The debate about the “best” platform to launch video for business has been raging for years. It can be a tough landscape to navigate, especially if your business is new to video marketing. Last week we took a look at shortform video marketing and whether Vine has been killed by Instagram Video. This week, we thought we’d take a look at YouTube, the granddaddy of video, and Vimeo, the platform that is often regarded as YouTube’s oddly shaped step-cousin.
YouTube: Big Name and Vast Landscape
YouTube is renowned for its connection to pop culture. Most people watch, send, or receive a YouTube video on a daily basis. Most of those shared videos are viral videos – the type that show up on Good Morning America’s pop culture segments. Choreographed wedding dances, flash mobs, cats doing crazy things; these are the videos that have made YouTube a household name.
With over one billion unique visitors per month, YouTube has become more than just a haven for stupid human tricks and cute animal shorts. Businesses have been capitalizing on YouTube’s popularity by launching their videos and sharing them across social networks. And they’ve been doing a good job – top brands each receive almost 900,000 of those monthly views.
Businesses like YouTube because it’s free, you can optimize your videos to be found in search results, and there are no limits on how much content you can upload.
Vimeo: Small Pond With a Commitment to Video as Art
Vimeo, on the other hand, is known more for artsy videos. Promotional video marketing isn’t as welcome here, and in order to produce and promote their videos; businesses are offered a Vimeo Pro option that costs $199/year. That isn’t a huge financial commitment, but some businesses may avoid Vimeo entirely in favor of the free option with a larger potential audience.
That’s not to say that Vimeo isn’t worth the money. Think of the cautionary advertising tales that pop up every year around the time of the Super Bowl. Every so often, a company chooses to spend their entire yearly advertising budget on one Super Bowl commercial. Thinking it’s the best way to capture millions of viewers; these companies put everything they have into producing one commercial that a lot of people see exactly one time. (Nowadays they could also launch it on YouTube or Vimeo after the fact, but for the purposes of this story let’s pretend this is 1987 and there is no such thing as YouTube or Vimeo). Not everyone who watches the Super Bowl is a match for their services, and the commercial is likely to get lost in the shuffle. On the other hand, competitors of these companies spend their advertising dollars slowly throughout the year. They buy much less expensive ad slots during specific programs watched by their target audience. Viewership may be much less than during the Super Bowl, but who ends up with the most return for their investment? The companies that went after a smaller, but more specific audience.
Savvy video marketers can utilize Vimeo in much the same way. Just because you put your video on YouTube doesn’t mean all billion users are going to see it. You have to do a lot of work to get your video found, and there is a lot of marketing and promotional support that needs to happen in order to find your audience on YouTube. On Vimeo, the pool is much smaller. There are about 60 million unique visitors per month here – a drop on the bucket compared to YouTube, but at the end of the day, 60 million isn’t actually a small audience. But given this smaller pool, it’s a lot easier to target your customers and stand out from the crowd.
Vimeo also allows for longer-form video. YouTube caps videos at 15 minutes, whereas Vimeo does not. If you have a story to tell that takes a little bit longer, you can tell it on Vimeo. Vimeo also allows you to choose your own thumbnails and because they are more art-driven, they offer higher quality video production.
Which Platform is Best for Video Marketing?
Vimeo is going to be the right platform for certain companies, while YouTube will work much better for others. It comes down to knowing your audience and mapping out a solid video marketing strategy.
Pros of YouTube for Business:
- Huge audience
- Top brands nearing one million monthly views each
- Owned by Google, which means your video can show up in top search results
- Offers video analytics
- No limits on uploads
- Fast upload time
Cons of YouTube for Business:
- Ads play before your video
- No control over the “related content” that appears next to your videos
- 15 minute time limit on content
- Hugely competitive and can be hard to stand out
Pros of Vimeo for Business:
- Higher quality video production
- No time limit on content
- You can choose your own thumbnails
Cons of Vimeo for Business:
- Require paid subscription to produce promotional videos
- Small audience
- Subscription levels determine your upload limits
Note that the above list assumes you have not applied for and been accepted to the YouTube Partners program.
Your success with video marketing will depend largely on your actual video content, your message, how you target your audience, and how much promotional support you provide for your content. The best course of action is to choose the platform you are most comfortable with and develop amazing content that your audience will want to consume.
Do you utilize YouTube and/or Vimeo for your business? Which platform works best for you?
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