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Ad fatigue is the term for indifference by a consumer towards an advertisement, after repeated exposure. The term is often used in the context of online advertising, where users are bombarded with a large repetitive number of ads and are therefore more likely to become desensitized to them. Ad fatigue can lead to a decrease in brand awareness and purchase intent, and is therefore a serious concern for businesses that rely on paid social advertising to reach their target audiences.
There are a number of factors that can contribute to ad fatigue, including the frequency with which an ad is shown, the number of ads a user is exposed to, and the format of the ad. For example, users are more likely to become fatigued with an ad that is shown multiple times per day than an ad that is only shown once. Similarly, users who are bombarded with a large number of ads are more likely to become fatigued than those who only see a few. Finally, ads that are in a format that is difficult to ignore, such as pop-ups, are more likely to cause ad fatigue than ads that are in a more passive format, such as banner ads.
Ad fatigue can have a number of negative consequences for businesses, including a decrease in brand awareness and purchase intent. Additionally, ad fatigue can lead to users developing negative associations with a brand. Finally, ad fatigue can also lead to users taking action to avoid seeing ads, such as using ad blockers or avoiding websites that show a large number of ads.
There are a number of steps that businesses can take to avoid ad fatigue, including reducing the frequency with which ads are shown, increasing the variety of ads creative and messaging shown, and using more engaging ad formats. Additionally, businesses can target their ads more specifically to avoid showing them to users who are likely to become fatigued. Finally, businesses can use A/B testing to experiment with different ad formats and frequencies to find the combination that is most effective at avoiding ad fatigue.