While businesses want their video content on as many platforms as possible, there are differences between the hosting platforms. Each offers something different and has unique drawbacks as well.
When seeking a platform that meets all of their needs, companies are faced with an abundance of choices. Remember that the success of their video production & marketing involves quite a bit more than just creating and uploading content.
Which platform is right for them and their business?
A company must look at the benefits and drawbacks of the three main video hosting platforms.
Wistia
Wistia offers a user-friendly experience that reduces the amount of time they have to train their staff to use it. The interface makes customizing and branding the video player simple. They can add forms to the videos along with hyperlinks.
In much the same way they can add Call-to-Actions to their text, they can now add them to their videos on Wistia. Other areas in which they can customize their content can include the aspect ratio; they can choose any dimension they want for their videos. One of the high points of Wistia’s service is its analytics. The analytics are considerably more detailed than the offerings from other major hosting platforms, including YouTube.
This is another reason why it makes it such an asset to their ad campaign. It provides accurate data about their content’s performance, offering them greater insight into customer engagement.
The biggest drawback for Wistia is the fact it does not have as much of a subscriber base when compared to YouTube. And it can get expensive if their video attracts a substantial amount of traffic.
YouTube
Of course, YouTube’s most significant advantage is its parent company. As a Google subsidiary, it offers their content a better chance of a good ranking in the search engine results pages. In addition to the SEO benefits, there is the fact that YouTube is the largest video-sharing platform. In addition it is a social network that gives them the ability to build a community.
All this means, if reach is their priority, they are not going to do better than the site’s more than 1 billion-strong user-base. YouTube also has the benefit of being free.
Youtube’s drawbacks include the fact that it is not designed specifically for business. This means that its look and feel may not be right for corporate content. While its analytics are advanced, they are not as detailed as those offered by sites like Wistia.
Vimeo
Vimeo sets itself apart from the competition by targeting designers. Vimeo’s benefit includes its ad-free portion of the platform. In addition to the fact that it is a paid service. Ads are not allowed, so there will be no pre-roll distractions that may discourage viewers from sticking around to watch their content.
The video player is also highly customizable. They have the ability to give their embedded player a custom color as well as to determine which buttons are displayed on it. They can even remove the Vimeo logo. The player’s interface is cleaner and more sophisticated when compared to YouTube’s.
The main downside of Vimeo is the site’s relative lack of members and traffic when compared to Youtube. Another is its limited amount of content that they can upload. While they do offer packages with a lot of space, all of them have varied storage limits.
In Summary
The video hosting platforms have different communities of users. Which platform a business chooses depends on their goals and what they are trying to do achieve with their corporate videos.
If a large reach is a goal desired, YouTube may be the right platform for them. Vimeo has a smaller community and limits the types of videos that can be uploaded which is great to attract a specific audience. Wistia is great for business-oriented content. The platform is known for its analytic tools and branding.
