Using YouTube/Vimeo For On Site Delivery Is Not Your Best Option

John Cecil – Author – Online Video Revolution – Available on Amazon
There’s no need to take risks with the marketing message you send your viewers. Whether you select Oculu to host your videos or another service, we urge you to go that extra step and utilize a professional online video platform. Why? Here are the top 5 reasons using just YouTube for video delivery is a disservice to your marketing and sales efforts ( if you want you can replace “vimeo” with you tube anywhere below )
#1 You want your video to be seen anytime, anywhere on any device, correct?
More and more companies are blacklisting sites like YouTube and Facebook for employee productivity reasons. If the videos on your site are being hosted by YouTube, guess what? You’re losing the opportunity to market your goods and services. According to a recent WebSense poll, 61 percent of employees who utilize a work owned Internet connection spend at least some time surfing the web. Of those employees, the average time spent accessing the Internet at work is 12.81 hours per week, and the average time accessing non-work related websites is 3.06 hours per week. This means that, on average, 24 percent of their time spent accessing the Internet is non-work related. How much does a lost sale opportunity cost you?
#2 Ads?
Do you really want to give YouTube the rights to run a 15 second commercial before your video plays? Not only is your prospect annoyed, but what if they run a competitors ad before your video plays on your site?
#3 Related videos?
Imagine if a prospect just watched a YouTube hosted video on your site. They’re ready to buy… but wait… a handful of video thumbnails have popped up marketing similar products. You’ve now just advertised your competition and possibly lost that sale.
#4 YouTube can hamper your customer’s ability to watch your video.
Have you ever watched a YouTube hosted video and had it? It can get more than a little frustrating. It’s fine for the viewer who wants free entertainment and is trained to accept ads and “technical difficulties.” But do you really want to subject a potential prospect to that experience?
YouTube is an immense network with millions of subscribers and 100’s of millions of users; it can and will get crowded. The last thing you want to do is lose the attention of your viewers. And if someone is viewing your video through YouTube, chances are they are not having a professional video experience.
#5 Where is the support?
Well, here are a few answers from answers.yahoo.com: “Call YouTube? Are you kidding? You’re lucky if you can email them. Good luck.” and “Just go about singing “YOOOTUUUBE?” all day. You’ll have more luck than getting an answer.” Again, this is expected with a free service but when your business relies on its videos for marketing purposes, you should have easy and fast access to support when you need it.
You’ve worked hard and have spent a lot of time and money creating your videos. Why not go the extra step and utilize a professional video delivery company to ensure that the entire world can watch your videos without ads, without interruption to service, and without the loss of your content rights.