Benchmark
Frequency is how many times the average person has seen your ad. A little repetition builds recognition; too much breeds resentment and rising costs. The trouble is the ceiling isn't fixed — it's set by how good the creative is.
Frequency = impressions ÷ reach. 30,000 impressions to 10,000 people is a frequency of 3. The number is meaningless without a time window — a frequency of 5 across a month is gentle; 5 in a single day is a way to make people hate your brand.
A genuinely engaging ad can run at a higher frequency before it wears out; a weak one fatigues almost immediately. So "what's a good frequency" is really "how strong is the creative." When you see the classic ad fatigue curve — CTR down, CPM up — the fix isn't a lower cap, it's a new hook.
The account that never suffers fatigue is the one always ready to swap in the next winner. That means a refresh cadence (see ad creative refresh cadence) and a way to know a new variant is strong before it goes live — so you're rotating in proven hooks, not gambling. See ad pre-testing.
Score new hooks for attention before you rotate them in. First analysis free.
Score Your AdFor cold prospecting on paid social, a weekly frequency around 1–2 is healthy and performance often starts slipping past 3–4. Retargeting tolerates more. These are guides, not rules — watch your own CTR and CPM: when frequency climbs and those worsen together, fatigue has arrived.
Frequency = impressions ÷ reach. If your ad served 30,000 impressions to 10,000 unique people, frequency is 3 — the average person saw it three times over the period measured. Always note the time window; a frequency of 5 over a month is very different from 5 in a day.
Lowering the frequency cap only slows the decline; the durable fix is new creative. Rotating in fresh hooks resets attention because the fatigue is with the specific ad, not the audience. Pre-testing new variants before they launch keeps a pipeline of proven creative ready to swap in.