🎓 When ads go from effective to annoying

Don’t repeat the same online ad too often. At 3 repetitions it has a 40% chance of annoying and putting off customers, and that increases rapidly.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 January 16, 2024 | [Read Online]( When ads go from effective to annoying Don’t repeat the same online ad too often. At 3 repetitions it has a 40% chance of annoying and putting off customers, and that increases rapidly. [Thomas McKinlay]( [fb]( [tw]( [in]( [email](mailto:?subject=Post%20from%20Ariyh&body=When%20ads%20go%20from%20effective%20to%20annoying%3A%20Don%E2%80%99t%20repeat%20the%20same%20online%20ad%20too%20often.%20At%203%20repetitions%20it%20has%20a%2040%25%20chance%20of%20annoying%20and%20putting%20off%20customers%2C%20and%20that%20increases%20rapidly.%0A%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fariyh.beehiiv.com%2Fp%2Fwhen-ads-go-from-effective-to-annoying) New to [Ariyh](? This is a 3min practical summary of a scientific study 🎓 Join 25,492 marketers who use science, not flawed opinions 📈 [Subscribe here]( Today’s insight is brought to you by… [AE Studio]( Finding the right talent to implement AI within your organization is extremely hard. According to Amazon, 75% of employers are having trouble finding qualified candidates with AI skills. Instead, work with [AE Studio]( to implement the optimal AI solution for your business with their team of world-class AI experts from Harvard, Stanford, and Princeton. Unlock your company's potential with AI. [Book a free consultation session]( Want to sponsor Ariyh? [Here’s all you need to know](. 📝 Intro Yes, some ads can be annoying (except Ariyh’s sponsors, because they keep the newsletter free for you 😉 Please check them out). It’s no wonder that ~37% of people use ad blockers ([according to eMarketer](, 2021). But as marketers, how can we advertise products without annoying potential customers? Turns out that there’s a right balance. Here’s what scientists from Emory University, NYU, and Carnegie Mellon University found. P.S.: If you’re a small brand starting out, copy your [larger competitors’ ads]( to maximize their effectiveness. Previous insight: [No, women don’t prefer pretty products]( (more insights [here]() People get annoyed and put off when shown the same ad creatives too many times Topics: Ads For: B2C. Can be tested for B2B Research date: November 2019 📈 Recommendation Don’t show people the same online ad too many times. Cap it at 3 times per person for general advertising (creating awareness and interest) and up to 6 times for those who have already shown interest in your product (e.g. already visited your website). Use static images (vs animations or videos) and change things up with multiple creatives to increase tolerance. Once you annoy people they pay less attention to you, so your ads are less likely to work. 🎓 Findings - Customers become increasingly annoyed when they are shown the same display ad online repeatedly, leading them to pay less attention to it. - Researchers analyzed the effect of an established retailer’s ads on 5,000 people. They found that: - People aware of the product but not yet interested got annoyed the quickest. After seeing the ad 3 times they had a 39.6% chance of being annoyed. Annoyance rose rapidly with further repetitions - People who already showed interest (e.g. visited the product page, searched for related products) are more tolerant. 53% were annoyed after seeing the ad 7 times, while only around 3% got annoyed after seeing the ad three times - People are more likely to get annoyed - When ads are animated (e.g. GIFs or videos), especially in the awareness stage - The wealthier they are (a $10k increase in income increased the probability of annoyance by 6.1%) - The more educated they are (a 1 year increase in education increased annoyance 3%) - The younger they are (a 5-year decrease in age increased annoyance 7.4%) - People are less likely to get annoyed when ads rotate different creatives (i.e. different ad design and content, but for the same product) 🧠Why it works - When we’re looking to buy something, we first need to discover the product (awareness). Then, we [seek more information]( (interest). Only after those stages do we consider buying it or not. - In the first stage, we passively receive information. We haven’t developed an interest in the item or a desire to find out more, so we easily get annoyed if it feels like it’s being forced on us. - Once interested in a product, we want to learn more about it, so we are more tolerant of its ads. Seeing them too often however overstimulates us, eventually leading to annoyance. - Regardless of our interest level, if we feel its advertising is being forced upon us, we may react negatively and [actively avoid]( information about the product, including its ads. 