For many, content marketing has become a critical strategy to attract, engage and retain an audience, but video, specifically, is making a major breakthrough. According to a report by Demand Metric, 83% of 300 surveyed marketers feel like video content has become more important than ever, and that using it as a marketing tool is a creative way to share a message and spread brand awareness.

Deciding to incorporate more video in your marketing plan is a great first step. But how will you keep all of your ducks in a row? As with any type of content in your strategy, having a management system in place will keep you organized and focused on meeting your goals.

Video Content Management, Defined

By definition, a video content management system, also known as a video CMS, is a tool that’s used to store, organize, manage and present video content for sales and marketing purposes. This software makes it easy to create an environment for all of your online video content materials to exist in one central location.

An enterprise video CMS comes in handy for larger companies navigating the digital sphere. According to Gartner, enterprise video content management is generally used for corporate communication, training and collaborating over sales and marketing efforts. The platform’s design was inspired by YouTube and gives organizations an opportunity to share video content via the cloud or other internal software.

Why Your Brand Needs Video Content Management

If you’re anything like me, you can’t start your workday until your desk is organized (a clean slate makes for a clean mindset, you know?) All of the tools I need are still in reach, just put in their place.

Think of video content management systems in a similar light — you need a system that will clean things up and make all of your digital assets easily accessible. One that will integrate your uploads, make browsing simple and ensure ease of use with management. When you find a system that can go above and beyond, the return can be great for your brand. Here are some of the benefits of utilizing video CMS software:

1. Improved management. Simply put, organizing all of your video content becomes easier when management software is involved. This allows you to track your content and better understand how it performs over time.

2. Ease of use. A solid video content management system doesn’t require major tech skills to navigate. Production teams gain the tools they need to work in a collaborative environment and get pieces of content delivered.

3. Accessibility. Having a large video library can be overwhelming without features that can help you organize and search for content, making it easily accessible. A video CMS takes the trouble out of sifting through every large video file you have and instead allows you to search via metadata and other descriptors.

4. Control of your content. With a video content management system, you’re in control of how your video content is created, organized and distributed. You even have control over monetization, reporting and analytics. Creative freedom has never been more important.

5. Large file storage. Video takes up a lot of space, which means you need optimal file storage capabilities. Video content management platforms are designed to handle the storage and delivery of large video files so you never have to worry about cutting your message short.

A Summary of Video Content Management Systems on the Market

Finding the best video content management system for your organization takes research and due diligence, but let’s face it, free time is few and far between. Here’s a round-up of the best video CMS platform options on the market that can bring your web content to life and take a load off of you, the content creator.

Panopto

Record, share and manage your videos in a secure method with Panopto. This video content manager software keeps the user experience in mind, encouraging content creators to distribute videos and observe view behavior and improve audience engagement. It can be utilized as stand-alone software or integrated into your current content management system. Its powerful search is one of its competitive advantages, allowing you to create and organize content, then search for it by any spoken word within a video.

IBM

With IBM’s video management system, you have the best tool available to stream and share corporate video in a safe and secure setting. Its Watson system gives it a competitive edge, creating auto-captions for any type of video asset, whether you’re live streaming or playing a previously recorded video. The accurate transcription can then be saved and easily searchable when necessary, making for a seamless experience on the cloud platform.

Microsoft Stream

With Microsoft Stream, you can easily create and share your video content across your organization, whether it’s within a small team setting or company-wide. The goal with this tool is to drive engagement and improve productivity, giving you the organization required to properly execute live streaming and on-demand events that can be viewed by the user on a mobile device or other web-based pieces of equipment. Auto-transcription and face recognition set this software apart from the rest, as well as its ability to seamlessly integrate with other Microsoft applications such as Teams.

Brightcove

Brightcove video cloud is the perfect choice for enterprise video content management software. You can manually and automatically add tags and create custom metadata and descriptions which makes for seamless searching and overall better organization and efficiency. Brightcove considers itself an industry leader and expert, providing a platform that creates a flawless viewer experience and unmatched scalability since video content management came to the surface.

Video content management could change the way your organization operates. With the right video content management system, you can properly organize your ideas, bring awareness to your brand and plan for an even more successful content marketing strategy.

Chelsey Church is a senior writer and editor at Brafton. When she's not turning her thoughts into copy, she's enjoying a craft beer, playing with her dogs or listening to her favorite metal tunes. A Cleveland native, she'll never let you forget that the Golden State Warriors blew a 3-1 lead.