TikTok Ads Getting Harder to Scale Lately?

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ChillVibes

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I’ve been running TikTok ads for an ecom client since late 2022, and lately ROAS has been dropping hard.
Back in 2022 and even through 2023, we were consistently getting 4x+ ROAS. Now we are mostly between 1.8 and 2.1, and ad costs keep increasing every month.
I know creative fatigue is part of it, and competition has definitely increased too. But CPMs in our fashion accessories niche have almost doubled compared to last year.

Some things that still work a bit for us:
  • Spark Ads using organic-style posts perform better than dark posts
  • Shorter creatives (7 to 15 sec) are outperforming longer videos
  • Broad targeting sometimes works better than interest stacking, but results are inconsistent
The algorithm feels much less predictable than Meta now.
Anyone else struggling to scale TikTok without ROAS dropping? Any strategies working for you guys lately?
 
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ChillVibes said:
I’ve been running TikTok ads for an ecom client since late 2022, and lately ROAS has been dropping hard.
Back in 2022 and even through 2023, we were consistently getting 4x+ ROAS. Now we are mostly between 1.8 and 2.1, and ad costs keep increasing every month.
I know creative fatigue is part of it, and competition has definitely increased too. But CPMs in our fashion accessories niche have almost doubled compared to last year.

Some things that still work a bit for us:
  • Spark Ads using organic-style posts perform better than dark posts
  • Shorter creatives (7 to 15 sec) are outperforming longer videos
  • Broad targeting sometimes works better than interest stacking, but results are inconsistent
The algorithm feels much less predictable than Meta now.
Anyone else struggling to scale TikTok without ROAS dropping? Any strategies working for you guys lately?
Click to expand...
TikTok is not cheap traffic source it used to be. A 2x ROAS is much the new normal there, which is why a lot of fashion brands are moving their budgets back to Meta's Advantage, campaigns for more stability.
 
Tik tok feels way more creative dependent no. Even good campaign die fast if you keep using the same angles for too long.
 
tiktok feels way more expensive now honestly, broad targeting worked better for me but scaling always drops ROAS after some point.
 
Yeah TikTok scaling is way rougher now than 2022-2023

Back then almost any decent creative could print. Now:
  • CPMs are higher
  • audience fatigue happens faster
  • creatives burn in days
  • algo feels unstable as hell
We seeing the same thing where scaling budget too aggressively instantly tanks ROAS

What still helps a bit:
  • rotating creators constantly
  • ugly/raw creatives > polished ads
  • launching more creatives instead of scaling budgets hard
  • warming with Spark before pushing spend
  • separating cold scale campaigns from retargeting completely
 
We’ve seen the same thing in a couple of ecommerce accounts lately.
CPMs are climbing fast and creatives burn out much quicker than before.
 
Yep, ROAS drops are real lately, doubling CPMs and algorithm shifts are killing predictability; testing fresh short Spark Ads and rotating creatives seems the only way to stay afloat.
 
Yes, many advertisers are seeing lower ROAS lately; frequent creative testing and leveraging UGC-style Spark Ads have been the most effective ways to maintain performance.
 
Higher competitions and changing algorithms are making scaling harder to many advertisers, creative quality and retention seems to more than ever now.
 
Yeah same here. TikTok feels way more sensitive now when you try scaling too fast, especially on fresh accounts.

What helped me was letting campaigns sit longer and avoiding edits every few hours. Also creatives seem to matter way more than targeting lately.

Feels like they're throttling new accounts hard these days.
 
Yeah seeing the same thing. TikTok isn’t “dead” for scale, just way less stable than 2022–23. CPM inflation + creative fatigue is basically constant now.
What’s worked for me:
– rotating creatives weekly (not monthly anymore)
– building more UGC-style angles instead of polished ads
– separating testing vs scaling ad sets hard
– accepting lower initial ROAS and optimizing for MER instead

If you’re still expecting 4x consistently, TikTok’s just not that predictable anymore unless you’ve got a strong content engine.
 
