An often-overlooked advertising metric is frequency, or the average number of times a user has seen your ad.
I get questions about this metric fairly frequently (see what I did there?), but most artists seem to misunderstand what a good or bad frequency number is for their ads.
Not to mention, many people just don’t understand what frequency even is, leading them to disregard it altogether.
So let’s start with the basics and learn about what a healthy ad frequency looks like.
Frequency explained
The frequency of your ad is the number of times a single account has been served up an impression.
This is different from reach. Reach is how many unique accounts have seen your ad.
This is why you’ll often see a significant difference between your ad’s impressions and your ad's reach, with the first number being higher than the second.
In short, this is because some users have seen your ad more than once.
For example, if I show the same ad to two different people and the first person sees it once, while the second person sees it twice, then the ad’s metrics are as follows:
Impressions: 3
Reach: 2
Frequency: 1.5
The ad reached two people and was seen a total of three times at an average frequency of 1.5 impressions per person.
What’s a healthy frequency?
The short answer is: it depends.
For a cold-targeted ad set, I often hear concerns when the frequency reaches 1.5 or 2.
I personally don’t think this is a big deal. In fact, I think the frequency should be even higher than that for an ad set that’s been targeted correctly.
For a retargeted ad set, the frequency will be even higher because we are pressing to get those users to take action. We want them to see our ad multiple times.
The reality is people are served up thousands of ads per day online, and most are unlikely to take action on an ad the first time they see it.
Multiple impressions can make a significant difference.
Think about TV ads. How many times have you seen the exact same ad at every single commercial break within the span of a 30-minute episode of your favorite show? Four? Five?
Advertisers beat us to death with impressions and frequency in traditional formats.
Why? Because it works.
These are multinational, billion-dollar companies we’re talking about here. If it didn’t work, they wouldn’t continue doing it.
So while we may not have billions or even millions to spend on ads, we can still take a few tricks from their collective playbook and show our ads to people more than once.
Adjusting your frequency
If you’re reading this and you’re thinking, “Wow, my frequency is way too low (or too high),” don’t worry, we can fix it.
Both solutions are simple.
If your ad frequency is too low, it may be time to tighten up your targeting. Narrow in on your audience and you’ll likely see that number climb.
If your frequency is too high, do the opposite. Open things up a bit.
By introducing new users into the mix, you’ll dilute that pool of potential impressions and lower that metric over time.
Either way though, you want your frequency to be greater than one.
Meta has sophisticated systems to monitor user interest and engagement, so if the system is showing your ad to users more than once, it’s likely for a very good reason.
An often-overlooked advertising metric is frequency, or the average number of times a user has seen your ad.
I get questions about this metric fairly frequently (see what I did there?), but most artists seem to misunderstand what a good or bad frequency number is for their ads.
Not to mention, many people just don’t understand what frequency even is, leading them to disregard it altogether.
So let’s start with the basics and learn about what a healthy ad frequency looks like.
Frequency explained
The frequency of your ad is the number of times a single account has been served up an impression.
This is different from reach. Reach is how many unique accounts have seen your ad.
This is why you’ll often see a significant difference between your ad’s impressions and your ad's reach, with the first number being higher than the second.
In short, this is because some users have seen your ad more than once.
For example, if I show the same ad to two different people and the first person sees it once, while the second person sees it twice, then the ad’s metrics are as follows:
Impressions: 3
Reach: 2
Frequency: 1.5
The ad reached two people and was seen a total of three times at an average frequency of 1.5 impressions per person.
What’s a healthy frequency?
The short answer is: it depends.
For a cold-targeted ad set, I often hear concerns when the frequency reaches 1.5 or 2.
I personally don’t think this is a big deal. In fact, I think the frequency should be even higher than that for an ad set that’s been targeted correctly.
For a retargeted ad set, the frequency will be even higher because we are pressing to get those users to take action. We want them to see our ad multiple times.
The reality is people are served up thousands of ads per day online, and most are unlikely to take action on an ad the first time they see it.
Multiple impressions can make a significant difference.
Think about TV ads. How many times have you seen the exact same ad at every single commercial break within the span of a 30-minute episode of your favorite show? Four? Five?
Advertisers beat us to death with impressions and frequency in traditional formats.
Why? Because it works.
These are multinational, billion-dollar companies we’re talking about here. If it didn’t work, they wouldn’t continue doing it.
So while we may not have billions or even millions to spend on ads, we can still take a few tricks from their collective playbook and show our ads to people more than once.
Adjusting your frequency
If you’re reading this and you’re thinking, “Wow, my frequency is way too low (or too high),” don’t worry, we can fix it.
Both solutions are simple.
