By now, your clients likely count on a significant percentage of revenue coming from their online stores. Some retailers use an e‑commerce site on their proprietary website. Other marketers are realizing they can leverage the power of the web by listing their wares on online marketplaces. Selling on an online marketplace introduces unique branding and advertising challenges.

The giant online ‘malls’ increase your clients’ access to a huge audience. Consumers flock to these sites for easy searching capability, 24/​7 convenience and access to a huge array of product and marketer third-​party reviews.

According to a new CMO Council report, 56% of brand marketers are bullish on the power of online marketplaces. The report is based on 200 brand marketers, many with revenue exceeding $50 million. At least 46% of surveyed marketers like the ability to ‘transact seamlessly.’ And 23% appreciate the full integration of mobile search and ad content.

But there’s a dark side to online marketplaces. To truly move the sales needle, businesses need to stand out from the competition. In some cases, they're selling against other small businesses. Marketers may also find themselves selling against Amazon when they're on that company's marketplace. The secret to success in these competitive environments comes down to brand differentiation. Here are the top tools marketers currently use:

• Rich, visually engaging content 42%
• Customer data/​shopper intelligence 36%
• Compelling/​persuasive brand narratives 33%
• Simple easy ways to find and shop 33%

Consumers have a tendency to quickly scan a page when it’s filled with the results of their search or query. Researchers point out that images are key for attracting attention. Consumers likely gravitate to these images before drilling down to written content. This tendency is particularly true for mobile users. So, it's not surprising that visually engaging content is an important tool to deploy on these sites.

Images are just one of several ways that marketers can brand themselves on big marketplaces. Talk with your clients about an updated digital marketing services package. Your package should include developing the right kind of images for their products and services on digital marketplaces. You should also present them with AudienceSCAN profiles of digital shoppers which are available on AdMall from SalesFuel.