Nothing is harder to scale.. I can't see anything
 
I've noticed tik tok seems to reward fresh creatives much more aggressively now. Some campaigns looks dead, then a new angle brings performance right back without changing anything else.
 
Creative fatigue seems to hit much faster now, so refreshing creatives more often is becoming almost necessary to maintain performance
 
I think increased competition is a big factor. A lot more advertisers are on TikTok now than a couple of years ago. We've adjusted expectations and focus more on blended ROAS rather than platform-reported ROAS alone.
 
Rather than it becoming more difficult, the TikTok audience is generally less likely to make purchases; people are there to watch silly videos. Targeting needs to be very precise for purchase conversion.
 
ChillVibes said:
I’ve been running TikTok ads for an ecom client since late 2022, and lately ROAS has been dropping hard.
Back in 2022 and even through 2023, we were consistently getting 4x+ ROAS. Now we are mostly between 1.8 and 2.1, and ad costs keep increasing every month.
I know creative fatigue is part of it, and competition has definitely increased too. But CPMs in our fashion accessories niche have almost doubled compared to last year.

Some things that still work a bit for us:
  • Spark Ads using organic-style posts perform better than dark posts
  • Shorter creatives (7 to 15 sec) are outperforming longer videos
  • Broad targeting sometimes works better than interest stacking, but results are inconsistent
The algorithm feels much less predictable than Meta now.
Anyone else struggling to scale TikTok without ROAS dropping? Any strategies working for you guys lately?
Click to expand...
Yeah, seeing the same thing. TikTok is still good for volume, but it’s definitely harder to keep ROAS stable than it was in 2022/2023.
What helped us a bit was treating TikTok more like a creative testing platform than a campaign scaling platform. Instead of pushing one winner hard, we test more angles and rotate creatives faster. Once a creative starts dipping, we don’t try to force it for too long.
Spark Ads still work better for us too, especially when the post feels native and not too polished. UGC-style videos with a quick hook, product shown early, and simple offer usually beat the cleaner brand-style ads.
 
Seeing the same here, TikTok feels a lot more competitive now and fresh creatives every week seem to matter more than targeting tweaks.
 
ChillVibes said:
I’ve been running TikTok ads for an ecom client since late 2022, and lately ROAS has been dropping hard.
Back in 2022 and even through 2023, we were consistently getting 4x+ ROAS. Now we are mostly between 1.8 and 2.1, and ad costs keep increasing every month.
I know creative fatigue is part of it, and competition has definitely increased too. But CPMs in our fashion accessories niche have almost doubled compared to last year.

Some things that still work a bit for us:
  • Spark Ads using organic-style posts perform better than dark posts
  • Shorter creatives (7 to 15 sec) are outperforming longer videos
  • Broad targeting sometimes works better than interest stacking, but results are inconsistent
The algorithm feels much less predictable than Meta now.
Anyone else struggling to scale TikTok without ROAS dropping? Any strategies working for you guys lately?
Click to expand...
In fashion and accessories, competition has become much heavier. even if targeting stays same, higher CPMs can kill ROAS quickly, so some are shifting focus more toward improving AOV and retention instead of only lowering CPA.
 
theequipmenthub0 said:
Yeah, seeing the same thing. TikTok is still good for volume, but it’s definitely harder to keep ROAS stable than it was in 2022/2023.
What helped us a bit was treating TikTok more like a creative testing platform than a campaign scaling platform. Instead of pushing one winner hard, we test more angles and rotate creatives faster. Once a creative starts dipping, we don’t try to force it for too long.
Spark Ads still work better for us too, especially when the post feels native and not too polished. UGC-style videos with a quick hook, product shown early, and simple offer usually beat the cleaner brand-style ads.
Click to expand...
That's a really good idea...We need to update our creatives quickly and consistently to keep the audience engaged and prevent ad fatigue
 
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