There are endless amounts of social media platforms available. Now with channels like TikTok and Instagram exploring shorter ten to fifteen-second videos, it’s making businesses question how and if they should spend time using other longer streaming platforms like YouTube or Vimeo.

In short, the answer is an absolute yes. So how do you know which one to use for your business, if not both? Let’s take a deeper dive into the two different platforms.

Vimeo Pros

Vimeo is a video hosting site that is designed for creators. This means people who are looking to create high-quality videos, such as videographers and filmmakers. Because it’s such a niche market, it creates an incredibly supportive and positive community. You can tell simply by comparing the comments on YouTube versus the comments on Vimeo. 

The other great part about Vimeo is that there are no sponsored ads. Viewers can bypass any spammy advertisements and go directly to watching their desired content.

Vimeo Cons

At the end of the day, Vimeo doesn’t have the same network and reach as YouTube. Because YouTube is owned by Google, content posted on Vimeo won’t rank nearly as high in the search engines.

Another downside to Vimeo is that it costs money to use. There is a free version called the “Basic” package, but it only allows 500MB of upload space per week and 5GB of upload space total. If you’re looking to use one of these channels to upload content regularly, Vimeo won’t be enough to last you very long, and eventually, you’ll want to upgrade.

YouTube Pros

The reality is that YouTube is queen when it comes to video uploading. There are over 1 billion active users. This is equivalent to one-third of all people who are using the internet. With its ever-growing digital population, your content has more opportunity to be seen by significantly more people than on Vimeo.

Did we mention it’s free? No matter what business you are in and how many videos you plan to upload, YouTube is 100% free to use with an unlimited amount of upload space. And as we mentioned before, because it’s owned by Google, you’ll also have a better chance at improving your video rankings than Vimeo.

YouTube Cons

No matter how good YouTube might sound, there are always a few downsides. If you don’t know what you’re doing, most likely your videos will get lost amongst the millions of videos that are regularly uploaded onto the platform. Competition is high and fierce so you’ll have to really start educating yourself on how to effectively use your channel.

Unless a subscriber or viewer is signed up for YouTube Premium, they’ll have to sit through an ad or two, sometimes even three. This is the downside of using a free platform. They have to make money somehow, so your viewers will have to be patient enough to sit through some ads before getting to your content.

Should I Use Both?

A great recommendation is to absolutely use both platforms. You can easily download videos from your YouTube channel using VDownloader and upload them to your Vimeo account. Be selective in which videos you decide to use on your Vimeo account if you are only planning on using the free version.

Save these uploads for your higher quality videos you plan on embedding to websites or sharing for networking and marketing purposes for your business. There is no harm in giving both of them a shot. Just remember that the more social media platforms you have, the more there is to manage, so try not to spread yourself too thin.