How Vessi Leverages Influencers to Drive Conversions and Reach

Photograph by Vessi

This week, I decided to focus on a brand that I’ve seen a lot of recently which is Vessi. If you are unfamiliar with Vessi, they are a clothing company based in Vancouver that strictly focuses on waterproof gear. Their main success seems to come from their sleek but waterproof footwear, perfect for those rainy days. 

But the first time I noticed this brand was actually during an ad break on Philip Defranco’s channel. A YouTube influencer that has garnered over 6.6 Million followers on YouTube who mainly covers daily news content. During his videos, which usually last from 20-30 minutes per video, Philip tends to insert 2-3 sponsorship ad breaks in the show. Based on the recent Vessi ad he pushed, the specific campaign goal was to generate conversions. The ad directly showcases Vessi’s high-tech waterproof shoes as well as their latest product, a backpack and even provides a influencer link: vessi.com/defranco for 15% off their entire order. As an influencer, Philip Defranco averages about 7.21% engagement rate for his last 30 videos and averages about 763.1K video views per video. 

In this sponsorship example, Justin approaches a random stranger that actually had Vessis on in order to find a real customer who could provide feedback. The video includes Justin’s usual recipe of interacting with a stranger and taking their portrait. But also adds an element of sponsorship by offering a gift card to Vessi in the end as well as clearly includes the shoes in each photo. This instagram post seems to have performed much stronger than Vessi’s usual content. Justin’s average estimated reach is between 306K-918K and he averages about 10K likes per post. Although his engagement rate could use some improvement at a current 1%, the amount of visibility he garners seems to be excellent. 

To measure success in influencer marketing strategies, it’s important to focus on a couple of (KPIs). For Vessi, their main KPIs for sponsoring Philip Defranco is Conversion Rate which differs from the campaign they launched with Justin Veenma which had a focus more on Reach & Impressions. It’s important to use tools such as HypeAuditor to get the most accurate data on influencers and their numbers. 

Although many companies have seen success with partnering with influencers, there are posing challenges that come with working with an influencer. For example, how can we tell if successful results are truly a result from an influencer? It can difficult to attribute sales to influencers because in many cases there isn’t a direct way to track if a sale directly came from an influencer’s post, which is why creating specifc creator affiliate links such as Philip Defranco’s Vessi link is so important for the brand to discover insights on if partnering with him is a impactful move or not. Another potential challenge that could arise is brands that brands could certainly receive high engagement when working with a popular influencers, however that doesn’t necessarily mean that it will produce real conversions. Working with influencers that will actually push their audience to try their product or take action is best than simple engagement which could disappear quicker.

For Vessi’s case, I believe they have excelled in choosing the right influencers to partner with. Philip Defranco is excellent in driving consumers straight to their website and Justin Veenema created a authentic and engaging video that not only highlighted Vessi but his persona as well.