Ad Frequency
Ad frequency is the average number of times a single user sees your ad within a given time period.
Frequency tracks how many times, on average, each person in your audience has been shown your ad. A frequency of 2.0 means the average user saw the ad twice.
Low frequency (1–2) is typical in prospecting campaigns. As frequency climbs above 3–4, you risk ad fatigue — performance degrades because people are tired of seeing the same creative. Watch for rising CPM and falling CTR as signals.
The fix for high frequency is usually creative rotation: swap in fresh hooks or visual treatments. Expanding your audience size also distributes impressions across more people, naturally lowering frequency.
Formula
Frequency = Impressions ÷ Reach (unique users)
Example
Related terms
CPM
CPM is the cost an advertiser pays for 1,000 ad impressions, used to compare media costs across platforms and campaigns.
CTR
CTR is the percentage of people who click your ad after seeing it, calculated as clicks divided by impressions times 100.
Ad Creative Fatigue
Ad creative fatigue occurs when an audience has seen the same ad too many times, causing declining CTR, rising CPM and worsening performance.
Retargeting
Retargeting shows ads to people who already interacted with your brand — site visitors, product viewers, cart abandoners — to bring them back.