Ad Fatigue.

Advertising on Social Media isn’t about to go anywhere, we can tell you that much. Especially because of the benefits businesses are getting when investing in it. Social Media is where the people are, and consumers’ heavy use may explain the high level of engagement with ads in the feeds.

But even though ads often perform well, they aren’t necessarily providing users with a good experience. Research shows that nearly three out of four users think there are too many ads on Social Media. And as the number of ads being distributed is growing ­‑ the tiredness of commercial messages amongst people is increasing. One of the reasons is that the quality of ads is decreasing. Nowadays, it’s more about quantity rather than quality and branding. Users often think that the ads are irrelevant or repetitive, per definition that means it´s more about people being tired of bad advertising than about advertising. As marketers continue to invest in advertising on Social Media, is there anything they can do to boost the consumers’ experience?

Counteract with quality content

The last decennia have come to change the media environment and communication systems. Despite this, organizations still tend to use one-way communication in a world that both want and need more transparency. Creating content and communication needs additional value for the audience to counteract the tiredness for advertising amongst them. Advertisement isn’t made for irritating people; it should inspire and engage.

A big issue is that most ads look quite alike and are created without a thought about the audience’s interests, hence the importance of changing our thinking pattern and being creative when shaping the messages in the advertisement. Another key is to adjust the messages depending on which target group you want to reach, in other words; choose to address the people who’re really interested in the message. For example, a young single person is more likely to be interested in a small car than a family car; hence you shouldn’t be afraid to generalize from time to time to be able to reach out to the right people. It´s really about what the audience wants and what will make them engage with your message. Try sharpening the messages and think twice when reaching your target group. And ask questions like; ”what does our audience want?” instead of focusing too much on “what do I want to say?”

Making changes in your strategies is necessary, otherwise, there’s a risk that your audience most likely will scroll past the ads or unsubscribe from email-lists. These changes also include the importance of being a little more creative than your competitors and reaching out to the right people. Quality before quantity, as simple as that.