The definitive guide to digital asset management (DAM) |
Imagine this scenario: you're working to meet very tight schedule and you need an extra video to finish your campaign but you're not able to find the clip anywhere. You go through every folder that you discover, and ask your team members for help, but you can't locate the video. After spending a long time and frustration, you realise you're in a bind.
If you're in a similar situation you may want to look into digital assessment management (DAM). In this article, you'll learn all the essentials of digital assets and how DAM can transform your workflow.
What exactly is a digital asset?
Simply put, a digital asset is any data stored electronically that is of value for an organization, user, or the consumer. As per DAM News, a digital asset is "a set of binary information that is self-contained and uniquely identified, and has significance.
The definition specifies that digital assets are a collection of binary data, as that is the reason they are digital. They must be identifiable to have value as the term asset means that they should possess value.
Here are some common formatted files considered digital assets:
- Photos
- Videos
- Slide decks/presentations
- Spreadsheets
- Text-based files
- Graphics
- HTML documents
- Audio files
- PDFs
What is digital asset administration?
Digital Asset Management (DAM) provides a digital storage tool that can help companies organize, manage, and share digital content. DAM functions as a central digital library, providing customers, employees, contractors, etc. access to all the digital assets they need.
The degree of access and organization is achievable as DAM integrates solutions for software including digital libraries of files and photo databases. Common software functions include cloud storage along with solutions for retrieving and sharing the assets.
Why is digital asset management vital?
To stay competitive in a modern world, businesses need the ability to use digital assets many of them. The more your team expands as a result of this, the greater number of digital assets that you'll need to handle.
It comes to a point during this process where managing digital assets can become difficult. Companies without proper software for managing digital assets can reach a content overload that makes employees scrambling for the resources they require, hemorrhaging productivity.
The adoption of a digital asset management software can address this issue. It is a central repository of all your files, along that is accessible via cloud and searchable and changes the way employees use content. DAMs also help to improve the way employees interact with content. DAM can also increase storage capacity and allows you to establish and maintain a consistent brand identity.
Examples of use-cases are needed for DAM systems
In the end, using DAM in the end, using a DAM can cut down on the time you spend searching for and tracking assets. It allows you to concentrate your efforts on work that matters. Below are a few examples which demonstrate how DAM could do for your needs:
- ProductionYou are able to use DAM software to meet the media requirements by asking for assets in order to track their creation and approval processes via the program.
- Repository: Use your DAM to store every digital file belonging to your business. This way, you won't be worried about distributing versions of your assets to employees who don't have access to them. They will be able to search and access your assets quickly from anywhere.
- Organization tags your assets with metadata in order to make them easier for users to find, and even group them by project.
- Distribution DAM: With DAM the ability to share assets across teams and assign permissions to proprietary files. If you're working alongside contractors or clients on just one project, then you are able to grant them access to see and edit only the files they are interested in.
- Archiving If you own a a massive library of assets that you want to archive, it is possible to save the ones you aren't constantly using in order to be able to retrieve them, but they aren't taking up space in your storage.
Benefits of DAM software
With digital Asset Management software you are able to access the digital assets you have, at any time, from any device. It can transform your business, especially in an age where remote work and asynchronous communications have become more commonplace. DAM gives your employees access to mobility. DAM is also transforming the method by which businesses manage and distribute their digital assets, and can help create a consistent and cohesive image of the brand.
A few of the particular benefits of DAM software include:
- Afficient asset navigation
- Digital assets efficiently utilized
- Be aware of the ideas you have and be sure to not reuse content
- Share and access files with any employee, client, or contractor. at any time and from any location.
- Streamlines the creation and communication of assets by organizing everything together
- Share company-related content easily to platforms on social media, as well as content management systems, etc.
- Monitor the way assets are utilized and who's using them and what they're doing
- Automate workflow and boost creativity
- Automatically tag images with facial recognition
- Watermarking of videos and images can be automated.
- Control copyright rights, manage press kits and organize pictures collections
Which is the best DAM solution for your business
Selecting the right DAM software for your business is a big task, but these tips will steer you in the right direction:
1. Get your team on board (including IT!)
When searching for the best DAM software, you first must determine who is affected by your digital asset management platform implementation. Have a conversation with them about the features they require and how you can assist them in achieving success using the software. Be sure to point out how they can gain by the program as well.
It's also crucial to get IT to be involved right from the start because they are experts on DAM that can help you choose the right software and help you run the process smoothly from the get go.
2. Know what you want to be allowed to do and also be aware of what you should not allow.
This is the place to determine which information you wish certain people to have access to, as well as the things you would like to limit. DAM allows you to divide people into groups and allow everyone in the group access to what they need.
3. Think about your tools of choice
Dive into integration possibilities, considering the DAM works with the existing software. Integrations are also key to win over those employees who aren't enthusiastic about DAM adoption from the very beginning. Once they realize how they can benefit from the integrations it is possible that they will be excited about the change.
4. Create the timeline
DAM Implementation can be very intense particularly when several departments are involved, and all desire the process to be to be completed as fast as they can. For the procedure to be simple and manageable, establish achievable timeframes. Break the project into stages to inform your anxious employees that they are making progress.
5. Watch out for review and discovery calls
It is crucial to ensure that it's important to ensure that the DAM program you select is a good fit right from the start. Start your search by looking through reviews on sites such as Capterra, Serchen, and G2Crowd. Reviewing the reviews and features on these websites can aid in narrowing down your choices.
Then, you can consider the possibility of a meeting with a representative before going straight to a demonstration. A discovery call can help you to narrow your DAM selection, as well as confirming the quality of all candidates to meet your basic needs.
Questions about managing digital assets
What is open source digital asset management?
Digital assessment management open source software is available as a source code anyone who downloads the licence. Open source DAM is flexible and is a fantastic solution for organizations who want to customize their DAM software to specific needs. What exactly is cloud-based Digital Asset Management?
Cloud based DAM is an assessment management software hosted on a network of remote servers accessible via the internet. What's the best instance of a digital asset?
A digital asset is all digital media that can provide significance for the company. Some examples include photos and videos, music, slide decks, files that contain text and PDFs.
Other types of Asset management
Digital Asset Management isn't the sole type of software for managing assets that exists to help companies sort and organize their digital content. Based on the needs of your business (and what types of assets you have to handle) You can pick an asset management system that fits your needs! Here are some of the many types available:
- Media Asset Management (MAM)
- Marketing and Brand Asset Management
The final thoughts about the management of digital assets
When you implement the digital assets management system, you aren't just changing the way you manage your files, the entire organization's workflows by making them easier to work with, access and share.