There are many video platforms out there, and they all do very different things for different target markets. Some video platforms have been designed to suit bloggers, while others have been developed from a marketing perspective. With this in mind, it’s important to do your research and select the right platform depending on your business needs.
Luckily for you, we've researched on your behalf! In this comparison guide, we will take you through our top 3 video platforms and their pros and cons from a business viewpoint.
YouTube
YouTube is arguably the most well-known video platform in the world with over 1.9 billion active users monthly. Different from other offerings, it's a social media site first, and a video hosting platform second. YouTube encourages viewers to discover videos that its algorithm deems will be of interest.
People use YouTube to watch a huge variety of content; from DIY how-to videos, music videos, user-generated lifestyle videos, cute animal montages, and anything else you can imagine! As you may have gathered from this list, YouTube hasn’t been set up with business users in mind. The categories on offer are all entertainment-based, and the majority of the most viewed videos are also entertainment-based content.
However, if you’re looking to reach a wide target audience on a social media-like space then YouTube could be a good fit for your business. Some of the pros of using YouTube for business are:
- Recommend your video to two billion users
- Run pre-roll ads before your videos start playing
- Engage with your audience in the comment section
- Can be integrated with other online video platforms like Vidyard
Alongside the pre-roll ads, YouTube makes money through content suggestions at the end of videos and side screen offers. It’s important to note that you can't always control what these are, and they may even be for some of your competitors!
In terms of optimisation opportunities, YouTube doesn’t have a great amount of data you can view. For businesses focused on converting leads, it provides little insight to help improve conversion.
It’s important to also consider what you count as success with your video efforts. If view counts are enough to hit your sales targets (spoiler alert – they probably won’t be) and you’re not as concerned about click-throughs or conversions then YouTube could give you the metrics you need.
Vimeo
Vimeo is a video hosting platform that is set up to host, stream, share and secure your video content with some personalisation options. Generally speaking, the videos on Vimeo are of higher quality than those found on the likes of YouTube. It is predominantly marketed towards the arts and creative industries but has also found some success in the business market.
If you’re in the arts and creative industries, Vimeo is particularly appealing because it helps you to monetise your video and live stream content. The ‘Tip this video’ link is an especially popular feature as it allows viewers to show their appreciation for a video with a tip of their choice through PayPal or credit card. Alongside this feature is the option to upload content behind a paywall, which gives creators more control over their pricing.
Some of the pros of using Vimeo for business are:
- Help monetise both videos and live streams and reach a paid audience with built-in features
- Different user levels and payment plans
- No ads
Vimeo has a free plan, but to use most of its features you would need to have one of their paid plan options. For example, the free and more basic plans have limits on the amount of data that can be uploaded per week, meaning businesses that generate a lot of content may be limited.
One of the main downsides to Vimeo from a business perspective is that it does not offer integration with marketing automation and CRM systems. It has very limited native integrations, offering only a select few through Zapier.
In terms of analytics, Vimeo fares better than YouTube but still doesn’t offer detailed user tracking or campaign analytics features which we would argue are vital to any serious business efforts.
Vimeo also doesn't have the large user audience and sign-on rates that YouTube sees. However, using Vimeo within the arts and creative community offers a great opportunity to connect with other creators and gain exposure in your more niche market.
Vidyard
Vidyard is different from the other options as it’s been purposely designed as a video marketing platform. It was set up to help both B2B and consumer businesses drive and measure pipeline and revenue all within the platform itself.
A big plus of Vidyard for businesses is that it integrates easily with CRM systems such as HubSpot. There are various plans to pick from, with free options for individuals and priced plans for businesses. The free plan includes more than enough for an individual looking to experiment while the paid plans are of great value for businesses as the videos can be utilised across your Marketing, Sales & Service teams.
As you may have picked up already, we believe that video viewing data is of utmost importance. And we aren't alone, with nearly 90% of sales professionals feeling the same way. If you want to find success with video, it's imperative to know what's going well and what perhaps isn't going so well. In terms of analytics, Vidyard is our clear winner of the three. It offers the ability to go beyond just view counts with analytics that helps you track video engagement, learn more about your audience, and turn views into results.
Vidyard also offers sharing pages that allow you to deliver videos on a dedicated, branded, and distraction-free page. Whether you have a single video or a playlist, you can send a link to the sharing page which can have restricted access with a single sign-on as well as third-party tracking and analytics tools if desired.
Some of our favourite features of using Vidyard for business are:
- Easy CRM integration
- User-level data capture
- Lead/account scoring for marketing and sales
- View alerts
- Measures video return on investment (ROI)
- The opportunity to personalise videos based on CRM data
- Sales & support teams can directly send and track videos
- SEO-optimise and transcribe videos
If you’re in the arts and creative space, then Vidyard may not be as desirable an option as it doesn’t have the monetising options that Vimeo offers. While you could technically still use Vidyard to share paid-for content, it would require some manual/automated effort.
Similarly, if you’re a blogger or influencer then Vidyard wouldn’t suit the same way YouTube would as it doesn’t give you the option to be ‘found’ by your audience. Vidyard is better suited to targeted business campaigns as opposed to those looking to reach new audiences on mass.
Conclusion
Out of the three options, Vidyard and Vimeo share the most features suited to business needs. Both give control over the look and feel of the output, but with key differences. Vimeo is oriented towards consumer-based marketing efforts where the goal is monetising creative content. Vidyard on the other hand has been designed to enable businesses to use video easily throughout their entire organisation while driving growth and revenue.
While YouTube suits entertainment first and caters to business second, Vidyard is all about business. YouTube may get your video seen, but it isn't designed to encourage your viewer to take action. Far from it, viewers are encouraged to watch more and more videos and stay on the YouTube platform as opposed to following a CTA anywhere else.
The bottom line for us is that while YouTube and Vimeo will suit certain businesses, Vidyard is the overall winner from a B2B perspective due to the design, analytics, and integration options. From a sales and marketing point of view, Vidyard videos are set up to encourage your viewers to watch your videos and then take meaningful action afterwards. While on the service and internal comms side, Vidyard offers easy communication opportunities to save valuable time across the board.
If you'd like to discuss how video could work for your business, please get in touch with chris@enquirylab.com or 01327 368378.
