The “explainer video” or “video explanation” has become a go-to method for companies and organizations to reach their audiences. Here are a five key reasons why explainer videos are so effective and why you should consider making one:

1. Explainer videos increase conversion
It’s true that making an explainer video can be a fairly significant investment. But the returns are worth it. I was in a meeting with a client just the other day who said, “If this video helps people understand what we are and why they need us, it’ll be worth every penny.”

The numbers don’t lie, either. Our clients have reported a doubling of their conversion rate after deploying our videos. In plain English, that means that twice as many people are making a choice — to download an app, to purchase a product, or to learn more about something — after viewing one of our videos.

And don’t just take my word for it. Over at Transvideo Studios, their clients report a 15-75 percent bump.

2. Your audience needs it
The world is a complicated place. Technology is transforming people’s lives, but it’s also leading to a lot of confusion and anxiety. People are constantly bombarded with pitches for websites, services, gizmos, and health products. Explainer videos help companies and organizations rise above all that noise by helping everyday people feel empowered to make informed decisions. In fact, the explainer video is so well established that many people now expect to see one on a website.

3. Explainer videos aren’t a pitch or an ad
I love Common Craft founder Lee LeFever’s summary of what a good explainer video does that advertising often doesn’t accomplish. He says that explainer videos answer the question “why should I care?”

Where advertising is designed to sell and persuade, explainer videos put that power in the hands of the consumer. They invite people to understand and then decide for themselves. Simple explanation builds trust, which isn’t always the outcome with advertising or a slick marketing pitch.

Be sure to read Lee’s full blog post on the importance and value of video explanations.

4. Explainer videos speak for you everywhere
The beauty of video is that it can work across multiple channels. A fabulous explainer video can and should reside on your homepage, but it can also be used in social media and email campaigns. Many of our videos have been used at trade shows and conventions, and as part of investor pitches.

Also, it can often be hard to get journalists and bloggers to write about your product. Explainer videos make their lives easier because they can simply embed your video in their article. An explainer video is far more likely to end up in news coverage about you than an ad.

5. Explainer videos humanize your brand
This is the part that we’re most passionate about here at Planet Nutshell. We feel strongly that explainer videos should express your brand in a way that makes it more relatable, more heartfelt, and more fun. Explainer videos can show a bit of whimsy and reach out to people, letting them know that you care enough to help them understand.

During the summertime, the residents of Planet Nutshell take some time off to recharge their spirits.

But there’s lots more explaining to do, so we’re back at it.

While we were away, Google launched a new version of Google Wallet with our Nutshell displayed front and center in the app.

As part of the launch, we produced a shorter, 40-second version of our original Google Wallet Nutshell.

Google tested this video with hundreds of viewers to help them, and us, develop the best way to explain the basic functions of Google Wallet. Needless to say, we were pleased as punch to be a part of their rigorous and very customer-focused testing process.

If you’re reading this post, you probably already understand the power of Web video to delight people, to move them to action, to make a choice, to click that “I’ll take it!” button.

Of course, some Web videos are better at doing all this stuff than others. But how do you evaluate that effectiveness? In a nutshell, how do you determine that you’re getting the best performance possible out of your investment in video?

One option: You could convene a panel of coworkers, friends, and perhaps customers, who could weigh in with their opinions. You’ll likely get responses like this:

“This video really leverages our core competencies.”

“The script needs the word ‘leverage’ in it”

“More cowbell!”

“Love the colors!”

“It needs more eye candy. Can we get more 3D in there?”

Okay, that’s not super helpful.

So, you go looking for something more objective. You look at how many people have watched the video. YouTube will tell you this. Here are some things you might say as a result:

“We got a million views! This video is awesome!”

“We only got 200 views. This video sucks!”

But hang on. That’s not the full picture. Maybe you have really great social media reach, or maybe the video is planted on a high-traffic homepage. Sure, you got a million views but how many people were fully engaged? How many watched the whole thing? How many got bored? Maybe you’ve completely bored a million people. That’s not good. If they’re not making it to the point where they say, “Aha! I want this!” what’s the point?

On the flipside, maybe that video that only got 200 views is actually engaging people and moving them to action, but it’s buried on your site, without a decent push from your marketing team.

So how can you sort out this mess? When it comes to video deployment and performance, how can you figure out what rocks and what’s schlock?

The answer is analytics. But to get truly powerful and useful analytics, you have to look beyond the comparatively basic analytics provided by YouTube.

I’ve talked about Wistia before. In addition to their powerful video customization features, they’re still a leader in Web video analytics. I’m a fan of their video heat maps. With them, you can see precisely where in your videos folks are getting bored and quitting; where they’re rewinding, possibly out of confusion or heightened interest in a topic; and where they’re skipping around, hoping your video will get to the point. Wistia also aggregates all this information into easy-to-read charts that tell you which videos are maintaining engagement the best.

Learn more about Wistia’s Web video analytics.

Meanwhile, Vidyard gives you a dandy little chart that compiles a lot of great analytics data. You get daily, weekly, or monthly stats on the average attention span of your audience. If they’re leaving 20 seconds into a 2-minute video, maybe you should tidy things up, or start over with a video that captures attention better. Vidyard also lets you watch results in real-time. I love to launch a video and watch the numbers roll in to see how the initial response is going.

Learn more about Vidyard’s Web video analytics.

I’ve learned to love video analytics. There’s no better way to see objectively how videos are performing. Producers of Web video need their feet held to the fire of data. It helps people like me make better videos.