Metric — Frequency

Last updated: May 19, 2026

Metric — Frequency

Frequency = impressions ÷ reach. The average number of times each unique user saw the ad. Healthy range: 1.5-3 per week typical for prospecting; higher for retargeting (where you intentionally hit the same user repeatedly). Fatigue signal: frequency > 5 + CTR drop > 30% from launch = your creative is exhausted; refresh or broaden audience.

Who is this for

Anyone reading the frequency column and unsure what's "good" or what to do when it's high.

What frequency measures

Frequency = Impressions ÷ Reach

If reach = 100 users and impressions = 250, frequency = 2.5 — on average each user saw the ad 2.5 times.

Distinct from delivery frequency (cron, polling, etc.) — this is ad-frequency only.

Why it matters

Each user has limited tolerance for seeing the same ad. Beyond a threshold:

  • CTR decays (people scroll past after seeing it multiple times)

  • Ad fatigue sets in (negative sentiment, "blindness")

  • CPC rises (auction systems detect declining engagement)

  • Brand fatigue in worst cases (negative brand perception)

Watching frequency lets you intervene before efficiency tanks.

Healthy ranges

By campaign type:

Campaign type

Healthy frequency (per week)

Prospecting (cold audience)

1.5-3

Retargeting (warm audience)

3-7 (intentionally higher)

Brand awareness

1.5-2 (broad reach)

Direct response (high-intent)

2-4

Per platform:

Platform

Notes

Meta Feed

2-4 typical

Meta Stories / Reels

Lower tolerance — 1.5-3

Google Display

2-5

TikTok

1-3 (algorithm rotates fast)

Fatigue signals to watch

Signal 1: CTR decay vs launch

If CTR drops > 30% from launch CTR (e.g. from 2.5% to 1.5%): fatigue likely.

Signal 2: Frequency > 5 for last 7 days

Hard threshold. Beyond 5/week, most audiences are saturated.

Signal 3: CPC rising while spend pacing stable

Auction systems penalize fatigued ads. Rising CPC = signal.

Signal 4: Negative comments / hide-ad reports

Platform-side feedback (if visible). Signal of audience annoyance.

Actions

Refresh creative

Most common. Generate new variants via ch-113 images / ch-114 videos. Pause old, launch new.

Broaden audience

Same creative, larger audience = more fresh users seeing it. Reduces frequency by spreading impressions.

Pause adset

For badly fatigued: pause + let audience reset. Re-launch later (different season, new creative concept).

Rules-based automation

Create a rule:

IF frequency > 5 FOR last_7d
THEN pause adset
COOLDOWN 720 min

See rul-116 best practices for the frequency-cap recipe.

Distinct from related metrics

Metric

What it measures

Frequency

Avg views per user (impressions / reach)

Reach

Unique users (1 user = 1 reach) — see tr-406

Impressions

Total ad views (1 user × N views = N impressions) — see tr-406

You can have:

  • Same impressions, different reach + frequency

    • 1000 impressions / 500 reach = freq 2

    • 1000 impressions / 100 reach = freq 10

When higher frequency is OK

Retargeting

Hitting warm audiences (cart abandoners, past visitors) intentionally with higher frequency — they need multiple touches to convert.

Brand campaigns

Higher freq for memorability ("Top of mind"). Different optimization goal than direct response.

New product launch

First week of launch, intentionally high freq to seed awareness — then expand audience to dilute.

When lower frequency is required

Top-of-funnel awareness

Maximize reach, minimize freq. Goal: tell as many people as possible at least once.

Sensitive verticals

Health, finance, regulated industries — higher freq risks annoyance + complaints.

High-creative-fatigue verticals

Fashion, lifestyle — creative cycles fast; freq > 3 = stale rapidly.

Cross-platform frequency comparison

Don't compare freq 1:1 across platforms:

  • Meta + Google + TikTok have different ad densities

  • Same freq = different perceived intensity per platform

Compare within platform across time + audiences.

What you'll see in Wevion

  • Single Platform widgets (analytics): frequency column in row-level grids

  • Ads Manager: per-row frequency

  • Rules: condition on frequency metric (see rul-103)

  • Notifications: CREATIVE_FATIGUE notification when threshold crossed (PRD-21)

Common questions

Why does my frequency seem high after only 2 days?

Small audience + high spend = each user gets hit multiple times fast. Either broaden audience OR throttle spend.

Can I cap frequency at the platform level?

Some platforms (Meta) allow per-adset frequency cap setting. Use sparingly — too low cap = under-delivery.

Wevion vs platform UI frequency — why different?

Possibly: postback lag, attribution window, currency conversion (no — currency doesn't affect freq). Most likely: 15-min sync lag.

Does freq apply to video views?

Yes — but compute differently (video view definition per-platform varies).

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