Pet Brands Don’t Need More Ads, They Need More Loyalty

The pet industry is booming, but growth isn’t translating into loyalty. 

In 2024, global spending on pet care surpassed $280 billion, with Amazon capturing a growing share of repeat purchases. Yet most pet brands are still pouring budgets into PPC instead of retention. According to Jungle Scout, pet product CPCs on Amazon rose 37% year-over-year, while conversion rates dropped. 

More ads aren’t solving the problem. They’re amplifying it. 

If every brand fights for the same keywords, attention gets more expensive, and loyalty becomes the only sustainable moat. Let’s break down why loyalty, not ads, is the real growth engine for pet brands in 2025. 

1. The Ad Plateau: When PPC Stops Paying Off

Pet care once thrived on discoverability. But today, visibility alone doesn’t drive profit. 

As competition intensifies on Amazon, PPC has reached a point of diminishing returns. Here’s what’s happening across the category: 

• CPC Inflation: Average cost-per-click for pet supplements jumped from $1.28 to $1.75 in the last 12 months. 

• Lower ROAS: Sponsored product ROAS fell by 23%, especially for generic search terms like “dog vitamins” or “cat shampoo.” 

• Ad Saturation: Top brands now occupy 70%+ of first-page real estate. For smaller players, that means higher spend and lower share of voice. 

The outcome? Most pet brands are overpaying to stay visible, but underinvesting in what keeps buyers coming back. 

In short, acquisition is eating budgets that should be building relationships. 

2. Why Loyalty Is the New ROI

Pet owners are creatures of habit, and once they trust a product, they rarely switch. That’s why loyalty is the single biggest untapped growth lever in pet care. 

A few facts to ground this: 

• 75% of pet owners say they prefer to buy from brands they’ve used before. 

• Subscription models in pet food grew 45% YoY, outperforming ad-driven one-time sales. 

• Retained customers deliver 5–7x higher LTV compared to newly acquired ones. 

Loyalty also compounds visibility. Repeat customers leave more reviews, boost listing velocity, and feed Amazon’s ranking algorithm. That means stronger organic placement, and less dependency on ads. 

Here’s how loyalty turns into ROI: 

1. Data feedback loops: Loyal buyers reveal trends (like reorder timing or cross-category interest). 

1. Operational efficiency: Predictable demand reduces inventory risk and ad waste. 

1. Brand equity: Emotional connection increases tolerance for higher price points. 

In short, loyalty lowers costs while deepening trust, the opposite of what ads alone can do. 

3. Building Loyalty in the Age of Amazon

So, how do pet brands shift from paid reach to repeat trust? The answer isn’t to abandon PPC, but to rebalance how it fits into your ecosystem. 

Let’s explore three loyalty multipliers that work inside Amazon’s ecosystem: 

1. Optimize for Post-Purchase Experience

Most brands stop at the “thank you” page. The best ones keep going. 

• Use Amazon Follow to push educational content and care tips. 

• Add custom inserts (QR codes, guides, surprise samples) to reinforce brand memory. 

• Automate review requests that sound human, not corporate. 

2. Build a Community, Not Just a Customer List

Pet parents love to share — pictures, routines, even brand discoveries. 

• Encourage UGC through branded hashtags and packaging cues. 

• Highlight customer pets in Amazon Posts. 

• Sync campaigns across Amazon and Instagram to create emotional recall. 

3. Layer Loyalty Into Product Strategy

Loyalty starts with product experience. 

• Design SKUs that invite continuity (multi-pack treats, subscription bundles). 

• Offer auto-delivery discounts and emphasize convenience. 

• Connect hero SKUs with complementary ones (e.g., “If they love this probiotic, try our calming chews”). 

Amazon rewards what customers repeat. Loyalty isn’t just an emotional win — it’s an algorithmic one. 

4. From Ad Spend to Data Spend

The smartest pet brands aren’t spending less — they’re spending smarter. 

They’re redirecting part of their ad budget into understanding customers instead of chasing clicks. Here’s what that looks like in practice: 

• Behavioral segmentation: Identify which breeds, age groups, or dietary needs drive repeat purchases. 

• Search intent mapping: Use data to discover why customers buy — not just what they type. 

• AI enrichment: Tools like HatchScore.AI analyze visibility beyond search, identifying how your brand performs in AI-driven recommendations (like ChatGPT or Perplexity). 

By shifting from media buying to data building, pet brands create compounding value. Every insight feeds the next campaign — and every loyal customer becomes a signal of credibility. 

My Take / Final Thought 

After years in ecommerce strategy, I’ve learned this: loyalty is performance marketing in slow motion. 

It doesn’t spike overnight or fit neatly into dashboards. But when done right, it builds the kind of momentum that paid media can’t buy. 

For pet brands, loyalty isn’t about points or perks — it’s about trust, empathy, and predictability. When you care for your customers the way they care for their pets, you build more than a sale. You build belonging. 

And that’s what keeps tails wagging — and revenue growing. 

Actionable Summary 

Let’s turn insight into action: 

If you lead a pet brand, start here: 

1. Audit your ad-to-loyalty ratio. How much of your budget fuels retention vs. acquisition? 
2. Reinvest 10–15% of PPC spend into loyalty infrastructure — reviews, subscriptions, and post-purchase content. 
3. Use your data. Track reorder timing, customer lifetime value, and sentiment to guide product decisions. 
4. Test one loyalty loop per quarter. Try UGC-driven campaigns, educational content, or automated subscription prompts. 
5. Measure what compounds. Look beyond clicks — focus on repeat rate, average order value, and brand recall. 

In the pet industry, attention is temporary — but trust lasts a lifetime. 

Let’s build that together. Let’s talk strategy.