Creative fatigue happens when your top-performing ads start losing effectiveness over time. It's crucial to monitor this closely because fatiguing ads can drag down your overall performance. Here's how to build a creative fatigue report in Motion to stay ahead of performance drops.
Building your creative fatigue report
Setting up the basics
Click Create report and select Top performing report
Switch to the line chart view - this shows performance changes over time, making it easier to spot trends
Select your key metrics: (e.g., CPC (cost per click) and Spend)
CPC is your main fatigue indicator - when it starts rising, it's a red flag that your ad is likely fatiguing
Configuring your table view
Click the Table settings and switch color formatting to red and green view for instant visual feedback on which ads are above or below average
Reorder your columns so CPC sits next to Spend for easier comparison
Sort CPC from highest to lowest to immediately see which ads have the highest cost per click
Filtering for meaningful data
Add a Spend filter to focus on your highest spending ads that significantly impact your performance:
Set a minimum spend threshold
Adjust this figure based on your account's needs - whether it's $1,000, $10,000, or $100,000
Make sure it's high enough to show your most significant ads
Analyzing your results
Reading the chart
When you select an ad from your filtered list:
The solid line shows your primary metric (e.g., Spend)
The dotted line shows your secondary metric (e.g., CPC)
Pro tip: You can swap these metrics around - for example, make CPC your primary metric and Spend your secondary.
This visualization lets you see how CPC behaves relative to spend over time.
What to look for
Scan through your biggest spenders and watch for these patterns:
Rising CPC: Your main fatigue indicator
Flattening or steady CPC: Generally healthy performance
CPC rising but ROAS stable: The ad might still be worth running - just monitor it closely
Taking action on fatiguing ads
When you spot Creative fatigue, don't immediately pause the ad! Instead:
Check other metrics: Swap CPC for ROAS to see if the ad is still profitable despite rising costs
Plan ahead: If an ad shows early signs of fatigue, start creating variations now:
Change the hook
Recreate the concept with a fresh angle
Produce a version 2 of your winning idea
Stay proactive: For historically strong performers, create variations before fatigue forces you to turn them off
By having new winners ready when originals burn out, you'll keep performance stable and your account performing at its best. Happy reporting!