Ad Frequency

Definition

Ad Frequency: Ad frequency is the average number of times a single user in your target audience saw an ad during a given time window. It is the primary signal of creative fatigue.

# Ad Frequency Ad frequency is impressions divided by reach — the average number of times each unique user in the audience saw an ad. A 7-day frequency of 1.8 means the average user saw the ad roughly twice that week. Frequency is the single most reliable early indicator of creative fatigue: CTR drops, CPM rises, and [CAPI match rate](/glossary/capi-match-rate) stops improving when frequency climbs past healthy thresholds. ## Why it matters DTC prospecting campaigns typically stay healthy below a 7-day frequency of 2.5-3.0. Above that, click-through rates fall, landing page conversion rates decline, and CPA rises — often by 30-60% over the following two weeks. Operators who monitor frequency can rotate creative before performance degrades; operators who do not usually see CPA creep and blame the algorithm. ## How Admaxxer surfaces it Admaxxer surfaces 7-day and 30-day frequency at the ad level in the Attribution dashboard and flags ads crossing frequency thresholds in the creative grid. The [Claude agent](/features/claude-agent) can list the top 10 ads by frequency in one message — useful as a weekly "which creatives need to be refreshed" pass. ## Example A Meta prospecting ad spent $8,000 over the last week with a 7-day frequency of 3.4. CTR dropped from 1.8% to 1.1%, CPM rose from $22 to $31, and CPA went from $38 to $54. Pausing the ad and replacing it with a fresh variant pulled the ad set's CPA back under $40 within 5 days.

Most related

Continue exploring the DTC ad-analytics vocabulary — every term in this glossary cross-links to the next.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a healthy Meta ad frequency?

For prospecting: 7-day frequency under 2.5. For retargeting: under 5. Above those thresholds, expect CTR decline and CPA drift within 1-2 weeks.

Does high frequency always mean fatigue?

Not for retention audiences. Email subscribers and past buyers tolerate higher frequency because the message reinforces an existing relationship. Cold prospecting does not.

How do I lower frequency?

Broaden the audience, add more creative variants to the ad set, lower the budget, or pause the oldest-impression ads. The simplest fix is usually launching a fresh creative.

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