The average number of times each person saw your ad in a period. Meta describes it as the average number of times each account saw your ad, and it is calculated as impressions divided by reach.
Formula
Frequency = impressions ÷ reach
Example
Meera's Instagram ads had 6,00,000 impressions and reached 1,50,000 people in 30 days, so the frequency is 6,00,000 ÷ 1,50,000 = 4. That is about one showing per person per week.
How you'll hear it
“Frequency on the retargeting ad set is up to twenty for the month, so people are tired of that ad.”
What it helps you decide
When to refresh creative, widen an audience, add a frequency cap or cut budget on a small audience. A rising frequency with a falling CTR is the usual sign to act.
Where people misread it
Reading a monthly average without the time window or the audience size. A frequency of 4 across 1,50,000 people over a month is very different from 20 across 5,000 people. Also, frequency is an average, so some people saw the ad far more often.
The story
Meera runs a retargeting ad set for about 6,000 people who visited her website or engaged on Instagram. She gives it ₹10,000 a month out of her ₹60,000 Instagram budget, at a CPM of ₹100, which buys 1,00,000 impressions. It reaches 5,000 people.
| Impressions | 1,00,000 |
| Reach | 5,000 |
| Frequency | 20 |
|---|---|
| Week 1 clicks on 25,000 impressions (₹2,500) | 375 |
| Week 4 clicks on 25,000 impressions (₹2,500) | 100 |
| Cost per click, week 1 vs week 4 | ₹6.67 vs ₹25 |
What looks right: the ad set spends its budget every day and the monthly report shows healthy total clicks.
What it hides: the same 5,000 people saw the same ad about five times a week. By week 4 the CTR had fallen from 1.5% to 0.4% and each click cost almost four times as much.
What to look at instead: frequency by week alongside CTR. When frequency climbs and CTR falls, change the creative, widen the audience or reduce the budget for that ad set.
All figures for Meera's store are fictional and for illustration only.
Work out your frequency per week
The example's numbers are filled in. Replace them with yours.
Within your ceiling. Keep an eye on CTR by week as the campaign runs.
Don't confuse it with
- Frequency cap: a limit you set; frequency is what actually happened.
- Reach: number of people; frequency tells you how many times each of them saw the ad.
Related terms
Want to use this at work? AI-led PPC Excellence is aFactor's 16-week program for paid ads.
Sources
- Frequency, Meta Business Help Center
- Measuring reach and frequency, Google Ads Help