Video Content Management System: What Is It And How To Choose One?

Surabhi Bhati -

Managing videos is not easy. They differ significantly from other file types in terms of construction, hosting, and display. For starters, they are dynamic, larger in size, and often require seamless streaming capabilities. This is further complicated by a myriad of formats, resolutions, and bitrates. And let’s not even get started on the diverse range of devices and screen sizes on which videos are accessed.

All of these can add multiple layers of complexity while managing video assets. This is why one needs a robust video content management system to manage videos. Let’s delve deeper to understand what exactly a video content management system is, how it works, what its benefits are, and some of the top video content management systems presently available.

What is a video content management system?

Most of you might have heard about a Content Management System(CMS). It’s a system that stores, organizes, and retrieves any type of content. Likewise, a video content management system is a CMS that is dedicated only to videos. In other words, it serves as a library for all your video files and simplifies hosting, categorizing, and accessing video assets.

A video CMS provides tools and features that help you upload, store, edit, and publish online videos on your websites, social media, or other video platforms. These systems are commonly used by individuals, businesses, and organizations that want to share video content online.

How does a video content management system work?

As pointed out earlier, a video content management system functions as a centralized hub for hosting, organizing, and delivering video content. Here are the different components involved in the working of a video CMS:

  • Storing: Each video asset in your organization is stored and categorized within the system. Metadata and tags attached to these videos facilitate efficient search and retrieval.
  • Control access: To strengthen the security of your video assets, video CMSs offer advanced access control features that ensure that only authorized individuals can access these digital media assets.
  • Integration: Video CMSs can be integrated with other systems, such as content delivery networks and analytics tools. This helps in enhancing the distribution and analysis of video content.
  • Retrieval: Once the videos are successfully and securely stored, you can easily navigate and search for specific video assets based on keywords or criteria. Some video CMSs even offer built-in streaming capabilities for seamless playback.
  • Analytics: Video CMSs also provide valuable insights through a built-in analytics engine. It allows you to track viewer engagement and tailor your video strategies for increased viewership.

Who needs a video content management system?

A video CMS streamlines the management and distribution of video assets, offering a comprehensive solution for different types of businesses and stakeholders dealing with diverse video content. For instance, ecommerce companies of all sizes use video CMS to showcase products and provide an engaging customer experience.

Every ecommerce shopper exploring a store craves an immersive experience. Businesses can use this as an opportunity to attract them by presenting their product catalog in a visually captivating manner. And what better way to achieve this than with videos of the products?

However, if the videos are not managed properly, the shoppers will be met with slow page load times and video lagging issues. The frustration sets in, and the likelihood of losing that customer increases exponentially. This is where a Video CMS steps in as a game-changer. A Video CMS addresses this challenge and ensures smooth streaming experiences, eliminates buffering delays, and enhances overall page performance.

Similarly, those publishing videos online, such as news websites, educational platforms, or entertainment outlets, find video CMS effective for the timely and efficient delivery of video content. Likewise, educational institutions like schools, colleges, and universities can utilize a video CMS platform to manage and share educational content, lectures, and tutorials in a structured manner.

A Video CMS also facilitates seamless live streaming, allowing influencers to connect with their followers in a dynamic and immediate manner. This real-time interaction not only fosters a sense of community but also enhances their online presence.

Benefits of using Video CMS

Here are the key advantages of using a video CMS for your business:

Centralized storage for video assets

Thanks to a video CMS, video files scattered across various platforms or devices are replaced by a unified and organized repository. This means you can quickly access video files and follow a more structured approach to video asset management.

Centralized storage also promotes collaboration among team members working on video projects. Everyone can access the same repository, making sharing, reviewing, and collaborating on video content easier. This is particularly useful for organizations with multiple contributors or remote teams.

Provide high-end security

Security is critical when dealing with video content because it often contains valuable intellectual property, including proprietary content, branding elements, and creative work. A video CMS ensures high-end security features to safeguard video assets. Advanced access controls, encryption mechanisms, and secure storage protocols are implemented to protect videos from unauthorized access, piracy, or any potential breaches.

