Back
By calculating CLV and aligning ACOS towards customer acquisition, we leveraged high repeat purchase rates to drive exponential growth.
Industry
Health & Supplements
Product Range
Nutritional Supplements
Monthly Ad Spend
$125,000
The Challenges
This supplement brand had a strong product line and loyal customers, but was struggling to scale new customer acquisition profitably. Traditional ACOS-focused campaigns were limiting growth potential because they didn’t account for the high lifetime value of supplement customers.
Key Challenges
Customer Lifetime Value Analysis
The foundation of our strategy was understanding the true value of each customer over their entire relationship with the brand. Our analysis revealed that supplement customers had significantly higher lifetime value than typical e-commerce purchases.
CLV Impact on ACOS Targets
With a CLV of $789 and an average first purchase of $67, we could afford ACOS targets up to 70-80% for new customer acquisition while maintaining positive unit economics over the customer lifetime.
Phase 1
Established CLV tracking and initial upper-funnel campaigns
Branded + Catagory PPC ramp
Rank-buying on top converters
Main image refresh
A+ content rebuild
Building foundation for long-term customer value optimization
Sessions
BSR
TACos
Conv Rate
+188%
Hero ASINs up
8 -14%
12%
Phase 2
Scaled successful campaigns and optimized based on CLV data
Aggressive placement bidding
Variation expansion
Q4 inventory pre-position
Review velocity push
Scale & Optimize (Months 3-5)
Convert rank gains into revenue. Hold
margin discipline as volume 17x's. Lock Q4 inventory positioning before the peak, then expand variations on winners.
Revenue
ACOS
Session %
Inventory
17x
9.8%
>14%
Healthy
Phase 3
Achieved sustainable growth with improved efficiency
Deal + Vine Stacking
Deep keyword harvesting
Brand Story deploy
2026 PO planning
Compound the peak with deal stacking and Vine velocity. Exit Q1 with a materially higher rank base for 2026 — turing a one month print into a full year advantage.
Dec Peak
LTM ACOS
Net Margin
LTM Revenue
$234,234
7.78%
14%
$1.16M
Implementation Strategy
Comprehensive Keyword Research
Mapped the entire customer journey from awareness to conversion across supplement categories
Implementation Details:
Analyzed 800+ health and wellness keywords
Identified upper-funnel awareness opportunities
Mapped keywords to customer intent stages
Created comprehensive negative keyword lists
Upper Funnel Management Strategy
Focused on capturing customers early in their health journey with broad targeting
Implementation Details:
Implemented broad match campaigns for discovery
Created awareness-focused ad copy
Targeted health condition and symptom keywords
Utilized all placement types for maximum reach
Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) Calculation
Developed sophisticated CLV models to inform bidding and targeting decisions
Implementation Details:
Analyzed 18 months of customer purchase data
Calculated average order value and frequency
Factored in subscription retention rates
Created CLV-based ACOS targets
New-to-Brand Customer Focus
Optimized campaigns specifically for acquiring first-time customers
Implementation Details:
Created new customer acquisition funnels
Implemented first-purchase incentives
Tracked new-to-brand metrics closely
Optimized for customer acquisition over immediate profit
Results Achieved
The Upper Funnel Advantage
Why Upper Funnel Keywords Drove Better Long-Term ROI
Instead of only targeting bottom-funnel "supplement" keywords, we invested heavily in upper-funnel health and wellness terms. This strategy allowed us to:
Capture customers earlier in their health journey
Face less competition and lower CPCs
Build brand awareness among potential customers
Educate customers about supplement benefits
Create a larger addressable market
While these keywords had higher initial ACOS, the customers acquired through upper-funnel campaigns had similar lifetime value but lower acquisition costs.
Key Learnings
CLV-based bidding allows for much higher ACOS targets than traditional profit-focused campaigns
Upper-funnel keywords often have better long-term ROI despite higher initial costs
Supplement customers have high repeat purchase rates when properly onboarded
New-to-brand customer acquisition should be measured differently than repeat customer campaigns
Subscription models fundamentally change the economics of customer acquisition
Conclusion
This case study demonstrates the power of CLV-based advertising optimization for businesses with high repeat purchase rates. By understanding the true lifetime value of customers and optimizing for long-term profitability rather than immediate ACOS targets, we were able to achieve exponential growth.
The key insight was that supplement customers, once acquired and properly onboarded, become highly valuable long-term customers. This allowed us to invest aggressively in customer acquisition, knowing that the lifetime value would more than compensate for higher initial acquisition costs.
Get a free, no-obligation audit of your Amazon store — uncover missed opportunities, fix costly mistakes, and get expert insights to boost your growth.
