In today's digital world, videos are crucial to any marketing strategy. From social media ads to product demos, businesses of all sizes use videos to connect with their audiences and promote their products or services. But as the demand for video content continues to grow, so does the challenge of storing and managing these large files.
With the increasing need for videos in digital marketing, it's more important than ever to have a proper storage solution to ensure that your videos are easily accessible, secure, and well-preserved. In this blog, we'll look at the importance of video storage and explore the different options available for storing large video files. Whether you're a content creator, marketer, or small business owner, you'll find valuable information on properly storing your video files and keeping them safe for future use.
First, let's understand what types of video content businesses produce and for what purpose.
Types of video types businesses use
Businesses use videos of several types on a regular basis. The most common types include:
Marketing videos: These videos are used to promote products, services, or brands. They are often used in online advertising, social media, and company websites.
Some sub-types of marketing videos include
- Event videos
- Demo videos
- Expert interviews
- Case studies/customer testimonials
Corporate videos
These videos are used to communicate important information about a company or organization. They can include videos about company culture, mission statements, and internal communications.
Training videos
These videos are used to train employees or customers on a specific topic or skill. They can include instructional videos, how-to guides, and product demos.
Live videos
videos broadcast live events, such as webinars, product launches, or Q&A sessions. They can be streamed on social media or on a company website.
Animated videos
These videos use animation to convey a story or information. They can be used to explain complex concepts, promote a product, or simply to entertain.
Explainer videos
These videos are used to explain a product, service, or concept in a simple and easy-to-understand way. They are often used on websites and social media.
Customer testimonials
These videos feature customers talking about their experience with a product or service. They can be used to build trust and credibility with potential customers.
Why is storing large videos so difficult?
Several challenges make store videos difficult. Some of them include
🎯 File size limitations
🎯 Video file sharing/video file accessibility
🎯 Video file preservation/archival
🎯 Data security
🎯 Video format compatibility
🎯 Cost of storage
- File size limitations
Large video files can take up a significant amount of storage space, which can be a problem for those with limited storage capacity. This is typically challenging for small businesses with limited resources to invest in cloud storage or prioritize what needs to be stored on cloud servers.
- Video file sharing/video file accessibility
Videos need to be easily accessible to the people who need them, whether that be a production team, client, or customer. This means the storage system should be easy to use and handle high-traffic loads. Videos need to be easily accessible to the people who need them, whether that be a production team, client, or customer. This means the storage system should be easy to use and handle high-traffic loads.
- Video file preservation/archival
Video files can be corrupted or lost due to power outages, hardware failures, or other issues. It is important to have a backup system to ensure the data's integrity.
- Data security
Video files often contain sensitive information, and it is important to ensure that they are stored securely to prevent unauthorized access or data breaches.
- Video format compatibility
Videos files come in many different formats, and not all storage systems can handle them. This sheer diversity of video file formats can make it difficult to ensure that all videos are stored in a format that can be easily accessed and played.
- Cost of storage
Storing large video files can be expensive, especially if you need to store large amounts of data over time. It's important to consider the total cost of ownership (TCO) when choosing a storage solution.
The three major types of video storage for storing large video files
- Local storage
- Cloud storage
- Server storage
None of these alternatives are perfect. Each one has its pros and cons, which are tabulated below:
It is evident from above that cloud is the ideal for storing video files. But how can a business store large videos on the cloud? Let’s understand that better.
How to store large videos on the cloud?
The broad steps tp store large video files on the cloud are as follows:
Choose a cloud storage provider
There are many cloud storage providers, such as Amazon S3, Google Cloud Storage, and Microsoft Azure. Each provider offers different features and pricing plans, so choosing the one that best fits your needs is important. Depending on the storage space availed, the cloud storage provider will charge a different price. However, this price remains fixed for a specific period, like annually, and can be renewed upon expiration.
Create an account
Once you've chosen a provider, you'll need to create an account. This typically involves providing some basic information and setting up a payment method. Also, other details like billing addresses, admins, users, and guest roles may have to be set up to make the system ready for use by the organization.
Upload your videos
Once your account is set up, you can begin uploading your videos to the cloud. This can be done using the provider's web interface, specialized software, or a video upload API provided by the provider. Fortunately, the cloud has no restrictions on uploading large video files. So, even hour-long 4K videos can be easily uploaded like you will upload a short Instagram story.
Organize your videos
Once uploaded, you'll want to organize them to make it easy to find the videos you need. This may involve creating folders and subfolders, adding tags or metadata to the videos, or using the provider's built-in search functionality. An advanced media library can make things easier here. Further, Video CDNs come with AI-based auto-tagging that saves the time, effort, and thinking involved in creating tags. They make the task of uploading large videos easier.
Share your videos
Cloud storage providers typically offer the ability to share videos with others by providing them with a link to the video or giving them access to a specific folder. You can also set up specific User Access Management controls to ensure that video data security is top-notch and meets expectations.
Backup and Data Security
Many cloud storage providers offer automatic backups and versioning of your files. This is an important feature to have in case of accidental data loss. Also, check if the provider offers security features like restricting file access, watermarking video assets, restricting transformations, etc., to ensure the safety and security of your video files.
Conclusion
When storing large video files, especially for business purposes, you need much more than a local storage solution. A server-based storage solution could be expensive and sophisticated at the same time.
The need of the hour is a cloud-based video storage system that anybody can use without any restraints and without any prior technical knowledge or training. Such a system will ensure that all stakeholders, like marketers, designers, video creators, and web developers, can synchronize their efforts in publishing videos.
ImageKit is one such tool. It allows businesses to upload, store, access, transform, and optimize videos for web delivery. It ensures that videos are delivered with top-notch quality on the web or mobile apps wherever your audience wants to watch them.
Want to know how ImageKit can turn around your video operations?
Check out ImageKit’s video capabilities.
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