What we learned switching TikTok off

Oakmere's TikTok had millions of views and almost no profit. Moving the budget to Meta, with the same creators, took blended ROAS from 2.4× to 3.1×.

Blended ROAS after the move

2.4× → 3.1×

Over 2 months

Past results, not a promise.

Client

Oakmere Home

Candles and home scent

Channels

TikTok → Meta

Monthly spend

$28k

The brief

Oakmere makes $36 ceramic-jar candles and had grown on TikTok: one viral unboxing in 2025, a loyal comment section, and a brand everyone under 30 seemed to know. Paid TikTok was supposed to turn that into sales. It turned it into views. After six months, TikTok spend was 70% of the budget and blended ROAS sat at 2.4×.

They asked us to fix TikTok. We asked to try moving it first.

What we made

We kept what worked on TikTok, the creators and their voice, and moved it to Meta, where Oakmere's older, higher-spending customers actually were. Same creators, recut for feed and Reels, with one change: the product in the first second instead of the third. "Bath, lit" (a lit candle on a bathtub edge, a hand reaching for it) became the winner within a week.

We ran TikTok at a tenth of its old budget for comparison. Over two months blended ROAS rose from 2.4× to 3.1×, and Oakmere stopped paying for views they were already getting for free.

What didn’t work

The bundle ad that had done well organically on TikTok ("Three candles, one for every room. 30% off.") flopped as a paid ad on both platforms: discount bundles brought one-time buyers, as they usually do. We also lost a little reach with younger customers; Oakmere's organic TikTok now covers that, unpaid.