Content is king. It’s what makes your company stand out from the crowd, deliver an excellent brand experience, and engage your customers. Although at the end of the day the content is data… and the more you have, the more complicated it’s storing and managing becomes.
That’s where a DAM system comes in.
More and more companies are seeing the benefit of embracing digital asset management as part of their strategy. In fact, the digital asset management market expects to be worth more than $6 billion by next year.
So what’s behind this explosive growth? The simple reason is that a DAM system is a much more efficient way of managing your company files. It can make a significant difference in your day-to-day company operations.
A digital asset is any media that exists in digital format and comes with the right to use. That could include images, spreadsheets, and other forms of media. You can also easily store them in devices such as tablets and computers.
DAM is a system that allows you to seamlessly locate, manage, and share these same digital assets. It’s a centralized content library that anyone in your team can access at any point from anywhere. Remote teams worldwide will be able to reach the digital assets in a matter of seconds, saving them plenty of time.
A DAM system is extremely relevant for any company that manages 3D files, such as product models. That way, you’ll be able to easily share your company’s 3D files to sales, marketing, eCommerce, and partners in half the time.
Some key features of a DAM system include advanced search capabilities, workflows, analytics, and more. It provides you with all the tools you need to manage and publish digital content as fast as possible. You can test the impact of a DAM system on your workflows and productivity by signing up for a free account with Modelry.
Investing in digital asset management can solve many problems for your organization ahead of time. Here’s how a DAM system fits into the bigger picture of your company’s strategy:
As you create more content, your need for more digital assets will grow as well. The result is that media files can either get lost in the mix or get misplaced.
Teams worldwide waste hours, if not weeks, searching for the files they’re looking for. According to a report from McKinsey, the average employee spends 1.8 hours each day searching for files. That adds up to over 9.3 hours of productivity each week that’s thrown out the window!
A DAM system organizes your digital assets and keeps them all in one place. It’s a much more effective way to manage your files than more traditional methods such as working with folders that, let’s face it, typically live on different team members’ computers.
You’ll also gain peace of mind and won’t have to worry about losing any digital media. Once you store the asset into the system, it becomes secure, and you can pull it out at any time.
As the old saying goes: time is money. As a business owner, you should always be finding ways to optimize your time so you can focus on what truly matters.
With a DAM system’s advanced search feature, finding what you’re looking for becomes a breeze. All you have to do to find an asset is type in the name, date, or title of the file. For example, with Modelry, you can easily sort your digital assets according to their name or product’s SKU number.
You’ll stop wasting hours looking for a specific media file in your folders or within your emails or creating any duplicate digital assets.
Any business without the right protection can be vulnerable to data breaches. One of the worst things that can happen is getting your digital assets in the wrong hands.
Thankfully, a DAM system comes with the tools needed to keep your business safe. With permission settings, you have control over how individual users interact with your content. You can limit specific digital assets to certain people and choose who gets access to what.
Since a DAM system is cloud-based, your team will be able to collaborate on digital assets from anywhere in the world. It’s going to be particularly useful for companies with remote employees scattered worldwide.
Here are different ways that companies can use digital asset management to improve their strategy and reach their goals.
If you don’t want to go through the DTC route and plan to work with retailers, a DAM system will come in handy. In it, you can store a database with details on SKUs, size, weight, and other data on your products you can share with partners.
Another everyday use of DAM systems is for external distribution. It facilitates sharing your company resources with outsiders, such as new contractors you’re onboarding. It’s going to help improve your company’s collaboration and get everyone up to speed quickly.
A DAM system is a useful tool for maintaining a brand image across different channels. Thanks to broad access to your digital assets, you can reside templates, logos, and other media forms for a consistent brand experience.
Finding the right digital asset management system for your business is just the first step. To get the most out of it, you’ll need to apply the right strategy and practices. Here’s how to do it:
The first step to using your DAM system is to get a clear idea of your objectives. Think about how adopting DAM technology fits into your overall company strategy and what problems it solves for each of your departments.
Next, take a look at your current portfolio of digital assets. If you don’t bother going through an audit, not only will you not know what media files you have, but you might end up with a clutter of content that’s hard to manage.
Some of your current digital assets are likely outdated. You should be focusing solely on the media that your company truly needs for growth. Also, make sure to identify which type each asset belongs to and what your team will use them for.
After running your digital assets through an audit, sit down with your team and agree on your DAM system use. It would help if you outlined specific rules over how everyone will be managing and storing your assets.
The goal is to make sure that everyone is on the same page. It’s going to make the process of managing your DAM system much smoother.
Many DAM systems (such as Modelry) come with practical, built-in analytics with insights on your digital assets and how they are being used by users. With Modelry, you can get valuable data to help you make better business decisions.
As a best practice, you should be using these insights to improve on your company’s goal and maximize your DAM system.
Managing your digital assets all by yourself is not an easy feat. And as a business owner, there are probably other areas of your company that you’d instead focus on.
A digital asset management system makes your life easier in many ways. First, it saves you time searching for specific media files. Second, it improves your team collaboration and company productivity.
To select the best DAM system, you need software that comes with advanced analytics and an easy-to-use interface. That’s where we can help: schedule a free demo today with Modelry to learn more.
Haidi Kelly is the CMO at Modelry. Formerly at WeWork, Haidi loves the challenges the B2B space brings. Excited about the transformative power of digital assets and content in eCommerce, Haidi helps individuals, teams, and companies reach their full potential. In her downtime, she is also a foodie, world traveler, and enjoys live music.
