$
42
K
X
%
Ad-attributed orders, Sept. vs. May 2026
How Nulo Grew Ad-Attributed Orders by 42%
InDUSTRY:
Pet Supplies
TOPICS:
Amazon Sponsored Ads
Sponsored Product
Keyword Research
Agency Transition
Nulo, a premium natural pet food brand, moved its Amazon advertising to Nectar in June 2026. Under its prior agency, Nulo's Sponsored Ads spend nearly doubled from April to May, and ROAS fell 42%. Most of the extra budget went into auto campaigns, which gave little control over which searches it reached. In May, auto campaigns took 55% of Sponsored Products spend and exact match took 13%, and a third of search term spend went to terms that produced no orders.
The Task
Turn the higher budget into more orders while holding efficiency at the new spend level.
Challenges
1
Auto campaigns took 55% of Sponsored Products spend, exact match 13%.
2
A third of search term spend went to terms with zero orders.
3
Nulo won just 0.32% of generic cat and 0.11% of dog purchases.
4
ROAS fell 42% after Sponsored Ads spend nearly doubled in a month.
Solutions
Nectar could cut spend back to earlier levels to recover ROAS, or keep investing at the higher level and change where the budget went. We kept investing and rebuilt the account.
What We Did
Rebuilt Sponsored Products around exact match. Exact match grew from 13% to 77% of Sponsored Products spend, and auto dropped from 55% to 12%.
Cut spend on search terms that never converted. Zero-order terms fell from 33% of search term spend to 11%.
Moved branded budget into generic and competitor searches. We trimmed branded search spend by 15% and moved it into generic cat and dog terms and competitor ASIN targeting, where shoppers are still choosing a brand.
How We Measured It
We compared September against May. June had Prime Day and the agency handoff, and July was the rebuild month. Ad metrics cover Sponsored Products, Brands and Display with 14-day attribution. September has one fewer day than May, so the growth figures are conservative. Branded figures count searches that contain the brand name. Search share comes from Search Query Performance on a fixed set of queries that appeared every week in both months, and counts all purchases, paid and organic.
“Nulo had an opportunity to get more out of its existing ad budget. We focused on giving that spend a clearer purpose, tightening keyword targeting and shifting budget toward generic and competitor searches where shoppers are still choosing a brand. Seeing ad-attributed orders grow 42% while also improving ROAS shows the value of getting that foundation right.” Katie Michowski, Senior Advertising Manager
Results
September vs. May 2026, Sponsored Products, Brands and Display
Ad-Attributed Orders: +42%
Ad Sales: +27% on 22% more spend
ROAS: 1.88x → 1.95x
CPC: −8%
Conversion Rate: 22.2% → 23.8%
Branded Search ROAS: +43%
Competitor ASIN Targeting ROAS: 0.53x → 1.50x
Competitor ASIN Targeting Sales: 2.6x
Generic Cat Purchase Share: 0.32% → 0.55%
Generic Dog Purchase Share: 0.11% → 0.23%
Branded Purchase Share: held at 96%
Orders grew faster than spend, and orders grew faster than sales because the mix shifted toward lower-priced toppers and lickable treats. Cutting branded spend did not cost branded share. Competitor targeting now brings in more in sales than it costs. Ads are one of several drivers, along with pricing, promotions, inventory and organic rank.
What This Means For Your Brand
When ad spend scales faster than campaign structure, the extra budget flows to the least controlled campaigns. Brands in that position should rebuild around exact match and cut zero-order search terms before cutting budget, then move branded savings into generic and competitor searches.
Before
After
Get a Free Marketplace Audit
