What Is a Video Content Management System (CMS) and How to Pick the Best One

Video has taken the online world by storm! The incredible boom in the popularity of video content happened just a few years ago, and it has been ongoing ever since. Around 85% of people in the U.S. alone view at least one video monthly, and the demand for video is at an all-time high.

That has led to many brands taking up video as the primary method of growing their businesses; some have even managed to build entire empires solely on video! However, with ever-increasing user demand for fresh, quality video content came the need for increased production. With more and more videos being created daily, publishers worldwide started needing a better way to organize, store, and monetize said content.

That is where most businesses turned toward video content management systems.

These systems were designed to meet all publishers’ video organization, distribution, and monetization needs. That is why they proved an ideal solution for businesses of all sizes aiming to achieve their video marketing goals. 

Let’s look at what video content management systems like Brid.TV are, why video marketers should use them, and the most notable features you should look for in one.

What Is a Video CMS?

A video content management system, or video CMS, is a system or platform that lets users organize, store, distribute, and monetize their online videos without needing any programming knowledge. 

These systems usually provide secure video hosting and storing services while offering a user-friendly interface that allows publishers easy access to their content. Features like playlists, a search bar, or sorting by keywords allow video marketers to organize and quickly access their content at any time.

All of the above make distributing your videos across various live and on-demand channels significantly smoother.

How Does a Video Content Management System Work?

As we’ve mentioned above, the core principle behind a video CMS is helping publishers organize and store video content. Most video content management systems will store both RAW and edited video files and allow users to sort them by topics, size, or other various parameters.

Most video CMSs will give users full freedom over their data, including the ability to rename their videos, assign them to playlists, or categorize them for easier management. That will also allow them to search their entire video database to find their desired content easily.

The most noteworthy aspect of video content management systems is a system that will match your videos’ metadata to other content in your collection and offer data-driven recommendations to your viewers. That can help you make people stay and watch your videos longer.

The Benefits of Using a Video CMS

Some benefits of video CMSs may already be clear from what we’ve mentioned above, but there are many more. Here are some of the most significant benefits of video CMSs for publishers:

• Dedicated Storage for Large Video Files
• Minimizing Streaming Disruptions and Improving Content Delivery
• Providing High-End Security and Privacy
• Intuitive Search Feature and Content Organization

Let’s look at all of them in greater detail.

Dedicated Storage for Large Video Files

One of the most notable benefits of having a video content management system is video hosting. Why? Because videos take up tons of space — much more than other media files.

These numbers can quickly stack up, especially if long-form videos are your forte. A single video clip can take up thousands of times more storage space than an image! That can easily exceed the max size of many traditional content management systems.

Luckily, video content management systems like Brid.TV are constructed with that in mind. That is why most offer great enterprise video hosting services as a part of their subscription packages. And the best part is that users don’t have to go through much hassle of configuring or setting up these services; most of the time, uploading and hosting a video on a CMS is as simple as dragging and dropping your file at a designated field on the platform.

Minimizing Streaming Disruptions and Improving Content Delivery

All video content management systems worth their salt focus on delivering the best possible user experience. They do that in several ways, like:

• Changing your video formats to best suit the device (e.g., mobile device) they’re viewed on.
• Adjusting your videos’ quality to fit your viewers’ internet speeds to limit buffering. 
• Streamlining the distribution process.

The above features are what set apart video content management systems from self-hosted videos. They are created to optimize the user experience and help you build a good brand reputation.

Providing High-End Security and Privacy

Unlike video-sharing platforms like YouTube, video CMSs give publishers a lot of privacy. The content your post on a professional content management system won’t be widely available to the public. That means you are in full control over your content’s distribution. That is particularly useful for professional meetings, training courses, and similar.

Besides that, most CMSs allow users to gate their content behind a paywall, which offers plenty of opportunities to create premium content.

Finally, secure viewing is of the utmost importance, which is where video content management systems excel. Whether it’s through high-end encryption, an authentication process, or even both, you can rest assured your privacy and safety will be a top priority to any premium video CMS out there.

Intuitive Search Feature and Content Organization

As we’ve already mentioned, the most apparent benefit of premium video CMSs is that they streamline the content management process. They do that by allowing you to look up particular videos with their built-in search functions easily.

Aside from the above, organizing videos into playlists, categories, or sorting them by manually-entered metadata can be a significant quality-of-life improvement for many publishers. Some content management systems even include speech recognition software that can help you auto-caption your videos! Such a feature makes searching for particular parts of a given video a breeze.

Do keep in mind that the ins and outs and features of each particular video CMS may vary between providers. However, there are some notable ones that most (if not all) publishers will want to look for.

