Influencer marketing for a pet brand going global.

Chinese supply chains turned pet products into a fast-growing export category, but exporting products and building a brand are different jobs. On platforms like Instagram and TikTok, creators are the most direct bridge between a brand and its customers: they show products in real homes, in everyday language, in ways advertising cannot. That is the trust gap influencer marketing exists to close.

I joined YUYO INNOVATIONS LLC, a pet-product brand going global under the name Pawreto, which makes safety gates for dogs and cats and sells through Amazon in the United States and Canada. My team ran the front end of the company's growth engine — finding the right creators, building the relationships, and making sure every partnership delivered content the brand could stand behind.

Over the summer I worked across the whole arc of influencer marketing, from sourcing to measurement. I built and ran a scaled outreach system for US and Canadian creators on Instagram, reaching 476 influencers and closing 45 collaborations across gifted, affiliate, and paid models. For the paid partnerships I handled end to end, I negotiated rates, evaluated creator value, and managed contracts and payments.

As the work scaled, I managed up to 14 collaborations in parallel and reviewed the content creators produced — checking drafts against product selling points, giving revision feedback, and managing publication. The work spanned both the dog-gate and cat-gate product lines, each with its own audience and content requirements.

Data shaped every decision. I tracked published reach, engagement, and cost per result, and used it to evaluate creators beyond follower counts: one mid-size creator's post reached 545,000 views at a cost per thousand under one dollar — more than ten times the reach of another partnership at a fraction of the cost. Cases like that taught me to weigh content fit, audience overlap, and past performance over follower numbers alone.

I also adjusted strategy product by product. The cat-gate line needed a different creator profile than the dog-gate line, so I redefined screening criteria, outreach messages, and target accounts based on what each product's content actually required.

Beyond day-to-day partnerships, I contributed to two larger initiatives. I helped run the Amazon Installation Video UGC project — consolidating shoot requirements, writing and refining creator briefs, coordinating scope and timelines with an external production partner, and aligning product, marketing, and creator teams. I also took part in the Babelio Safety Month campaign from kickoff through creator selection, content review, and results reporting, and supported a social-media giveaway for the brand.

Every collaboration was tracked from first contact to payment, with no major errors and no missed deliverables.