Offline businesses just haven’t “gotten” the fact that their potential clients are researching their prospective purchases on the internet before they come in to buy (if they don’t buy it online). Once they do their research, they are likely to spend $150 more in the store than if they had not done any research. Baby Boomers may still purchase offline, but they are researching online FIRST.

According to SellPoint, a provider of online product tours for businesses, they have seen a 40% increase in the number of shoppers viewing their Product Tours. Now, that doesn’t surprise me, since when I want to purchase a gadget, I first go to http://www.cnet.com to read the reviews and watch the video demonstrations.

Now, combine this information with the Nielsen Online October 2008 Video Census that states that most people are watching online video from 9 – 5, during work hours. (Doesn’t this ring true? How many times have you been at your desk watching something you shouldn’t be watching, and have to Alt-Tab quickly to avoid being caught?)

So what does that mean for businesses? One huge indication would be that people prefer to spend their time watching video, not reading text. Therefore, if you want to reach more people with your message, video is a very good bet. For the best of both worlds, offer both text and video, so the search engines can pick up your content as well.

The other lesson to be learned is that if you are going to sell a product or a service, people want to learn more about it from the comfort of their home (or, more appropriately, their office). This means that it would benefit you to CREATE online video demonstrations to accompany your product descriptions and images. It doesn’t have to be professionally produced – just practical and informative, as if you were standing next to them giving them a personal tour of their prospective purchase.

What do you think about adding video to your product and service descriptions? Do you think it would make a difference to your clientele? Why or why not? Leave me your comments and we’ll discuss it.