So, the chances are you have a full-fledged Content Management System (CMS). It could be an open-source CMS like WordPress, Drupal, or Joomla or a proprietary CMS such as Pulse CMS, Kentico, or any other. Your CMS may even come integrated with a Learning Management System (LMS) or a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution. But, if it’s not a Video CMS and your marketing strategy is driven by videos, then a critical question arises. What purpose does it solve for you?
A lot of technical aspects go into video content and its management. They – directly and indirectly – impact your brand. We will delve into these details but first, let’s clear the air about what’s a Video CMS.
Video CMS comprises tools, technologies, and processes that help you manage your video content and its dissemination across various channels. Typically, your video contents are in different formats. Some examples include MP4, MOV, WMV, AVI, FLV, etc. Meanwhile, your audience uses different devices. Some may be viewing them through laptops, others smartphones, some even tabs and Smart TVs.
Now, all of these devices have different configurations that may not work well with your chosen video format. For instance, .flv files are generally not supported by browsers and require Adobe Flash Player to play them. So, in this case, .flv videos are not well-optimized and may not be the best choice. If you use .flv files, it will affect your users’ video viewing experience. Similarly, there are a lot of other technicalities. If unaddressed, they cause challenges while hosting videos on your platform, even if they are short testimonial videos.
A Video CMS eliminates these hassles and drives a smooth and seamless video viewing experience for your end-users. It also ensures that you can create posts and update them with considerable ease. Video CMS solutions further manage your SEO meta data, security and privacy, monetization, community engagement, and analytics alongside other critical factors.
Why video, why now?
It goes without saying that video dominates the internet today. According to a study by IMARC Group, digital video content clocked a global market size of USD 151.4 billion in 2021. By 2027, guess what this figure will look like? USD 391.1 billion, the study claims. This is more than 2.5x growth in just a couple of years.
But throw these studies into the trash can. Just open a social media platform of your choosing, be it Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, or any other. See for yourself what percentage of the posts shared are videos. The weights are tipping in the favor of video against textual and image content.
The reason behind the growing popularity of videos is simple. Videos are more interactive and engaging. And, their content is easy to digest. Think of it this way. The majority of people enjoy watching the movie adaptation of a novel rather than reading the original novel itself. Perhaps, it’s because movies are less time-consuming and offer a more immersive experience.
Similarly, videos are also becoming the dominant choice of marketers. They are using videos to tap multiple channels and create elaborate marketing funnels. These funnels, and even independent videos, help them achieve ROIs while ensuring several short-term and long-term gains. 86% of businesses already use videos as a marketing tool. Video marketers assert that videos help increase their website traffic (86%), generate leads (84%), and increase sales (78%). 94% of them even enhanced their product or service understanding using videos.
So, the writing is on the wall. Video is the future! The foreseeable future, at least… until VR takes us on a new trajectory altogether. But VR is still a developing story, while videos are already a part of our everyday lives.
Do Video Content Management Systems hold their ground for offline businesses?
The marketing format, scope, and application of videos are not limited to any context, be it online or offline. Think with Google revealed that over 55% of offline shoppers use videos before making their in-store purchases. The same study found that 84% of people became convinced by a brand's video before buying a product or a service.
It barely comes as a surprise then that 50% of global businesses add videos to their marketing materials such as emails. However, can Video CMS benefit an offline business that doesn’t rely on such marketing materials?
The true potential of online videos was recently depicted during the pandemic. Pandemic-induced lockdowns pushed even those audiences closer to videos which would’ve typically preferred a physical experience over a digital one. Yoga was one such use case.
In yoga, an environment that creates a sense of belonging is considered essential. This sense of belonging is usually achieved within yoga studios, which had to shut back then to ‘flatten the curve’. During this time, live-stream yoga services became the silver bullet for people looking for such an environment.
And, this new digital environment acquainted people with a lot of benefits. Firstly, it helped them stay healthy during the pandemic. Secondly, it saved a lot of time on their daily commute. Thirdly, such solutions turned out to be more cost-effective compared to their physical counterparts. All one needed was an internet-connected device and a place to practice yoga.
For the business owners, this meant they didn’t need to maintain a physical center and hence, the related costs. Secondly, they now also had access to a wider audience beyond their geographical limits. Thirdly, they could reach out to those people who wanted to enroll at a different time via video subscriptions.
Such merits aren’t limited to yoga, however. A host of offline market segments are tapping into the benefits of video-on-demand services and video marketing. It helps them break the glass ceiling of their physical market, thereby leading to superior profits and deeper market penetration. Companies, on the other hand, can train their employees using Learning Management Systems (LMS). They could also precisely measure the impact of such initiatives through graded tests and assignments. Businesses can further engage their customers better via Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solutions.