Most Notable Features of High-End Video Content Management Systems

Despite all video CMSs being based around the same principle, not all are created equal. Depending on the platform’s quality, the features they offer may differ significantly. However, there are some features that all publishers will want to see in a video CMS if they want to get the most value for their money. Here are some of the most notable features publishers should look for in a video content management system:

• Video Encoding and Transcoding
• Intuitive Video Organization Features
• Platform API
• Real-Time Video Analytics
• Video Library Migration
• Video Content Syndication
• Live Streaming
• White-Label Player
• Video Monetization

Let’s look at all of these in more detail!

Video Encoding and Transcoding

If you want to provide the best possible user experience for your viewers, these two features are a must-have. Why? Because RAW footage is not optimized for streaming — it needs to be compressed to ensure smooth playback. 

That is where video encoding and transcoding come into play! If your video CMS includes these two services, it will automatically compress and optimize your videos for playback. It will also ensure you deliver only the most optimal video formats for your viewers’ devices.

So if you’re looking for a quality video content management system, ensure that they include encoding and transcoding services in their offer. Having them at your disposal can significantly improve your audience’s viewing experience.

Intuitive Video Organization Features

As we’ve mentioned above, one of the most notable benefits of a video content management system is streamlining the content organization process. But what are the most useful features you should look for in a CMS? Here are a few:

• An all-encompassing search bar — This feature would make searching through huge video libraries a breeze if you knew what you were looking for.
• Categories to help you thematically organize your content — Categories can help you manage videos and offer excellent insight into the types of content you have most.
• The ability to add video tags to your content — Adding tags to your videos can both help you and your users find and identify them by particular keywords.
• Dynamic playlists — These types of playlists give you plenty of freedom and customizability options to help you serve related videos to your viewers with higher precision.

These are just some of the best organizational tools you should look for in a video CMS, and you should never settle for less.

Platform API

If your business requires many customization options, you will want to find a video CMS that offers a full platform API. That gives you complete control over your content by allowing you to integrate the features you need into your own platform. 

Real-Time Video Analytics

Every seasoned video marketer knows how valuable a data-driven approach to marketing can be. That is why choosing a video CMS with real-time video analytics can help publishers expand their businesses.

Video analytics can offer plenty of insight into your content’s performance by providing information like views, view time, which sections of a video are viewed the longest, and much more. Having access to this data can prove invaluable to building and adapting your marketing strategy on the go, which makes this feature a must-have!

Video Library Migration

Another useful feature to have on any video CMS is the ability to migrate from another platform seamlessly. 

If you have hundreds or thousands of videos, moving all of your content to another CMS will prove a tedious task without any content migration system in place. So if you’re looking to change your video CMS of choice, this feature is well worth looking into.

Video Content Syndication

In today’s world, getting your content in front of as many eyes as possible is essential for success. That is why having the video content syndication option readily available can be a huge time-saver. So if your business relies heavily on social presence, being able to get your videos on multiple platforms with a single click of a button is a feature worth looking for.

Live Streaming

With 63% of people aged 18–34 watching live streams regularly, it’s clear that the live streaming landscape has evolved a lot over the last few years. With that in mind, it’s not surprising that many businesses investing in video content began experimenting with live streaming as well. That is why settling for a video CMS that supports live streaming is an excellent way to stay ahead of your competition.

Some of the features you will want to look for are:

• DVR support.
• Adaptive bitrate streaming.
• High-quality video streaming.
• Support for HLS protocol.
• Easy and user-friendly embedding.

The above are surefire indicators that the video CMS in question has a well-developed live streaming service. So if you’d like to try live streaming, you should look for a video CMS that offers such a service. 

White-Label Player

All major publishers realize the value of white-label products. Customizing your platform to reflect your business’s identity is crucial to building a strong brand presence on the market. That is why finding a white-label video content management platform is optimal for the long haul. 

But what does a white-label platform entail? In this case of a video CMS, it means that you should be able to create a fully brandable domain and customize your video player to match your brand’s identity. So if you’re looking for high levels of customization, white-label video CMSs are the way to go.

Video Monetization

If you’re a publisher whose primary business model revolves around video monetization, finding the best video monetization CMS on the market is crucial. The key to finding the right one lies in the monetization features your desired CMS offers. Here are some essential features that you should look for in a video monetization platform:

Are You Ready to Settle for a Video Content Management System Today?

As you can see, finding the best video CMS is no easy task. There are plenty of aspects to consider, and most will depend on your brand’s needs. But as long as you stick to what we covered above, you should be able to find an excellent fit for your business.

While you’re here, what do you say you give Brid.TV a try? Our stable infrastructure, user-friendly CMS, various customizability options, and various platform features are already helping thousands of publishers worldwide earn revenue from their video and live streaming content. 

If that sounds like something you’d be interested in, check out our various subscription plans; you’re sure to find one that suits your needs!

If you’d like to try our platform and all of its features for free, send us an email, and we’ll sign you up for our free premium trial!