You’re missing out if you’re not using the right video platform for your webinars and marketing efforts.
Videos are essential for promoting your brand, communicating with customers, hosting meetings and training, and other use cases.
According to data, online videos have an audience reach of 92% of internet users globally, making videos the most preferred and effective medium to convey information.
However, it can be overwhelming to choose the right video platform to help you manage your team in the hybrid age, host virtual events, and stream marketing content with many available options.
The good news is that this guide is here to give you a hand.
We’ll cover the top six features you should look for in a video platform to help you choose the best-fitting one for your needs.
Ready to dive in? Let’s go.
Video platform: A quick overview
An online video platform is a solution that allows you to upload, store, convert, and play videos on the web.
The platform lets you upload videos through a hosting service’s website, Application Programming Interface (API), or desktop or mobile application.
You can use video platforms to set up a webinar, train new and current employees, communicate with clients, run virtual meetings, and entertain target audiences (among others).
Most video platforms let you record, control, and display your content quickly, including live-streaming and playing pre-recorded videos on your website.
Many video solutions also offer content management capabilities.
These features allow you to find, store, show, and share videos from a central space, similar to those in popular social media management platforms such as SocialPilot, Hootsuite, and Vista Social.
Ideally, your video platform should simplify sourcing, creating, and managing your educational, training, and social media content.
It allows you to focus on other tasks—from planning your content to creating relevant and popular photo dump captions.
6 Key features a video platform should have
Most content creators and agencies, such as those providing corporate video production services, can tell you that the best-fitting video platform depends on your needs, budget, and objectives.
However, your chosen platform should offer the essential features below.
1. Easy-to-use dashboard
Most video platforms have an interface or dashboard that helps you manage your video distribution strategy and insights into key analytics data.
The platform’s dashboards can differ in user-friendliness and functionality, so consider whether your chosen option has an easy-to-use interface.
At a minimum, your video platform should offer the following for ease of use:
- It requires minimal technical assistance to get started. User-friendly video platforms are often cloud-based and provide automatic updates. Also, the platforms don’t need technical expertise or specialized skills to use effectively.
- Allows quick video uploading, publishing, and sharing. Easy-to-use video solutions should let you upload, publish, and share your videos quickly and easily. While some videos can take longer to upload and share because of their length, the process shouldn’t take hours or even days.
- Provides metadata. Opt for a video platform that lets you add metadata to organize and create a structure for your content with ease.
Metadata simplifies navigating the platform and finding your content, which is helpful for teams working on the same project.
An easy-to-manage and navigate content management system for your videos also seamlessly supports implementing your content publishing strategy since you’ll have what you need at your fingertips.
Choose a video platform with a user-friendly dashboard and other essential features that best fit your needs.
It should also simplify creating and publishing interactive multimedia experiences through videos without consuming too much energy and resources.
2. Interactivity and content accessibility
Video platforms offer various levels of interactivity.
Some platforms offer basic options, such as letting you add links to your video on a complete review of ExportYourStore, while other solutions allow you to make branched videos.
Determine the level of interactivity you and your viewers need to choose the right video solution.
For instance, consider whether the platform allows viewers to watch your videos on multiple devices, such as smartphones, with an internet connection.
Also, check if the platform is limited to viewers in a certain location since geographical boundaries can keep your content from reaching a wider audience.
3. Storage and distribution
A good video platform should provide reliable and fast video hosting.
Reliable hosting ensures that your audience can access your videos quickly and without interruption.
Choose a video platform that includes hosting since this allows your videos to be locally stored and available across multiple directories and servers.
Most platforms with hosting use a Content Delivery Network (CDN) that speeds up multimedia content delivery and makes it more reliable for audiences worldwide.
A CDN allows scaling up videos, handling a million concurrent viewers, and minimizing packet loss and buffering.
Check your potential video platform’s hosting services to see if it can keep up with your team and viewers’ demands for quality viewing experiences.
4. Analytics tools
Many video platforms offer basic analytics features, but it’s always good to have a solution that gives you deeper insights into your videos’ performance and target audiences.
Opt for a video platform that lets you track and analyze success metrics, such as bounce rates, views, average view times, user engagement, and conversions.
To boost audience interest and engagement, use these data insights to refine your content, such as your video tutorial on how to calculate shipping costs for small businesses.
Also, leverage the data to improve your content and current strategies, such as targeting a more specific audience group to drive better results.
A reliable video solution should also provide these essential analytics features:
- Viewer performance and unique video data across days or videos
- Top-level summary information
- Graphs with downloadable CSV versions (or other popular formats)
- Easy report generation, sharing, and scheduling
5. Customization options
Video platforms with customizable players let you choose and set specific actions and display options when the video ends.
For instance, you can set the related items in your video’s end screen. It’s a great functionality to help you guide viewers through your customer video journey.
Customizable video players also let you design your player to fit your business or corporate identity since you can add your logo, brand colors, and other elements to represent your brand.
Look for a video platform that lets you customize your player’s look and feel to match your brand’s style, whether your content is about promoting your brand or sharing time-tested tips to write content.
6. Security and privacy
Find a video platform with robust security and privacy features to protect your videos from unauthorized access.
It should also allow you to control access to your videos using passwords or other types of authentication.
Choosing a platform with high-level security, such as Digital Rights Management (DRM) encryption, is always good practice.
DRM ensures the storing and transmission of videos in encrypted forms. This way, only authorized users and devices can play the videos back.
Videos must be encrypted and packaged before streaming, typically using multiple DRM schemes for better device compatibility.
Find the best video platform for you
Choosing the right video platform can make or break your efforts to provide an effective, seamless, and memorable video experience.
Assess your needs and look at various platforms that can address your requirements.
Consider the non-negotiable features to look for in a video platform and research, test, and ask questions from the providers.