Do You Need Digital Asset Management?

While some of the most sophisticated enterprises in the world have been effectively managing assets for many years, some enterprises are just starting out on their Digital Asset Management (DAM) journeys. I regularly hear marketers and IT people say, "I just need something that's better than Dropbox or Box to manage our assets."

Well, when they are really pressed, these same people realize that their needs are more nuanced than just a better Dropbox. They are really looking for the functionality DAM systems were built to provide.

That Pain That DAM Platforms Address

How do you know if you need Digital Asset Management technology in your enterprise? Do any of these challenges resonate with you?

  • You can’t find an image, video, or a piece of media that someone else needs right now
  • Your asset production or distribution process — or some large part of it — isn't streamlined
  • Too many silos of media or disconnected systems don't work together
  • The amount and kind of storage required for video — especially high-definition (HD) video — is lacking
  • Multiple informal systems duplicate or complicate efforts to manage at an enterprise level
  • You can't readily share media across projects, groups, divisions, partners, or channels
  • You have a rich set of images but want to just find those with a particular shade of orange
  • The collaboration, review, and approval cycle is slow, inefficient, and manual; the material isn't in a form that everyone can review, especially partners or legal reviewers outside the company
  • People are always re-creating content, artwork, layouts, slides, presentations, and assets — starting from scratch even when something already exists
  • Your team can’t respond rapidly or at all to partners, distributors, customers, or clients who need your assets to help you drive revenue
  • Your boss wants to make money off your assets but can't
  • Tracking revisions of works in progress or finished works is difficult — are you working with the latest approved version?
  • You need multiple different renditions of an asset but don't have time to make them manually
  • You can't propagate changes to a source asset to all the derivative variants
  • You can’t track asset use — where it's used, who is using it, and how frequently it's used
  • Confusion reigns around the (manual) tracking of licensed photos, images, or other assets
  • Your marketing messages aren't presented consistently across groups, organizations, verticals, and target markets
  • Your logo is misused, or your brand is inconsistently used
  • Your FedEx or UPS account has recurring invoices for shipping DVDs or drives "urgently"
  • You want your social, web, mobile, and email marketing channels to work off the same set of base assets for a combined campaign
  • A group was fined for violating the usage rights of a licensed photo because no one knew the rights, which weren't attached the image, and couldn’t be readily looked up

Digital Marketing Technology Stack

Fig. DAM is a critical piece of your broader digital engagement architecture

If your office has faced any of these challenges, you're on your way to identifying where a DAM system could bring value to your enterprise.

But how do you know which DAM technology is right for you? I suggest you start here.

 


Our customers say...

"The Digital Asset Management Research is a straightforward, comprehensive report that's invaluable to anyone considering or implementing digital asset management. With a no-nonsense approach to evaluating the major vendors and best practices, this report is a true handbook. It's my new bedside reading..."


Faith Robinson, Content Strategist & Industry Thought Leader

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