Brands experienced 17.6% increase in ROAS on TikTok campaigns with moderation vs. campaigns without it, making comment moderation a requirement for any paid social strategy.
The Hidden Cost of Unmoderated Comments
$85 billion is projected to be spent on social media advertising this year. That’s with marketers contending with slashed budgets. Every dollar has to work twice as hard as it did before and campaign optimization is a non-negotiable.
Marketers are laser-focused on growth, optimizing bidding strategies, creative, and audience targeting, but there’s a hidden factor impacting campaign performance: the comment sections.
Left unmoderated, comments can:
Discourage potential customers from clicking
Lower engagement quality, negatively impacting ad delivery
To quantify the effect of comment moderation on TikTok ad performance, we analyzed 59 brands across major verticals—including ecommerce, D2C, and retail—who collectively spent $249.8 million on TikTok ads.
When brands used comment moderation on TikTok, they saw:
More revenue generated per dollar spent.
Increase in ROAS
17.6%
More efficient use of ad budget.
Decrease in CPC
3.7%
9.2x
ROI on Moderation costs
Proven use of tech stack budget contributing to company bottom line
Why Moderation on TikTok Drives Better Ad Results
TikTok’s algorithm prioritizes high-performing ads (hard to achieve if comment sections are full of spam comments, for example). When an ad gets strong engagement and a high click-through rate (CTR), TikTok rewards it with a broader reach for the same budget.
By removing brand-damaging, toxic, and abusive comments, we see:
Higher engagement quality → More people clicking instead of hesitating
Better ad performance → TikTok sees the ad as valuable and distributes it more efficiently
More impressions for the same budget → Greater exposure, more opportunities for conversions
Not moderating? Time to rethink that.
If you’re investing in paid social without moderating comments, you’re accepting diminished ad performance and inefficient use of your budget. Think of moderation as your in-flight content strategy that has a direct impact on live campaign performance and optimization.
AI has made creating content easier than ever, but attention has never been harder to earn. In this conversation with Slate’s Head of Marketing, Christina Le, we explore why community, not content volume, i
s becoming the true competitive advantage, why 94% of customer questions go unanswered, and how the smartest brands are using AI to spend more time being human.
Today’s shoppers don’t stop at the post, they scroll the comments for product questions, honest reviews, and reassurance before buying. Discover how comment sections have become a critical part of the customer journey and why brands that engage thoughtfully earn more trust and conversions.
How to Increase ROAS on TikTok with Comment Moderation
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Brands experienced 17.6% increase in ROAS on TikTok campaigns with moderation vs. campaigns without it, making comment moderation a requirement for any paid social strategy.
The Hidden Cost of Unmoderated Comments
$85 billion is projected to be spent on social media advertising this year. That’s with marketers contending with slashed budgets. Every dollar has to work twice as hard as it did before and campaign optimization is a non-negotiable.
Marketers are laser-focused on growth, optimizing bidding strategies, creative, and audience targeting, but there’s a hidden factor impacting campaign performance: the comment sections.
Left unmoderated, comments can:
TikTok is proving to be a powerful advertising tool, with 61% of TikTok users saying they tend to buy brands they see advertised on the platform. Couple that with being able to reach about 1.081 billion adults on TikTok each month and it’s clear this is a space marketers need to play. The key is having the right moderation strategy in place so all of this potential can be realized.
Moderation’s Impact on TikTok Ad Performance
To quantify the effect of comment moderation on TikTok ad performance, we analyzed 59 brands across major verticals—including ecommerce, D2C, and retail—who collectively spent $249.8 million on TikTok ads.
When brands used comment moderation on TikTok, they saw:
More revenue generated per dollar spent.
Increase in ROAS
17.6%
More efficient use of ad budget.
Decrease in CPC
3.7%
9.2x
ROI on Moderation costs
Proven use of tech stack budget contributing to company bottom line
Why Moderation on TikTok Drives Better Ad Results
TikTok’s algorithm prioritizes high-performing ads (hard to achieve if comment sections are full of spam comments, for example). When an ad gets strong engagement and a high click-through rate (CTR), TikTok rewards it with a broader reach for the same budget.
By removing brand-damaging, toxic, and abusive comments, we see:
Not moderating? Time to rethink that.
If you’re investing in paid social without moderating comments, you’re accepting diminished ad performance and inefficient use of your budget. Think of moderation as your in-flight content strategy that has a direct impact on live campaign performance and optimization.
Ready to make your social ad dollars do more?
Let’s chat.
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