If your ad frequency is too low, it may be time to tighten up your targeting. Narrow in on your audience and you’ll likely see that number climb.
If your frequency is too high, do the opposite. Open things up a bit.
By introducing new users into the mix, you’ll dilute that pool of potential impressions and lower that metric over time.
Either way though, you want your frequency to be greater than one.
Meta has sophisticated systems to monitor user interest and engagement, so if the system is showing your ad to users more than once, it’s likely for a very good reason.
An often-overlooked advertising metric is frequency, or the average number of times a user has seen your ad.
I get questions about this metric fairly frequently (see what I did there?), but most artists seem to misunderstand what a good or bad frequency number is for their ads.
Not to mention, many people just don’t understand what frequency even is, leading them to disregard it altogether.
So let’s start with the basics and learn about what a healthy ad frequency looks like.
Frequency explained
The frequency of your ad is the number of times a single account has been served up an impression.
This is different from reach. Reach is how many unique accounts have seen your ad.
This is why you’ll often see a significant difference between your ad’s impressions and your ad's reach, with the first number being higher than the second.
In short, this is because some users have seen your ad more than once.
For example, if I show the same ad to two different people and the first person sees it once, while the second person sees it twice, then the ad’s metrics are as follows:
Impressions: 3
Reach: 2
Frequency: 1.5
The ad reached two people and was seen a total of three times at an average frequency of 1.5 impressions per person.
What’s a healthy frequency?
The short answer is: it depends.
For a cold-targeted ad set, I often hear concerns when the frequency reaches 1.5 or 2.
I personally don’t think this is a big deal. In fact, I think the frequency should be even higher than that for an ad set that’s been targeted correctly.
For a retargeted ad set, the frequency will be even higher because we are pressing to get those users to take action. We want them to see our ad multiple times.
The reality is people are served up thousands of ads per day online, and most are unlikely to take action on an ad the first time they see it.
Multiple impressions can make a significant difference.
Think about TV ads. How many times have you seen the exact same ad at every single commercial break within the span of a 30-minute episode of your favorite show? Four? Five?
Advertisers beat us to death with impressions and frequency in traditional formats.
Why? Because it works.
These are multinational, billion-dollar companies we’re talking about here. If it didn’t work, they wouldn’t continue doing it.
So while we may not have billions or even millions to spend on ads, we can still take a few tricks from their collective playbook and show our ads to people more than once.
Adjusting your frequency
If you’re reading this and you’re thinking, “Wow, my frequency is way too low (or too high),” don’t worry, we can fix it.
Both solutions are simple.
If your ad frequency is too low, it may be time to tighten up your targeting. Narrow in on your audience and you’ll likely see that number climb.
If your frequency is too high, do the opposite. Open things up a bit.
By introducing new users into the mix, you’ll dilute that pool of potential impressions and lower that metric over time.
Either way though, you want your frequency to be greater than one.
Meta has sophisticated systems to monitor user interest and engagement, so if the system is showing your ad to users more than once, it’s likely for a very good reason.
Whenever you're ready, there are four ways I can help you:
Subscribe to the Newsletter: Join our growing network of artists, creators, and entrepreneurs by receiving The One Thing directly to your inbox every week.
Book a Consultation: Schedule a one-on-one call with me to improve your marketing across paid advertising, social media, and more.
The Spotify Traffic Accelerator: Join the hundreds of artists who have successfully learned to automate their growth on Spotify using paid ads on Instagram.
Become a DuPree X Artist: Hire our team to manage your marketing across streaming platforms and social media so you can focus on what matters most—making music.
Whenever you're ready, there are four ways I can help you:
Subscribe to the Newsletter: Join our growing network of artists, creators, and entrepreneurs by receiving The One Thing directly to your inbox every week.
Book a Consultation: Schedule a one-on-one call with me to improve your marketing across paid advertising, social media, and more.
The Spotify Traffic Accelerator: Join the hundreds of artists who have successfully learned to automate their growth on Spotify using paid ads on Instagram.
Become a DuPree X Artist: Hire our team to manage your marketing across streaming platforms and social media so you can focus on what matters most—making music.
Whenever you're ready, there are four ways I can help you:
Subscribe to the Newsletter: Join our growing network of artists, creators, and entrepreneurs by receiving The One Thing directly to your inbox every week.
Book a Consultation: Schedule a one-on-one call with me to improve your marketing across paid advertising, social media, and more.
The Spotify Traffic Accelerator: Join the hundreds of artists who have successfully learned to automate their growth on Spotify using paid ads on Instagram.
Become a DuPree X Artist: Hire our team to manage your marketing across streaming platforms and social media so you can focus on what matters most—making music.