You’ve probably noticed that video is everywhere these days. In 2015, Crayon analyzed how top brands are utilizing video in their marketing strategies. They found 79% of websites that feature video use a third-party host. Of those, 70% percent are using YouTube. When it comes to platforms that have a paid membership option, 57% are hosting on Vimeo. With YouTube and Vimeo as front-runners, we decided to break down why we recommend Vimeo for video web displays.
Controllability
Vimeo gives you complete control with the presentation of videos on your website. It allows you to easily create displays that can become more challenging when embedding a YouTube video.
Customization
Consistent branding is always a good thing and Vimeo gives you the option to carry your branding right into the video player. You’re able to replace the Vimeo logo with your own, a feature that YouTube doesn’t offer. On top of that, Vimeo doesn’t place any advertisements on your videos.
Large File Friendly
Vimeo is a great option if you have large video files for your website. It has the capability to host large files in a clean and high quality display – the best of both worlds.
Everything has its pros and cons and the (potentially) biggest downside to Vimeo is that in order to reap the above benefits, you’ll have to sign up for a paid membership. Each subscription level provides you with more control and customization options – the more you pay, the more you get.
Don’t get us wrong, we still believe that YouTube is a valuable tool for your marketing efforts. However, we recommend using YouTube for what it was truly made for, social sharing, not for web display. If you’re hoping to have your video reach a large audience, you’ll have better luck with YouTube than Vimeo. After all, YouTube is the number one video sharing platform with nearly 5 billion videos viewed per day.
As with any marketing strategy, keep in mind your end goal and then evaluate which platform makes most sense for that goal. To have your latest video go viral, YouTube is the way to go. To have high quality video on your website, we absolutely recommend Vimeo.