+1030% Growth in Branded Traffic and B2B Lead Generation with YouTube Shorts

Challenge

Earlier in 2025, Conway had successfully promoted its services on TikTok during the peak season. Their short-form videos consistently generated organic engagement and contributed to increased branded website traffic. What made the content stand out was its unconventional approach: humorous, light-hearted videos in an industry typically associated with serious B2B communication.

While the same videos were later uploaded to YouTube Shorts, organic reach remained limited. Together with the client, we decided to test whether paid promotion on YouTube Shorts could increase awareness and generate measurable business results.

Campaign Objectives

1. Increase brand awareness across all Baltic markets.
2. Maintain audience engagement during the off-season.
3. Create a base for delayed conversions, understanding that video advertising often influences purchase decisions over a longer customer journey.

Strategy

The campaigns launched in mid-November, when demand in the container industry was already beginning to slow down. While this made the test more challenging, it also provided a realistic opportunity to evaluate the channel under less favorable market conditions.

To maximize efficiency, we reused the client’s existing vertical video content instead of investing in new production. Unlike traditional B2B advertising creatives, these videos relied on authenticity and entertainment rather than heavily scripted sales messaging.

Given the niche nature of the product, audience targeting was a critical success factor. Rather than using broad targeting, we created custom audience segments consisting of users who had previously shown interest in shipping containers or actively searched for related terms on Google.

We also limited placements exclusively to YouTube Shorts. This helped maintain a native user experience and avoided showing vertical videos in horizontal placements with black bars. Multiple creatives were rotated and refreshed regularly to prevent audience fatigue.

Results

Since no other major marketing initiatives were launched during the same period, the impact of YouTube Shorts could be evaluated with a high degree of confidence. 

Despite launching during the low season, the campaigns delivered significant results within the first month:

• More than 40 leads generated from YouTube.
• Cost per lead approximately 10% lower than Google Search campaigns.
• Strong growth in branded search traffic compared to the previous month:

Conclusion

This case demonstrates that even in highly specialized B2B industries, entertaining short-form content can deliver measurable business impact.

YouTube Shorts not only helped Conway increase brand visibility across multiple markets but also contributed directly to lead generation. Following the successful test, we continued to manage and optimize the campaigns with regular creative updates.

Today, branded traffic in Lithuania and Estonia remains significantly higher than before the launch of YouTube advertising, supported by the company’s growing presence across multiple social media platforms. In this case, YouTube Shorts proved to be much more than an awareness channel—it became a sustainable driver of brand growth and business opportunities.