A key factor to consider when selecting between YouTube and your corporate VCMS is just how important it will be for you to know exactly who watched your video.

The level of detail in video reporting can vary widely, from a limited view of the basics like which videos are being played and how many times, to more detailed information about each viewer and whether or not they watched it all the way through.

Let’s look at how the analytics and reporting options differ between the two most common video hosting options you’ll have:

YouTube

Public video hosting platforms like YouTube can offer rich detail on your users demographics, including age ranges, geographic locations, and device preferences. However, these systems can only report on users as an aggregate, undifferentiated mass.

YouTube does allow you to segment analytics reports based on subscriber status, meaning you’ll be able to see these averages for those people who subscribe to your channel (as compared to other viewers who just happen to find your videos but don’t subscribe). Still, YouTube won’t be able to provide person-by-person records of who actually watched the videos, when, and for how long.

Video Content Management Systems (VCMS)

Unlike YouTube, your corporate VCMS will be able to identify many viewers individually. Viewers are typically required to log in to the VCMS to access videos, and that login allows you to find out everything from what they watched and whether they finished the video or stopped short.

This level of detail can be critical for teams that need to make sure their video output is seen. Learning and Development teams as well as compliance officers can make sure that training and governance videos are seen in full. Communications teams can monitor to see which ideas are shared more (or less) than usual. And the marketing and sales teams can see exactly when prospects stopped watching – so they can make the next pitch even better.

How well you need to know details of who is watching your videos is an important factor in where you decide to host a video. When simple trend information is enough to validate a video’s success, your options are almost limitless. Greater precision may limit your choices, but the tradeoffs may be essential for some video content.

Want to know more?

Find out more about your options for storing your business videos online, and how to choose between your YouTube Channel and your corporate YouTube VCMS by downloading our new white paper, “A YouTube Channel vs. the Corporate YouTube: A guide to designing a policy to help your business choose the right place for your videos” today.