without that engagement to help push them, you may not secure that new consumer.
When your engagement rates start to drop, it’s an indication that people aren’t being motivated to engage with your brand in an organic way. This is a huge sign of ad fatigue.
Lower Impressions
Whether it’s for paid or organic media, social media algorithms work the same way. If people don’t interact with your content, it won’t be shown as much.
To make sure this isn’t happening to you, monitor the number of impressions your content is receiving. If you start to see this metric go down, you can safely assume that your audience is suffering from advertising fatigue. Take this as a sign for you to start making some adjustments.
How to Combat Ad Fatigue
Here are some things you can do if you start to notice that your consumers are experiencing ad fatigue.
Update the Background of Your Display Ads
If you’re seeing signs of ad fatigue, changing your background is a pretty quick and efficient fix. Just a simple background color change can make your content look and feel new in the eyes of your consumer. Even switching your background color and font color could do the trick.
Update Your Visuals
Another easy fix for advertising fatigue is to update your visuals. For example, if your current ad features a pink water bottle but doesn’t seem to be performing well, switch out the pink water bottle for a white one. A simple graphic change could be all you need to wake up your audience.
Changing your fonts or adjusting your ad layout also helps. You can also consider moving from a static graphic to video content in order to boost engagement and avoid ad fatigue.
Use Ad Customizers
Ad customizers work well and for good reason. When you get your ad in front of the right people at exactly the right time, you’re likely to experience a higher CTR. Use customizers to tailor your content to specific locations, unique users, or limited time frames to increase your odds.
Frequently Rotate Your Ads
Another way to avoid ad fatigue is to frequently rotate your ads. Even if you’re promoting the same event or product, create various ads with different graphics, updated copy, and a mix of graphics and video content to rotate throughout your campaign. You may be promoting the same thing but your varying ads will make it appear new to your audience.
Continuously Update Your Keyword Research
Keywords are great – if you’re using them correctly. What your preferred audiences are searching for changes every day so make sure you revisit your keyword research often throughout your campaign. Updating your keywords can also help you reach new audiences that you may not have considered before.
Rewrite Your Ad Copy
Sometimes rewriting your ad copy is exactly what you need to battle ad fatigue. Figure out words to avoid and craft new ways to get your point across.
It’s always a good idea to refresh your ad copy around the same time that you’re updating your keyword research. Make sure your copy includes the relevant keywords to increase your chances of exposure.
Develop a System for Testing Your Campaigns
A large part of battling ad fatigue simply means being hands-on with your campaign. Digital marketing is not a “set it and forget it” type of business. You have to monitor your progress consistently, making the appropriate adjustments along the way.
To be sure you’re doing this correctly, develop a system for testing and measuring your campaigns. Perform A/B tests and monitor your KPIs. Develop a system for testing that produces reliable results.
Ad Fatigue Doesn’t Have to Be a Campaign Death Sentence
When it comes to digital marketing, ad fatigue is definitely something to be aware of. It can kill your campaigns if you aren’t careful. But with the right amount of monitoring and appropriate adjustments, ad fatigue doesn’t have to be a death sentence. If anything, it drives us all to be more creative and innovative when it comes to marketing our brands.
If you feel as though your content isn’t getting the same traction it used to, it is very possible that your audience is suffering from ad fatigue. Try some of these tips to wake them up and start reaching your goals again. Still suffering? Reach out to the experts at Ignite Visibility to turn your content around.
