Typically when you go to YouTube, you see big brand advertisers engaging with our advertising platform -- whether they're buying homepage ads or running display campaigns across the site. But increasingly we are seeing smaller advertisers enter the world of YouTube, just as they have in search advertising through Google AdWords.

As Promoted Videos has expanded and become easier to use, several small businesses have used our self-service tools to promote their products and drive engaged YouTube audiences to both their videos and their websites. We had a chance to catch up with the marketing minds at OraBrush, Dynomighty Design, and Artbeads.com to learn more about how they're using Promoted Videos to build their small businesses.

OraBrush

After a series of unsuccessful TV commercials, the bacteria fighting company OraBrush turned to YouTube to help promote their more light-hearted approach to curing bad breath. CEO Jeffrey Harmon explains, "Previously, in an attempt to educate people on bad breath, we had tried a TV infomercial -- it was a complete flop. As an experiment, we decided to create an 'infomercial' for YouTube. We had made a couple of videos that we could see were showing signs of going viral, so we decided to give them a jump-start with Promoted Videos."

YouTube provided OraBrush with a low-cost way to help promote a product that required some education. Promoted Videos quickly helped their fun and quirky videos get off the ground, and they soon saw sales and video views soar. "Promoted Videos has worked better than any other ad platform we have used online."

Of their 7.8 million views on YouTube, 6 million have come from Promoted Videos. The success of OraBrush's campaign is in large part because their infomercials are less "ads" than simply popular YouTube videos that users search for and want to watch.

Dynomighty Design

Dynomighty Design founder, Terrence Kelleman, used to work a day job in IT before he decided to try his hand at jewelry-making and creating other whimsical gift ideas. His first YouTube video (explaining the uses of a magnetic bracelet) has over 2.7 million views. After his initial video success, Terrence continued creating videos to showcase his products and create connections with potential buyers. Videos are "an easier format to convey your message to people," he says. "It has more of a residual effect."

The videos Dynomighty has promoted on YouTube have helped the company grow throughout the country and expand their product line to include everything from magnetic bracelets to paper wallets. Over 50% of the referring traffic to Dynomighty's website comes from YouTube.

Artbeads.com

Artbeads.com uses Promoted Videos to teach their customers how to use their beads to create beautiful works of art. Steve Groenier, Vice President of Search Marketing and Customer Service, wanted to figure out a way to use his existing educational videos to drive sales and traffic to the company's website.

"The first thing that attracted us to advertise on YouTube was the ability to introduce a [Call-to-Action] overlay ad to our existing videos, which were already receiving thousands of views. The overlay ads helped...drive website visits and sales." Videos like "How to Use Glue-In Bails and Caps" help both bead veterans and those new to the craft learn how to use these products. When compared to an average Artbeads.com text ad, their videos were twice as effective at generating click-throughs.

Steve soon discovered that Promoted Videos helped "get our videos listed at the top of the search results for relevant keyword phrases like 'how to make jewelry.'" After starting Promoted Videos, Steve saw referral traffic to Artbeads.com from YouTube increase by 150%.

So if you're thinking of the next best way to promote your business and attract customers to your site, maybe it's time to promote your videos on YouTube. We'd love to hear in the comments other ways Promoted Videos have worked for your business, especially if you sell a product we might not expect to see on the site.

Posted by Lane Shackleton, Product Specialist