We all know what YouTube is. Everything from video game streams to tutorials to music videos to full-on cartoon series can be found on there. There's something for everyone, and thousands of people make their living on their videos, while millions more are able to express their creativity and share their work.
But what about Vimeo? Although a popular site that you've likely heard of, most Americans don't use Vimeo nearly as much as YouTube. Why is that? What's the difference between the two?
Focus
YouTube is a jack-of-all-trades, focusing on a wide range of content for countless different demographics. They have a little bit of everything, and content on there is self-curated; your views decide your recommendations. The site is built to help influencers - and the brands that advertise with them - money and exposure.
On the other hand, Vimeo focuses a bit more on art. While pirated videos and other unoriginal content can be found on the platform, Vimeo was founded by filmmakers, as Expanded Ramblings says. The site still has that content creation focus, which means that the main goal of the site is far less aggressive with their approach to money compared to YouTube. Vimeo's goal and passion is to help brands and videomakers get their videos to as many people as possible. That core focus is in the way Vimeo handles ads and subscriptions, as well as its other features.
Ads
As the years have gone by, YouTube has welcomed more and more ads onto its platform. Although that's allowed businesses, influencers and content creators make money off their videos, it makes finding a video without an ad almost impossible. This can be obnoxious at best, and turn people away from YouTube at worst.
While Vimeo doesn't have overlaid ads, the site does have some banner advertising, depending on the account type of the video's owner. The lack of ads playing on nearly every video allows, as Instapage points out in their article, lets people focus on the video. Less ads means less frustration for viewers and more views for the video owners.
Ads also vary on the platforms. While YouTube ads tend to be professional videos put together by big companies, Vimeo ads are banner ads. These ads advertise premium accounts, and don't interrupt the video. As mentioned before, this really affects the viewer's viewing experience.
Vimeo also allows more customization for their advertisers, as Instapage goes on to say. Vimeo lets premium members put their logos on the video player, allowing viewers to clearly see the brand that the video represents. It presents a logo that's visible but doesn't interrupt the actual viewing of the video.
Subscription plans
Here's another way where YouTube and Vimeo differ. While viewers can subscribe to YouTube accounts to know when a new video is up, subscriptions on Vimeo operate more like a conventional subscription.
Instapage notes that Vimeo users can pay a rate set by the content creator so that they can gain access to a video series or "special" videos (think long episodes of a series). This way, instead of letting other companies place their ads on their videos, creators can get their funding directly from interested viewers.
International reach
Vimeo is definitely more popular in other countries compared to the U.S. According to Expanded Ramblings, 70% of Vimeo users are outside the States.
This is a big thing for content creators and businesses to consider. While YouTube is widely used both inside and outside America, Vimeo still hasn't gained as big of a footing here as it has in other countries. Less-creative companies and companies that only want American customers - law firms, for example - would probably not need Vimeo. However, animation studios, indie game developers, podcast creators and countless other companies that want a global reach will want a Vimeo account.
Despite not being as big as YouTube in the U.S., Vimeo is a useful tool for companies to consider when putting their work online or marketing their business.
Good luck and happy marketing!
