5 key stats on marketing fatigue on CTV, email, and beyond

US digital ad spend will cross $300 billion for the first time this year, per our March 2024 forecast. That’s good news for advertisers, but it also means it’s harder to stand out. While exposing consumers to a brand multiple times across channels is vital to brand awareness, hitting consumers with the same creative over and over again or bombarding them with emails and text messages can hurt marketing impact. Here are five key stats on marketing fatigue across connected TV (CTV), email, and messaging.

1. Frequency across channels is a top 5 concern for media investments in 2024

Key stat: 36% of US brands and agencies consider managing reach and frequency across screens and channels to be one of their greatest challenges this year, according to November 2023 data from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB).

What it means: Marketers need to work across silos to understand how often they’re reaching consumers, while also varying ad creative so people don’t see the same message on all channels.

• Some platforms, like TikTok and LinkedIn offer tools to combat ad fatigue by measuring frequency and reach.
• But measuring ad frequency across platforms is more difficult, and may require the use of a third-party ad-tech.

2. Frequency issues hold back CTV advertising

Key stat: We decreased our US programmatic CTV ad spend forecast for 2024 by $1.37 billion due to issues with measurement, frequency capping, and ad fraud, as noted in our Programmatic Ad Spending Forecast H1 2024 report.

What it means: Challenges such as ensuring viewers aren’t bombarded with repetitive content on streaming platforms are holding advertisers back from spending more on CTV.

• Direct pathways between platforms and advertisers could help cut back frequency capping concerns.
• Eliminating inventory resellers or redundant partners would also limit hidden fees, minimize risks of data leakage, and decrease carbon footprints.

3. There is such a thing as too many offers

Key stat: 81% of US consumers unsubscribe from brands that send them too many messages, per a January 2024 study from Optimove.

What it means: Brands can’t bombard consumers with messages on direct channels like email and SMS, especially if consumers believe they will see the same offers elsewhere on the web.

• Adding an element of urgency may combat fatigue by showing consumers there’s a reason they’re seeing a message at a specific time. Consider offering deals that are exclusive to email or that only run for a limited amount of time.

4. Email is the most annoying marketing channel

Key stat: 35% of US adults consider email the most irritating marketing channel when a brand is bombarding consumers with offers, per Optimove.

What it means: Marketers shouldn’t hit the brakes on email marketing, but they do need to be thoughtful about their approach.

• Consumers actually prefer receiving coupons over email, according to October 2023 data from Ascend2 and ActiveCampaign.

5. Keep marketing emails relevant

Key stat: Relevancy is the leading reason US adults open marketing emails, cited by 54% of consumers as a key influence, per Optimove.

What it means: Deals tailored to individual shoppers that they won’t find anywhere else will get consumers to open marketing emails.

• Another 19% say personalization influences them to open emails, and 54% consider personalization important in messages from marketers.
• AI can help with personalization in both email and text message marketing by helping match shoppers with the right products and the right messaging to reduce marketing fatigue and drive conversions.

This was originally featured in the EMARKETER Daily newsletter. For more marketing insights, statistics, and trends, subscribe here.