Advertising and marketing have always been about staying ahead of trends and churning out ads and sales strategies that generate profits. This profession is at the cutting edge of innovation, always trying new ways to entice people to buy products and services before they start growing tired of seeing the same ad concepts, which is commonly described as ad fatigue.
Naturally, the advertising industry once again finds itself at a cusp where it must innovate to survive. Ad fatigue is at an all-time high, with 77.4%of consumers saying they are receiving too many retargeted ads. Overcoming this dilemma is the foremost priority of every marketing executive, and it should be yours, too!
With the rise of ad blockers and skipped ads, it is time for the industry to evolve again. Here is how you could go about it.
What’s Causing Ad Fatigue In Your Digital Marketing Campaigns?
Not too long ago, digital marketing was the buzzword on everyone’s tongues. During the Covid-19 lockdowns, e-Commerce took off like never before. This subsequently led to the rise and dominance of digital marketing strategies aimed at retaining customers’ interest at any cost.
Some pundits quickly assumed this was the final stage of advertising and that everyone should be fully invested in it. However, industry veterans knew better. They knew it was only a matter of time before advertising agencies had to rewrite the game once again.
And now we are here, where apps like ad blockers and skipped ads allow people to opt out of seeing digital ads. All the money invested into producing these ads and placing them on online banner space essentially goes to waste if the customer doesn’t react in a positive way to it. Nor does it help that the market is saturated; research indicates that the average person is exposed to roughly 3000 marketing messages daily, contributing to this all-too-common phenomenon of ad fatigue.
Nowadays, it’s essential for marketers to shift gears in their strategy and prioritize quality to stand out from the crowd. Otherwise, it is very easy to get lost among those 3000 marketing messages.
The fact is that digital marketing is still highly relevant to business success. You have to be able to identify and counteract ad fatigue and banner blindness – which happens when you see the same banner so many times that you don’t even process it anymore the next time it comes up.
How Is Ad Fatigue Measured And Identified?
Digital marketing places advanced and detailed metrics at your disposal. These can help you understand how your audience is engaging with your ads. The right data lets you identify when consumers might develop ad fatigue and banner blindness for your existing ads.
Watch out for these measures of ad fatigue; if you see them in your content, it’s time to refresh your marketing tactics.
Lower CTRs
CTR, i.e., Click-Through Rate, is a vital metric available to marketing experts. It shows the number of people engaging with your ads and clicking on them to go to the firm’s website. Consequently, it is the most surefire way of knowing whether your ad is engaging enough for viewers to interact with them or if it is suffering from banner blindness.
If you are advertising a special discount, a high CTR indicates the campaign’s effectiveness and your ability to convince viewers it is a worthwhile deal. On the other hand, a falling CTR rate means customers are getting bored of the existing advertising approach and that you need to adopt a drastically different methodology.
Less Engagement
Another key metric you should set your sights on is social media engagement. If your customers regularly and enthusiastically engage your brand on social media platforms, you are still generating buzz, and people are interested in your offering. This comes in the form of comments, likes, and shares – indicating your brand is a part of conversations and discussions.
Simultaneously, you should be vigilant of the signs indicating falling user engagement.
On the one hand, this could mean fewer comments, likes, and shares, indicating boredom, which you can quickly rectify by adopting a new advertising scheme. Your viewers are simply watching your content and do not find it interesting enough to take out the time to share their thoughts on it.
On the other hand, if you realize your follower count is falling, you need to immediately do something drastic before the lack of engagement becomes catatonic.
Lower Impressions
Social media presents content to viewers that the platform’s algorithms think they will find interesting.
Even your paid ads will only be shown to viewers who appear to have an interest in what product or service you are selling.
So if your social media ads are not engaging and viewers find them boring, you will automatically generate fewer impressions.
This is because the fewer people engage with your paid ad, the fewer people will be exposed to your ad. If a person sees your banner but scrolls past it, the algorithm might think they are not interested in your brand and stop advertising your banners to them altogether. Therefore, if you discover that you are generating fewer impressions than before, it is time to redesign your marketing approach.
How Can You Overcome Ad Fatigue?
If you are convinced your brand is suffering from ad fatigue, don’t despair! Lucky for you, there are several proven techniques for overcoming this affliction and rescuing your brand from it. Consider some of the following suggestions:
Reduce Your Ads Frequency Or Replace Them
One of the most common causes of ad fatigue is your ad frequency.
What does that mean?
It’s okay if your audience sees your ad twice or thrice. But if they see the same ad six times or more, that means you are throwing away money at someone who has either not interested in your ad or has grown bored of it. Seeing the same advertisement repeatedly can be annoying and aggravate viewers against the brand doing it.
Fortunately, most social media platforms let you decide the average frequency you want viewers to see your ad. We recommend adjusting those figures to a reasonable number, so you do not alienate customers by overwhelming them with the same ad. And if you’re pursuing an aggressive targeting and retargeting strategy, make sure you use a variety of creatives!
Target New Potential Customers
Sometimes, you do not have the time or the budget to revamp your marketing strategy. In that case, instead of constantly showing the same ad to the same people, why not offer the same ad to different new audiences?
That way, you will not bore existing viewers with redundant content and will be able to maximize the marketing potential of existing ads.
With just a few slight adjustments, you can get online platforms to target your ads to new audiences in new demographics or the existing demographics that are currently interested in your brand. You could even use data about people who have visited your website or searched for a product/service similar to yours and target ads to them. At the same time, consider excluding past users for the time being until you have an innovative marketing strategy ready.
Create Exciting New Ads
Of course, sometimes the solution to ad fatigue is as simple as it sounds – create engaging new content to keep viewers engaged.
You can present new ads and ad copies that follow your current marketing strategy but are at least not repetitive.
Or overhaul and adopt new marketing approaches. Instead of the same old banner ads, you could advertise testimonials, new product launches, or the manufacturing process of your product. This way, you can keep your content interesting without making major changes to your marketing approach and brand identity.
Execute A Creative Overhaul
When all else fails, completely revamping your marketing strategy might be the only option for defeating ad fatigue. This could mean adopting a new color scheme or pattern on your posters and a shift in your tone online. Check out color psychology to see what kind of emotions you want to elicit from viewers, so you keep your social media content interesting.
Alternatively, you can change formats, adopting videography instead of photography or altering the layout of your posters. These changes can take time to develop, but they can quickly imbue a perceived “boring” brand with new life and make it enjoyable again. As a part of this overhaul to your brand’s aesthetic, you can also get political, supporting environmental causes or anything else that you think complements the brand’s identity. This can be a risky, albeit rewarding, way to generate consumer interest.
Wrapping Up
Digital ads are going nowhere. They remain an essential source of revenue and interest for brands. What matters is your ability to stay relevant and interesting in rapidly evolving digital spaces and platforms. With the suggestions mentioned above, you will be more than ready to achieve our advertising goals and keep audiences engaged with what you have to offer!