ImageKit, for instance, offers five levels of role-based access, allowing users to have complete control over the actions that others can perform on video assets. ImageKit also provides multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all team members, adding an additional layer of protection.

A Video CMS goes beyond mere storage by offering advanced search functionalities. Metadata, tags, and categorization features enhance the overall search experience, allowing users to quickly locate specific files within the video library, saving time and effort.

For instance, ImageKit offers enhanced search capabilities, including a robust keyword-based search with smart tagging. You also get access to advanced search functionality that lets you narrow down the search results using different parameters like format, dimension, and size. You can also generate complex search queries through filters and image tags.

Buffer-free streaming

Merely storing videos on a regular CMS doesn't ensure seamless playback on different devices. After all, different devices have preferences for specific formats. This is where a video CMS is different. It employs automatic video file conversion to the most compatible format for the device, a process known as "transcoding." Transcoding ensures an optimized streaming experience for all viewers.

A video CMS like ImageKit takes this one notch higher. Besides automatically converting videos to the best format, it automatically reduces the size of the videos loading on your user's device with the help of default compression settings. Also, thanks to the adaptive bitrate streaming capabilities of ImageKit, your users experience reduced buffering and get a faster start time regardless of their internet connection speed.

Video analytics

Some video CMSs have an advanced analytics engine that lets you understand viewer behavior. For instance, you get crucial metrics such as viewer engagement, watch time, and audience demographics. This data-driven approach empowers content creators to make informed decisions, refine their content, and tailor their strategies to maximize the impact of their video assets.

With ImageKit, you get valuable insights such as daily and monthly usage breakdowns of your bandwidth, requests, video processing, cache usage, and other metrics. You also get insights about the heaviest and the most-used files, helping you proactively identify and fix issues to ensure a perfect visual experience.

Video CMS feature checklist

Now that you know the basics of a video CMS, it is time to pick one for your business. The market is already flooded with hundreds of video CMSs, each claiming to be the best. Ultimately, the choice depends on your individual needs and preferences.

Here is a list of all the features that most businesses would need from a video CMS:

  • Drag-and-drop interface to simplify the uploading and organizing of video content
  • Automatic format conversion to ensure compatibility across various devices and platforms.
  • Adaptive bitrate streaming to adjust the quality of video playback based on the viewer's internet connection speed
  • Global integrated CDN to optimize content delivery by distributing video files across multiple servers worldwide
  • URL-based resizing and cropping to allow dynamic adjustments to video dimensions.
  • Pre-defined transformation to ease the process of consistently applying specific adjustments to videos.
  • Watermarks to protect intellectual property.
  • Picture-in-picture content with video overlays to create an engaging multimedia experience for all users.
  • Advanced search using multiple parameters to enhance the speed and discoverability of video assets.
  • Custom metadata management to attach additional information to videos, improving organization and searchability.

5 Best Video Content Management Systems You Can Choose

Let us now look at the top 5 video content management software that you can consider for your business -

ImageKit

ImageKit is not only a video content management system but also a full-fledged digital asset management software. This means you can handle a variety of media, including videos, images, graphics, etc. This is the only platform in this list with all the features discussed in the previous section. ImageKit is an ideal choice if you need to store, retrieve, and manage large volumes of videos on a daily basis.

Pricing

Apart from a forever-free plan, you can subscribe to the Premium plan which costs $49 per month. It offers 40GB of storage. There is also an Enterprise plan with customized pricing for those with expansive storage needs.

Try for free

Pros

  • You get unlimited requests in all the pricing plans
  • Has an integrated global CDN
  • Offers automatic video optimization and video transformation features

SproutVideo

SproutVideo is a video CMS solution designed to help businesses and individuals manage and deliver video content online. You get access to basic features like video hosting, customizable video players, security controls, and analytics to simplify your video management. Users can not only upload, organize, and share videos but also get access to various customization features to match your brand guidelines.

Pricing

The most basic plan costs $10 per month, which comes with 100 GB of storage. If you want additional storage, you can opt for one of their higher-priced plans.