In a nutshell, the internet has become integral to both online and offline businesses. At the same time, videos have now become the bedrock of the internet. So, it’s natural for videos to become the heart and soul of all business marketing initiatives. This fact places Video CMS firmly at the center of all business marketing workflows.
What services does a Video CMS provide?
A Video CMS helps you to store, organize, and share your videos. It manages all factors that affect a person’s video viewing experience. At the same time, you can oversee your video dissemination seamlessly while generating revenues based on your unique business model. Some of the services offered by a Video CMS include:
- Video Transcoding:
We’re aware that different video file formats (such as MOV, AVI, FLV, etc.) behave differently on different devices, operating systems, and web browsers. So, a Video CMS solution begins by transcoding a video into the most optimal file format. This transcoding involves decoding the video (from the source file format such as MOV, AVI, FLV, etc.) and then encoding it using a codec (such as H.264 or HEVC) into a format that is better suited for the internet (such as WebM, MP4, MPEG-DASH, etc.)
Video transcoding ensures that the video can play on the widest range of devices and platforms without compromising on quality or consuming high network bandwidth.
- Video Hosting:
For anyone to access your video, the video must be hosted somewhere, right? Video CMS solutions have their own Content Delivery Network (CDN) or they partner with a leading CDN player to store and share your videos. You can think of CDNs as private internet with their own network of data centers. High-throughput optical fibers deployed throughout the target geographies connect these data centers for easy access.
Without delving into technical details, what CDNs do is that they store and transport your video files to your end-users (the nearest network node of these end-users to be more precise) for seamless video viewing. They decrease latency (in other words, the video loading time) while ensuring the constant availability of your content. Leading-edge CDNs can also identify and modulate the file format based on the network speed of users and their device specifications.
- Video Management:
This is perhaps the most compelling aspect of Video Content Management Systems. They organize and take care of your video dissemination strategy without you having to explicitly publish or update videos as per the same. You can seamlessly upload a video to your Video CMS solution provider, add relevant details (such as title, description, tags, etc.), enter your preferences (such as on-air date, off-air date, privacy, etc.), and you’re good to go! You can also send emails to your subscribers as and when your video goes live.
Furthermore, superior monetization can be achieved by pay-walling or adding video ad banners to your content. You have the flexibility to choose between various payment models such as subscriptions or per-video package pricing. Some Video CMS players even extend you ‘coupons’ and ‘promotions’ to create limited-time offers for your customers. These tools have their worth in gold for piquing the interest of your prospects and for cross-selling and upselling initiatives.
- User Engagement and Insights:
Another value addition by Video CMS platforms is that they help you achieve high user engagement. If your video is slow to load or buffers frequently, people are going to drop off. This is the first contribution that Video CMS solutions make via seamless video dissemination. They also ensure the best SEO practices to drive superior reach for your content. Secondly, Video CMS platforms equip you with insights for making your video marketing strategy more informed and data-driven. Leading solutions also allow integrations with your Google Analytics and GTM accounts. Thirdly, Video CMS platforms provide you with marketing tools that engage your audience better. These tools include live chats, comments, direct emails, in-app push messages, and personal user profiles to name a few. You can also add file attachments (such as PDFs) so your users don’t leave the platform, even if it’s for a critical download.
- Security:
Often, Video CMSs involve use cases wherein sensitive data needs to be exchanged. This could be anything from the copyrighted content of an OTT platform to the user data of an LMS. Video-on-Demand (VoD) services – such as Subscription VoD (SVoD), Transactional VoD (TVoD), Advertising VoD (AVoD), and Premium VoD (PVoD) – may also require people to make payments, thereby involving confidential payment information. So, you must incorporate top-of-the-line security to mitigate wide-ranging cyber threats on the world wide web.
These aspects are taken care of by your Video CMS service. Video CMSs not only deploy SSL encryption protocols on every video content and page of your channel but also have PCI-DSS compliance for secured checkouts and payments. They further ensure your content is safely and securely streamed across your target geographies while providing in-depth analytics and insights into your data.
Do I really need a Video CMS?
The services offered by a Video CMS are customized as per your unique requirements for video dissemination. A generic CMS may not equip you with the tools and technologies that are integral for this endeavor. So, the answer is “Yes”, in this increasingly digitizing world driven by videos, you need a Video CMS irrespective of your market segment.
However, at the end of the day, you are the captain of the ship. It’s you who has to weigh the merits based on your unique requirements. Only then you must determine if you need a Video CMS or not.
If you find yourself in the dark, a good strategy to know is by checking out the leading businesses in your domain. Your research must be thorough and with a keen eye on how they use videos (including video integrations on their platform, newsletters, and other marketing materials). It will give you a good idea of whether or not you should use Video CMS.
In general, you will gain a considerable edge against your closest competitor by getting yourself a Video CMS solution.
In this world increasingly driven by videos, don’t fall behind. Get yourself a leading Video CMS solution today! To know more, click here.
