# What is ad frequency?

> Ad frequency is how many times, on average, each person saw your ad. Learn the formula, see an example and know when frequency means ad fatigue.
- **Author**: Marxx
- **Published**: 2026-10-20
- **Category**: Metrics
- **URL**: https://marxx.ai/library-glossary/frequency

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Ad frequency is the average number of times each person saw your ad. A frequency of 3 means the average person in your audience saw it three times.

## The formula

Frequency = impressions / reach

Reach is the number of different people who saw the ad. Impressions count every view, including repeats.

## A worked example

Over seven days an ad gets 3,60,000 impressions and reaches 1,20,000 people.

- Frequency = 3,60,000 / 1,20,000 = **3.0**

That is an average. Some people saw it once and some saw it eight times.

## When is frequency too high?

There is no fixed number. Watch what happens around it:

| Signal | What it suggests |
|---|---|
| Frequency rising, CTR falling | People are tiring of the ad |
| Frequency rising, cost per purchase rising | The ad is wearing out |
| Frequency rising, results steady | Repeats are still working |

Read cold audiences and retargeting audiences separately. People who already know you may respond to more repeats.

## How to bring frequency down

1. Add new creative, so the same people see something different.
2. Widen the audience, so the budget spreads over more people.
3. Lower the budget on small audiences.
4. Use a frequency cap where the campaign type allows it. Meta offers one in reservation campaigns (checked 2026-10-20).

## FAQ

### Is a frequency of 1 best?

Not always. Some people act on the first view and others need repeats. The goal is enough repeats to persuade, not so many that people scroll past.

### Why does frequency matter?

Meta's creative fatigue check counts recent views of the same image or video, along with your cost per result. When one ad carries a whole campaign, frequency climbs fast. See [ad fatigue](/glossary/ad-fatigue) for how to spot and fix it.

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