Your best creative just hit a wall.
Yesterday it was printing money. Today it's burning through budget with nothing to show for it.
Creative fatigue isn't a bug—it's a feature of how algorithms work.
The Fatigue Death Spiral
What happens when creative gets tired:
CPMs spike as competition increases
CTR drops as audience becomes blind to your ad
CVR falls as only bottom-tier traffic converts
Your "winner" becomes your biggest liability
The Refresh Framework
🎯 Level 1: Micro Refreshes (Week 1-2)
New hooks with same core message
Different CTAs or closing statements
Aspect ratio changes (16:9 to 9:16)
🎯 Level 2: Format Shifts (Week 2-4)
Static to video or vice versa
Carousel to single image
UGC to brand-shot content
🎯 Level 3: Angle Pivots (Month 2)
Same product, different problem solved
Different target audience segment
New social proof or testimonials
The Early Warning System
Watch these metrics to catch fatigue before it kills performance:
Frequency above 3.5 (time to refresh)
CTR dropping 25% week-over-week
Comments shifting from positive to neutral/negative
The Compound Effect
Brands that master creative refresh aren't just maintaining performance—they're improving it.
Each iteration teaches you more about what resonates, building a library of insights that makes your next creative better.
Don't let fatigue kill your winners. Kill fatigue first.
