5 YouTube Alternatives for Small Business

With more than 1.3 billion users and nearly 5 billion video views per day, YouTube reigns as the undisputed champ for the most popular video-sharing platform in the world.

9% of small businesses in the US have jumped on the YouTube bandwagon and leveraged this incredible tool to boost their online visibility and credibility and generate revenue.

Although YouTube covers the basics of video advertising and engagement analytics, businesses should only use these videos in the awareness stage of the conversion funnel.

Otherwise, you’re missing out on connecting with your target audience and generating conversions that are tailored to your business goals.

Should You Still Use YouTube for Your Small Business?

Absolutely!

YouTube is a stepping stone to building trust with your audience and positioning your business as an expert in your industry.

Some advantages of using YouTube include:

• Generating exposure from a larger audience
• Having your videos appear in the Google search results
• Earning money through Google AdSense

Let’s say you want to take a step further and add videos to your website. Unfortunately, these embedded videos don’t generate the same results as they would on YouTube.

Why is that?

If you click on the title of an embedded video, you will be redirected to the YouTube hosted video in a new browser tab. So what was originally intended to enhance the user experience would result in lost website traffic.

Other disadvantages of using YouTube include:

• Lack of personalization (unable to add branding or change color scheme)
• Unreliable analytics (skewed view counts, basic engagement data)
• Blocked by schools, certain companies, and 3rd-party browser extensions
• No adaptive bit-rate streaming, which results in considerable buffering and interrupted playback
• No option to select which advertisements display along your videos
• No dedicated customer support to help troubleshoot technical issues

Losing website traffic is one of the many disadvantages of embedded YouTube videos for small businesses.

5 Best YouTube Alternatives

Don’t compromise with YouTube when there are other credible video platforms that offer twice – if not three times – the amount of professional solutions.

We’ve done the research and narrowed down our favorites to the following:

• JW Player
• SproutVideo
• Vimeo
• Vzaar
• Wistia

Before diving into the comparison table below, evaluate the needs and goals of your business and how you are able to meet them with video marketing.

Will your clients find value from 360° or VR videos? How important is security when viewing or sharing your videos? Do you want video data to populate in your Google Analytics?

If you’re crunched for time or wish to share these insights with your marketing team, fill out this short form to download your own FREE copy of the YouTube Alternatives comparison table.

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Build Your Video Marketing Campaign with Intuitive Digital

Intuitive Digital is an award-winning digital marketing agency based in Portland, Oregon.

Our team of enthusiastic, data-driven strategists help small business owners become industry leaders in their local area through our pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, search engine optimization (SEO), web design, social media management, and content marketing services.

Contact us today for a complimentary consultation or ping-pong challenge with one of our team members.