For many businesses, launching an online video portal can be challenging when you don’t know what you need to power your video. You may have existing assets and infrastructure, databases, tracking methods, proprietary builds, or you may be starting from scratch. Most companies don’t have in-house creative or technical teams, and are faced with the question of build vs. buy vs. free online video solutions. Over the last few years, online video platforms have evolved to provide a wide array of capabilities for businesses as an outsourced video solution for content management, encoding, advertising, syndication and monetization. According to the The Forrester Wave™: US Online Video Platforms, Q4 2009, an evaluation of six leading online video platform vendors, “71% of the US online audience watches video on the Internet, and the number of streams consumed should more than double by 2013″, so whether you’re a large media publisher or a small retailer, every organization needs a video strategy and online video platforms power video for an organization.
Online video platforms are defined as:
“Online Video Platform Provider (OVPP) – An OVPP is typically a SaaS (software as a service) solution providing end-to-end tools to manage, publish and measure online video content for both on-demand and live delivery. Typical components of an OVPP include video hosting, encoding, custom players, syndication, analytics, as well as interactivity and monetization through a variety of online advertising options typically 3rd-party ad-servers/networks. Most OVPPs offer scalable product packages for both self-serve SMB publishers up to large media companies.” (from VidCompare)
With over 74 online video platforms on the market, it can be confusing to decide what platform is the best choice for you. A great place to start is VidCompare, a free comparison service for business decision makers looking for an Online Video Platform Provider. The website is run by Kris Drey, who founded the site that offers ”unbiased, and vendor-neutral tools like user reviews, side-by-side comparisons, and detailed provider information.”
In this ReelSEO video interview, Mark Robertson talked with Kris talked about three basic ideas – know your use case, kick the tires and have a backup plan - which he expands further in the post below.
Kris shares his 5 tips to get started finding an OVP, originally published on ReelSEO, as Online Video Hosting – Advice for Online Video Hosting Platform Shoppers by Kris Drey,October 30, 2009.
Identify your use case: Publishing, Marketing, Productivity
Are you looking to affordably store a backlog of video content and use it on your web site for general consumption (publishing)? Do you need to increase site stickiness, further expose your brand, and drive new revenue streams and leads (marketing)? Or do you need a training solution for internal use only, with log-in rights, multiple accounts, and security (productivity)? These are only a few use cases for online video but the point is to know what purpose your video serves before you begin to search for the right OVP. Whether you discover it’s one use, a combination of two uses or all three, identifying that is the first place to start. It will help narrow your search immediately.
Make a list of your top 5 must-have features
Based on your use case, you already know what you need from your hosting solution, so make a list. Is it total customization including a branded player and permalinks on your domain, syndication to the search engines and YouTube, deep analytics like user engagement and geo-location so you know exactly where your videos are being shared and viewed, and viewership behavior like drop-off rates and when they rewind or pause a video? Whatever your list entails, you’re lucky, there’s at least one OVP that can meet those needs.
Narrow your search to 3 providers
Once you’ve done your research and compared a handful of providers by looking at their sites, reading customer and expert reviews, and perhaps talking to a few sales reps, choose a few providers that offer everything that matches your use case/s and your top 5 feature list. If you can do this then there’s no need to further your search, just move forward to the next step.
Kick the tires
Most, if not all platform providers currently offer free solutions or at least free trials, even if it’s not promoted on their site (just ask). They may not be as robust as the paid solution or include all the features you need, but you will at least be able to upload, manage, and playback a few videos. The goal of this is to get a glimpse of the logged-in interface to see if the UI is simple and easy to use. You don’t want to choose a provider without seeing their logged-in state. You will be spending a lot of time within this user interface so you’d better be sure it’s intuitive and that you’re comfortable using it.
Here are some questions to think about when test driving a platform:
Is the navigation clear? Can you get where you need to go or find what you’re looking for within one or two clicks? Are all features obviously exposed and readily accessible? If not, move on.
Get a month to month contract.
As previously mentioned, the OVP space is crowded with providers fighting hard for your business. Trust me, they are willing to bend over backwards for you so ask the tough questions, grill them on features, tell them how much you have to spend and that you cannot commit to a long term contract (if indeed you can’t, but some providers offer discounts on longer contracts so be sure to inquire). And while you’re at it, ask them what their migration policy is just in case things don’t work out with them and you need to move all of your content to another provider. You want to ensure that you maintain the rights to your content and that the provider will make a smooth transition for you should you choose to switch. Online video can do wonders for your business, opening up your world to a whole new dimension in lead generation, brand exposure, and search engine optimization. At the end of the day, this is a strategic purchase decision, one that supports your business and is probably not core to your product offering so take your time, do your homework, and chose the perfect provider for your needs. Online Video Platforms out there and finding them isn’t as hard as you might think.
http://onlinevideopublishing.com/2010/02/20/compare-online-video-platforms-with-vidcompare.aspx