💻 How Nectar went from <1k to 40k monthly organic visits Mentions on high-quality websites are hard work, and Nectar’s team didn’t have the time or expertise to build these links themselves. So they partnered with [dofollow.com](. In just 6 months, they pitched to journalists and got links from The Economist, HubSpot, Monday.com and many others. The result? 40,000 organic visits and 50 new demos booked, every month. Sounds interesting? [Request pricing for your business]( This announcement was sponsored. Want your brand here? [Click here](. ✋ Limitations - The study tested repeating ads over a time period of a day or two. Spreading ads out over a longer period of time may reduce annoyance, but this was not tested. - The research is based on data collected in 2014. Since then people’s reactions to ads may have changed. Perhaps more ads have increased their annoyance, or perhaps people are desensitized and have become more tolerant. - The study focused on testing display banner ads on websites. However, a similar threshold likely applies to ads on other channels such as social media, search, and videos. - It’s unclear whether there is a difference between product types. For example, people spend much more time and energy researching something like a holiday or a new car - and much less for buying a Kit Kat. Does their ad tolerance also change? - Ads from competitors with similar products, shown during the same period, probably also play a role in how quickly people get annoyed. This was not tested. 🏢 Companies using this - Companies increasingly use frequency caps, multiple creatives, and other targeting mechanisms to increase the efficacy of their display ads campaigns. - L’Oreal says that 4 times is the maximum ad frequency they find effective on Amazon ads. - A host of other brands, including Mondolez, use a frequency cap of 3 for their campaigns, especially at the awareness stage. - Ad networks know that frequency plays an important role. For example, Google allows advertisers to cap the frequency that ads are shown and allows optimized targeting while allowing up to 15 creatives for a campaign. Qatar Airways uses ad creatives tailored to the audience’s interests and context. This likely reduces annoyance. ⚡ Steps to implement - Set up frequency caps for the lifetime of your campaigns to make sure potential customers don’t get annoyed by seeing your ads too many times and get put off about your product. - When creating awareness or reaching people unfamiliar with you, use a frequency cap of 3 - When targeting (or retargeting) interested customers, such as those who’ve already visited your page, or signed up for updates, use a frequency cap of 6 - Be mindful of your target market - highly educated, more wealthy, young, and female audiences are more prone to become annoyed at ads. When targeting these groups, consider using a lower frequency cap of 2. - To reduce annoyance, use standard, not animated, banners with multiple ad creatives, with a capping set in a way that ensures people don’t see the same creative repeatedly. 🔍 Study type Market observation (analysis of 5,000 customers’ ad views from a goods and services retailer between May and October 2014) 📖 Research [Trade-Offs in Online Advertising: Advertising Effectiveness and Annoyance Dynamics Across the Purchase Funnel.](Information Systems Research (November 2019). 🏫 Researchers - [Vilma Todri](. Goizueta Business School, Emory University - [Anindya Ghose.]( Stern School of Business, New York University - [Param Vir Singh.](Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University Remember: This is a scientific discovery. In the future, it will probably be better understood and could even be proven wrong (that’s [how science works](). It may also not be generalizable to your situation. If it’s a risky change, always test it on a small scale before rolling it out widely. Rate today’s insight to help me make Ariyh's next insights 🎓 even more useful📈 How was today’s insight? [Loved it]([|]([Great]([|]([Good]([|]([Meh]([|]([Bad]( - 📘 Supercharge your business with Ariyh’s [Playbook of Pricing & Promotions]( or [Playbook of Ecommerce]( - 📣 Want to advertise on Ariyh? [Here’s all you need to know]( - 🎓 New to Ariyh? -> Subscribe below or read other [3-min marketing insights]( [Subscribe here]( [fb]( [tw]( [ig]( [in]( Update your email preferences or unsubscribe [here]( © 2024 Ariyh Calle Bailen, 11 Barcelona, Barcelona 08010, Spain [[beehiiv logo]Powered by beehiiv](