Recently, pet food makers are turning more and more into artificial intelligence to increase marketing effectiveness. Pet Food Industry Polling data that considers AI adoption across the industry. The technology's ability to process huge amounts of customer data allows businesses to create more targeted campaigns that resonate with a particular pet owner segment based on their behavior, preferences and purchase history.
The survey revealed that AI adoption remains in the early stages, but more than half of respondents still research or plan their AI marketing strategies rather than actively implementing them. This is lined up Pet Food Industry August poll surveyHalf of pet food companies have not yet implemented AI technology.
AI for data-driven applications rather than creative features
Research shows that over half (56%) of pet food industry experts have not yet used artificial intelligence in their marketing campaigns and are revealing the adoption gap despite widespread debating the possibilities of AI.
Among companies that actively implement AI marketing tools, customer insights and data analytics dominates usage in 21% of all respondents, suggesting that those who embrace technology focus on data-driven applications rather than creative features. Content creation ranks second at 11%, but more specialized applications like email personalization (6%) and visual content creation (5%) will advance significantly.
The data shows that while AI marketing adoption remains limited, early adopters prioritize analytics capabilities that can directly affect business intelligence and customer understanding over automated content generation.
- Currently not using AI: 56.06%
- Customer Insights and Data Analytics: 21.21%
- Content creation: 11.36%
- Email Personalization: 6.06%
- Visual content and design: 5.30%
Content production speed emerges as the best measurable AI advantage
Pet food marketers who implement AI tools report accelerated content production as the most important measurable impact, with 15% citing faster content creation as the main advantage. However, the survey revealed measurement gaps. Two-thirds of AI users (67%) have not quantified their results yet. This suggests that many implementations remain in the experimental phase without proper ROI tracking.
Better audience targeting and engagement, along with improved campaign performance metrics, indicates a limited or inadequate measurement system to capture only 5% of responses and capture the impact of AI on these results. Brand consistency showed slightly stronger results at 8%, suggesting that AI tools may be providing a more reliable message across the campaign.
- No results measured yet: 66.67%
- Improved content production speed: 15.38%
- More consistent brand messaging: 7.69%
- Better audience targets and engagement: 5.13%
- Improved campaign performance metrics: 5.13%
Marketing teams are taking a measurement approach to AI implementation
The Pet Food Marketing department has adopted a conservative approach to AI adoption, with 56% still in the planning or research phase, with 25% limiting experiments on one or two team members. This grassroots testing strategy suggests that companies prioritize risk management over rapid deployment.
The data also reveals minimal investment in formal AI training programs, with only 9% of organizations implementing department-wide training initiatives. Equal percentages test multiple tools before committing, indicating a thorough evaluation process, but indicating that recruitment timelines can be slower.
External partnerships are rare, with only 3% of AI professionals and agents working only 3% of companies suggesting that most organizations prefer to develop internal functions rather than outsource AI marketing capabilities.
The advantage of individual experiments over systematic deployment shows that the industry views AI marketing as an emerging feature that requires careful evaluation rather than a critical competitive tool that requires immediate implementation across the organization.
- Still planning/research stage: 56.25%
- 1 or 2 team members experimenting independently: 25%
- Department-wide training and implementation: 9.38%
- Test multiple tools before committing: 9.38%
- Partnership with external AI experts/agents: 3.13%
What will AI do for you in the next 12 months?
Going forward, 63% of pet food marketers are expressing their satisfaction with existing marketing tools with little interest in exploring new features. Given previous findings, it appears that many pet food brands are in the evaluation and testing stages of AI. As businesses experiment and learn AI capabilities, many may recognize other potential benefits and identify new challenges that AI can address in the future.
Among those seeking new AI capabilities, future interests are evenly divided into analytical and creative applications. Predictive analyses of customer behavior and audio/video content generation captured 13% of responses, while personalized product recommendations attracted 10% interest.
- Currently satisfied with existing tools: 63.33%
- Predictive analysis of customer behavior: 13.33%
- Audio and video content generation: 13.33%
- Personalized Product Recommendations: 10%
Research Methods: Data collected from September 4-18, 2025, from 119 pet food industry experts via the PetFoodIndustry.com polling platform.
