Wistia can help make video a core part of your business’s marketing strategy.
Wistia was founded in 2006 with the original purpose of helping filmmakers collaborate remotely on the Internet. Eventually, co-creators, Chris Savage and Brendan Schwartz, found their true niche in the industry and Wistia became a video platform for businesses. The platform contains functions for marketing sales and human resources. More than 300,000 businesses from 50 countries are clients of Wistia, including HubSpot, MailChimp and Starbucks. Wistia’s Pro Plan is available for $99 per month.
Prices last checked July 2017
What is Wistia?
Wistia’s main feature is its fully customizable Vulcan video player which you can embed into your company’s website and make accessible to an unlimited number of users. You can customize the colour and the controls on the Vulcan player and you can also include a hyperlinked company logo. Wistia claims it’s both the lightest and the fastest player on the market and its responsive capabilities will automatically adjust the player to any screen size.
There are also a number of lead generation tools, such as email and SEO, as well as a host of basic integrations with business partners like MailChimp. The video analytics include heat maps that show viewers’ reactions to your video content each second while the video SEO functions send web traffic back to your website instead of to a social media site.
Other features of Wistia
- Turnstile. Turnstile is an email-collecting app built into the Vulcan player that records the names and email addresses of viewers and sends them to your company’s email list. Wistia offers more than 14 integrations with Turnstile, including HubSpot and MailChimp.
- Soapbox. Soapbox is Wistia’s video editing, Google Chrome compatible application. Wistia hails it as being able to “record, edit, and share impressive videos in minutes, using nothing but your laptop.” Wistia states that everyone has the ability to use the service quickly, regardless of whether they have ever recorded or edited a video before.
- Wistia for Chrome. This Google Chrome extension allows you to insert thumbnails into Gmail messages and enables video playback from within the email. Wistia claims these will make stronger, deeper connections with clients and potential clients because of the personalisation involved.
Plans and pricing
Wistia offers four plans: three paid and one free, although the free plan has some limitations.
| Plans | Features | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Free Plan |
| $0 per month |
| Pro Plan | Core plan, add as many videos as you need.
| $99 per month |
| Advanced Plan | Use viewing data to power your marketing strategy.
| Contact Wistia for pricing |
| Premium Plan | For advanced features and multiple teams.
| Contact Wistia for pricing |
Prices last checked July 2017
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Three free videos give full access to the whole package that Wistia offers to let users get a real understanding of the service.
- There is no branding on the video player with the paid plans, letting your company get all the credit.
- Established partners like HubSpot and MailChimp bring brand value.
Cons:
- Top-tier services don’t have a price tag on the website, reducing your ability to pitch the product internally without going deep down into the sales funnel.
- The price structure of 25 cents per added video per month is a bit odd. Why not just make it free?