Many video solutions are on the market, but which is best for your business? Are you looking just to host videos? Do you need live streaming? Do you plan on empowering your team with video? Do you want to build your own video experience? These are a few questions I ask when deciding what’s best for our clients.
I recommend three video hosting solutions to my clients for most use cases. But remember that just because a solution you’re considering isn’t on the list doesn’t mean it won’t be great for your business. The bigger takeaway from this post is that you should take the time to understand your video needs and pick a solution that solves them.
With that, let’s discuss my top three video hosting solutions for SaaS.
What is video hosting?
Video hosting services allow you to upload and serve your videos to viewers. These services take the headache out of doing this yourself because they optimize the videos for different devices and internet speeds and provide features like video analytics, monetization options, and security measures.
Today, these services do much more, including but not limited to offering sales tools, review tools, screen recording plugins, monetization, and live streaming. Some tools focus on one area more than the other.
For example, Vidyard offers video as a sales tool, and Wista targets marketers more. However, despite their differences, all these solutions share a common feature: they allow you to upload, embed, and share your videos.
In other words, video hosting has come a long way, and it’s important to consider a provider for your business based on much more than if it’s capable of serving your videos to your end user.
Vimeo
Vimeo is an OG in the video hosting space. Originally founded in 2004, Vimeo is a prime example of a video hosting solution that has grown to offer much more in recent years. Along with video storage and management, Vimeo offers solutions for post-production collaboration, marketing and monetization, live streaming, and sales enablement. Vimeo also allows video player customization, making video embeds fit seamlessly into your website.
For our clients, I would suggest Vimeo if their company plans on primarily embedding on-demand and live-streaming videos in blog posts or landing pages. The user interface is easy enough for anyone on your team to use, and there are enough options for customization to make your design and marketing team happy.
However, if you want more features for your sales, support, or product teams, I would consider the next option.
Loom
Loom first came onto the scene as a free Chrome extension that simplifies creating and sharing screen recordings. This specific use case propelled Loom’s success, eventually leading to Loom raising $11M in 2019.
Today, Loom positions itself as a tool that helps companies with internal and external communication using video. In fact, they have a lot of great examples of how to use Loom on their site for areas like team alignment, sales, and support.
This positioning has helped set it apart from its competitors, but it’s often overlooked that Loom can also serve as a solution for your team to upload and deliver videos. However, when writing this post, the ability to upload and import videos with Loom is only available to Business and Enterprise plans.
For advice, consider Loom if you plan on using video throughout your organization to communicate with your team and customers. Having the ability to upload and import video is nice, but you’ll be stuck paying more for a feature that should come standard in my opinion.
Mux
Mux is the ultimate toolkit for incorporating video into your platform. Their service solves the difficult problems that software teams face when building video applications, including live-streaming platforms, on-demand video catalogs, and everything in between.
Mux offers you maximum control, but the downside is that it requires developers and isn’t plug-and-play like Vimeo or Loom. However, if your goal is to control the experience completely and you have the time and resources to invest in the project, you should consider giving Mux a go.
On-demand video agency for SaaS
We have the gear, on-camera talent, and video production know-how to shoot, edit, and deliver your product videos in 10 days or less.
Conclusion
There are many video hosting solutions on the market, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. When choosing a solution, it's important to consider your specific needs and goals. For most use cases, I recommend Vimeo, Loom, and Mux as top video hosting solutions for SaaS.
However, it's important to remember that the best solution for your business may not be on this list. By taking the time to understand your video needs and researching different solutions, you can ensure that you find the right video hosting solution for your business.