Everything You Need to Know About the Online Video Platforms in 2023
Suppose you’re fond of aimlessly scrolling through your phone and finding new and engaging content to keep your spirits high throughout the day. In that case, chances are you spend most of your time-consuming content from online video platforms.
However, if you’re an entrepreneur or a remote employee, you’ll require digital video platforms to keep your daily operations running smoothly. Henceforth, the demand for top video delivery platforms has skyrocketed in the last five years.
The Covid-19 pandemic has further exacerbated the need for businesses to carry out their scheduled tasks online and remotely, which is why, during these uncertain times, professionals need to invest in and utilize live streaming software.
Broadcasters are hosting virtual gatherings and live streaming in-person events to generate revenue. Businesses are using video platforms for marketing, sales, and internal training. Television and radio stations are opting to build a strong online audience via video hosting.
Due to this rapid increase in remote working, professional broadcasters rely on the support of online video platforms to host their content and deliver it to their audiences. In order to achieve a level of quality in their content, they must use the best video streaming solutions for their global and online audience.
In this post, we’re going to discuss what online video platforms (OVPs) do before we dive into an in-depth comparison of key players in the professional broadcasting space. Moreover, we will wrap things up by comparing a few social video platforms that businesses and professional broadcasters may find useful, as well.
Our aim here is to help you narrow in on the ideal online video platform for your business. Let’s get started.
Stats and Trends for Online Video Platforms
Video delivery platforms have seen a significant increase in demand and priority over the last few years. This increase is visible not only in multiple sectors of businesses but also in individuals’ day-to-day lives. We can establish this by looking at statistics and video trends that highlight the growth of online video streaming.
- The value of the global online video platform industry was $6.13 billion in 2020
- The value of the global online video platform industry is expected to grow 8.4% from 2021 to 2028
- Over three-fourths of internet users watch online video content every week
- Viewers are more likely to retain a message from video content than from articles
- Video content marketing helps to increase revenue 49% faster than other types of content
- Live streams capture viewers’ attention for 10-20x longer than pre-recorded content
- Multistreaming will be big in 2022, with many multistream platforms already available to stream to multiple sources
Online video platforms have become the optimum pathway to catch consumers’ attention and dictate their purchasing decisions, which is why many entrepreneurs emphasize their marketing strategies toward video content.
Businesses and organizations that want to get into the professional broadcasting space need the support of an online video platform, which is necessary for getting your video content in front of your ideal audience.
What is an Online Video Platform?
An online video platform (OVP) is a video hosting provider that allows users to upload and broadcast video content to their audience. These platforms are often combined with live streaming software that has built-in video players that allow adaptive streaming on virtually any device.
The most common video players run on Apple’s HTML5 technology, such as the THEOplayer.
Education, training, communication, and entertainment are some of the fields that require the backing of online video platforms. OVPs are suitable for almost every sector of work as they enable you to upload a video in various formats and cut down your work by optimizing your content to any device or network settings.
Professionally, there are multiple reasons for using OVPs to share videos, including lead generation, building brand awareness, advertising, and providing paid access to video streaming. The best online video platforms allow you to create a custom viewing experience for your audience that aligns with your business objectives.
The Rise of Live Streaming via Consumer-Grade Platforms
Consumer-focused platforms (B2C) are currently the most popular platforms for video self-hosting and sharing. YouTube Live and Facebook Live are considered heavy-hitters in this market. However, Tiktok Live and Instagram Live are a close second in this particular industry.
Billions of people around the world use these services. As a result, they make suitable platforms for B2C marketing and outreach.
Here are a few advantages of using B2C video platforms:
- Exposure to large-scale, varied, and diverse audiences
- Allows users to make ad revenue and generate profits off of their original content
- Free to use for everyone (except for certain premium features)
- Consumer feedback-based model, which ensures it’s up-to-date with new features
YouTube and Facebook both offer live streaming services, but they didn’t always. These video platforms have evolved to meet the needs of their B2C users.
As convenient as these services are for beginners, these free platforms don’t offer many key features that most businesses and serious broadcasters require. They also have significant limitations.
For example, many schools, businesses, and other settings block Youtube and Facebook because they are seen as social media platforms (which can serve as a distraction from productivity) and not just video platforms. If you want to reach your target audiences or expand your viewership, streaming over the most blocked sites in the world is inadequate.
That’s where professional live streaming solutions come into play. Professional video delivery platforms allow you to provide videos to viewers in a more controlled and professional setting that is accessible to everyone.
Professional-Grade OVPs and Their Role in Business Settings
There is great value in investing in a professional video platform since consumer-grade platforms like YouTube and Facebook are not usually capable of satisfying all of the needs of larger businesses.
Business video hosting platforms are cloud-based and offer advanced security features, enable complex monetization schemes via integrated paywalls, and include tools to ease integration with existing workflows. Free OVPs do not offer these luxuries. Furthermore, here’s a comprehensive list of other added benefits that professional video platforms provide:
- Allows access to analytics to understand how well your audience perceives your content
- Effective marketing is done via visual content made by employees for your customers
- A dedicated video platform allows you to have more control over your content in comparison to free video delivery platforms (control over ads, monetization rights, et cetera)
These features, among many others, are equipped to meet the needs of B2B live streaming more effectively than consumer-grade social video platforms. That’s why knowing about the best video platforms for B2B live streaming is important.
Many professional cloud-based video platforms, including Dacast, also offer on-the-spot tech support. Consumer-grade platforms like YouTube don’t offer such support; you have to figure everything out on your own.
On-the-spot tech support is a key feature for 24/7 live streaming. It’s a crucial feature for live-streaming events that require real-time troubleshooting and a guaranteed positive experience for paying viewers. 24/7 tech support is necessary for 24/7 live streaming.
What to Look for in an Online Video Platform
With an increased demand for live-streaming comes a massive influx in online video platforms. Since there are so many online video platforms on the market, it can be overwhelming and confusing to decipher which ones meet your business’ personalized needs best. Some key features to look for as you do your research on the top video platforms include:
- Security features
- White-label streaming
- Monetization capabilities
- Available integrations
- Video editing tools
- Reliable content delivery
- Access to video analytics
- Control over ad-hosting
As you compare digital video platforms, please remember that OVPs are not a one-size-fits-all. Determine which features are required to reach your goals and use that to determine which OVP to choose for your business. The best video platform for you depends on your unique business objectives.
Conclusion
The streaming service market is full of many great video platform options. Choosing the right platform can be overwhelming, but we encourage you to take a step back, analyze your goals and priorities, and choose an online video platform that meets your every need. The best online video platform for you is out there.
We also encourage you to test platforms with their free trials to make sure you find the one that is your perfect fit. Our list emphasizes all those live streaming software that offer free trials so you can test out different software to find a good match for your business objectives.
Whether you want to stream live video occasionally, host regular business-related broadcasts, or anything in between, Mslive is here to help. We hope this post has helped you narrow down your OVP options. And when comparing OVPs, we highly recommend taking advantage of trial pricing when possible.
Leave a Comment