What should I look for in a CRM software package?
If there’s an ideal CRM software package that works for every company and every situation, it hasn’t been discovered yet, simply because every company has slightly different needs for their customer relationship management needs as well as software implementation.
Videos are a powerful form of communication. They’re attention grabbing, fun to watch, and even more fun to share — people are twice as likely to share videos than any other form of content. And, when used correctly, they can reduce customer service calls and increase traffic, leads, and sales.
Videos are also:
- Easily digestible. They’re helpful for explaining difficult concepts and communicating ideas quickly.
- Great for showing products in action. They can demonstrate people using your products in real life and show their effectiveness in a way that text can’t.
- A way to connect with your audience. They provide a personal touch that resonates with readers and followers.
Creating videos requires training, planning, filming, editing, and careful evaluation to ensure they meet your quality and brand standards. With all the work and money invested, where you host videos might not be your first thought, but it’s a critical piece of the puzzle. If your video buffers, looks grainy, promotes competitors, or is too complicated, your hard work could go to waste.
Let’s explore some hosting options to help you make the most of your efforts.
Third-party platforms
Third-party platforms like YouTube and Vimeo are popular, but include some disadvantages:
- Distracted viewers. Many platforms, like YouTube, advertise related videos that make it easy for viewers to get distracted, click, and never return to your site. How often do you find yourself clicking through random cat videos and wondering how you got there?
- Little control. When using third parties, you don’t control what happens around your video. Do you want your content to appear right next to your competitors’? Probably not. Some platforms also include ads that break up your video and frustrate your audience.
- Lack of customization options. Most third-party tools add their branding to all of your videos — essentially an advertisement for them. YouTube has no option for removing this, and Vimeo requires a paid plan, which can get expensive.
- Storage limitations. Some platforms limit your video storage size or the number of GB you can upload per week.
Self-hosting
Another option is to host videos on your own server. This gives you more control, and keeps people on your site, but there are still a few drawbacks:
- Bandwidth consumption. Bandwidth is the amount of data transferred between your site and your users. Some hosts include a set amount of bandwidth you can use each month. Since video files are usually large (compared to, say, images) they use up more bandwidth. If you have a 15MB video on your homepage, and your website gets 1,000 visits per month, then that video will use 1,000 x 15MB of bandwidth: 15,000 MB. This can quickly get out of hand, and upgrading your hosting plan becomes expensive.
- Reduced website speed. Because videos add load to your server, they can also slow down your site. And since site load time directly correlates to sales, a fast website should be a top priority. Even if you’re not an eCommerce store, slow sites get fewer page views.
- Tricky file formats. To host videos on your server, you might have to convert them to a different format or compress them, which requires time and additional software. Plus, unless you have experience, you may dilute your video’s quality in the process.