Pros

  • You get live chat support and email support in all the paid premium plans.
  • You can perform concurrent video encoding.
  • You also get access to several marketing and email integrations with the CMS.

Cons

  • While there is a free trial, there is no forever free plan like ImageKit.
  • There are no role-based access controls
  • There is no multi-factor authentication

IBM Video Streaming

IBM Video Streaming is used to live stream a variety of content, including virtual events, executive town halls, video marketing product launches, and over-the-top (OTT) streaming. It focuses primarily on privacy, reliability, and scalability, prioritizing optimized video quality. The platform is powered by IBM Watson AI, enabling advanced video search functionalities and automated closed captioning.

Pricing

There is a 30-day free trial. The most basic plan starts at $129 per month for 1 TB of video storage.

Pros

  • Offers live streaming functionality apart from basic CMS features.
  • One of the few platforms to offer auto-archiving capability.
  • Offers AI-driven transcription, which lets you search videos at the library level.

Cons

  • Advanced security features like SSO, MFA, and RBAC are not available.
  • Very pricey, as the most basic plan starts at $129 per month.
  • Has a learning curve.

JW Player

JW Player is a suite of multiple video tools, each crafted for various video-related usecases. Some of the tools include Web Player, Live and VOD Streaming, and Studio DRM. This video CMS software offers businesses a means to expand their video-based marketing campaigns as it is capable of streaming video, engaging target audiences across various screens, and facilitating video monetization.

Pricing

Contact the JW Player team for pricing details.

Pros

  • Offers SSO to prevent unauthorized access
  • The platform is simple and easy to use
  • The platform has a quick upload time.

Cons

  • Analytics is not comprehensive
  • Lack of transparency in pricing
  • Lacks most of the advanced features required from a video CMS

Wowza

Wowza is a cloud-based video streaming platform that enables you to broadcast live events to viewers around the world. Wowza additionally allows you to share pre-recorded videos with your audience. By using its VOD capability, you also have the option to upload your videos onto Wowza's cloud-based servers and seamlessly stream them to viewers as per their demand.

Pricing

The most basic plan is attractively priced at $25 per month.

Pros

  • Uses CDN to enhance video performance
  • Offers real-time analytics
  • Comes with cloud transcoding feature that adapts videos into different formats, resolutions, and bitrates

Cons

  • No trial or free plans
  • Lacks most of the advanced security features
  • There is no advanced search

Introducing ImageKit for robust video asset management

Here are some additional benefits of adopting ImageKit as your video content management platform:

URL-based video cropping

ImageKit provides robust URL-based resize and crop parameters for real-time video transformations. This functionality allows for dynamic adjustments to video dimensions, enabling users to resize and crop videos on-the-fly, all through a simple and intuitive URL-based interface. Whether it's adapting to specific aspect ratios, catering to various device specifications, or addressing platform-specific requirements, this functionality is useful for those who stream videos extensively.

Metadata tagging to narrow down assets

With ImageKit, you can effortlessly organize and retrieve videos by employing custom metadata fields and file tagging. This innovative feature allows you to establish a use case-specific organization method that goes beyond conventional file and folder names.

By incorporating custom metadata, you can attach specific information to each video file, providing a deeper context for its content, purpose, or relevant details. The use of file tagging further enhances the categorization process, allowing for the creation of a clean taxonomy.

Dynamic video overlay for personalization

ImageKit offers user-friendly UR-based layer transformations that let you add watermarks and text to your video content. This is an easy way to personalize and brand your videos. ImageKit further extends its capabilities to include picture-in-picture content with video overlays, allowing you to layer additional video content on top of a base video. This functionality opens up creative possibilities, enabling the creation of unique and engaging user experiences.

Global CDN for faster delivery

With ImageKit, you also get a high-performance Content Delivery Network (CDN) system that is powered by AWS CloudFront. This allows for the swift and efficient delivery of media content on a global scale. By harnessing the extensive network infrastructure of AWS CloudFront, ImageKit ensures that your videos are delivered with optimal speed and reduced latency to users across the globe.

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