Why think about YouTube alternative?
As marketers, we use videos today in a wide variety of use cases. In online marketing funnels, in sales, in inbound marketing or simply as a hosting service on our website. While the areas of application for videos are becoming increasingly diverse, the answer to the question of where the videos should ultimately be published is often the following: YouTube. Hosting is free and if you're lucky, you might even get a few organic clicks from someone on the internet. But that's not always what you want. Fortunately, there are other platforms on the market that come with specific advantages and may be much more suitable for certain use cases than YouTube. You can find out what these are and why in this blog post.
Videos on YouTube: The industry leader
YouTube remains the undisputed market leader with over two billion monthly active users. This is also the platform's biggest advantage. After all, YouTube is the second most used search engine (after Google). By the way: Like Google, YouTube belongs to Alphabet. So success here is a family affair. However, those who have such a monopoly are usually also very proud of it and do everything they can to ensure that the people who use their platform remain on it and that they are constantly reminded that they are currently on YouTube. However, the ubiquitous YouTube logo can also be undesirable in some cases. For example, if you want your own brand to be in the foreground or people do not leave the page on which the video is embedded (but buy your service). YouTube also doesn't make it easy for you to integrate a call-to-action with links to external websites or landing pages and ranks such attempts lower in order to keep users on your platform for longer. The security aspect is also a concern, as it is extremely easy to duplicate the videos and embed them elsewhere where they may not be wanted - this is particularly the case with paid content, as you only want to make the content accessible to a certain (paying) group of people.
Sproutvideo: The all-rounder among the YouTube alternatives
In addition to secure hosting, it offers integrated marketing tools, detailed analytics and the ability to customize the video player and, unlike YouTube, the platform is aimed more at companies and professional users who want to create and share high-quality videos for business purposes and place particular emphasis on data protection. For example, there are security functions such as password protection and the option to share videos only with certain user groups, networks or geographical zones. In addition, there are no ads like on YouTube, which makes it a more attractive option for companies that want to use their videos in a business context without running the risk of losing the bundled attention in the course of an upstream advertising clip from another company.
Vimeo: The YouTube alternative for creatives
Vimeo is primarily known for the high-quality presentation of its videos. Large amounts of data can be processed and presented in the highest quality, whereas content on YouTube is always associated with heavy compression and the associated loss of quality. And finally, we have already written a blog post worth reading in the past on the particular importance of high-quality content. In addition, the community on Vimeo is extremely committed and creative - which is why there are so many videographers and artists on the platform who place particular value on aesthetics and high-resolution content. The platform also shines with its tools, which facilitate collaborations in content creation. On this YouTube alternative, for example, you can make video comments with timestamps and make them visible to everyone else involved. This is why Vimeo is often used as a review tool in the approval process for video projects. In the paid premium version of Vimeo, you can also set that your video can only be embedded on certain URLs. This can be interesting if you only want to show a video on your website but want to prevent it from appearing elsewhere on the Internet.
Wistia: The YouTube alternative with a focus on marketing
Wistia positions itself as a platform with a strong focus on marketing. In addition to simple video hosting, the platform offers in-depth insights into viewer behavior, which marketers can use to optimize their online marketing campaigns. Thanks to its conversion-oriented functions (such as GIF thumbnails), Wistia is also ideal for use in lead generation tools such as Perspective and others. You can also integrate Wistia forms directly into your videos, which is very helpful for lead generation or social recruiting. There are also more extensive security functions here, such as the option to keep videos private with password protection and control who can access the content. In contrast to YouTube, Wistia is also an ad-free environment and therefore poses fewer risks of distraction. Overall, Wistia positions itself as a professional platform for companies that want to create and manage high-quality videos and integrate them effectively into their marketing and communication strategy. Wistia offers a free entry-level version, although the range of functions is quite limited. You can find the current payment plans for Wistia here.
Vidyard: YouTube alternative for distribution
The Vidyard platform focuses on the use of videos in sales. You can automate individual greetings in the sales funnel and easily track who sent which video to whom and when, making sales channels traceable and decision-making processes visible. With Vidyard, you can build personal relationships with a broad buying committee through the personality of the video medium. Basically, the strength of the YouTube alternative Vidyard is that it can support the sales process with videos in a measurable and targeted way. With these functions, you can also seamlessly embed your sales content in emails or on landing pages. The analytics and tracking tools are equally sophisticated. And here, too, great importance is attached to security, so that access to the videos can be restricted effectively and in a targeted manner.
Conclusion: What is the best YouTube alternative?
The decision as to which is the best YouTube alternative depends not only on your market, but also on the specific application goal. YouTube is the big player and, with its user base, is most likely to offer the opportunity for organic growth, as long as you are a little familiar with YouTube SEO and the technical basics. For use in a direct business context, YouTube has one or two disadvantages if we compare it directly with the alternatives presented. Third-party advertising before your own product presentation on your own website? Poor restriction options for unwanted viewers? High loss of quality? Here it is definitely worth taking a look at the other platforms presented in the form of Sproutvideo as a comprehensive all-in-one solution, Vimeo as a quality specialist and creative collaboration, Wistia as an effective marketing tool and Vidyard for personalized use in the sales funnel in the B2B sector. It is crucial to first visualize your own requirements in order to find the most suitable platform for your own content.
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